Posts by Paul Schmelzer

After seeing high-profile Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin side with her Conservative Party challenger, GOP-endorsed candidate Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign to win the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. On news of her party’s candidate bowing out, Bachmann issued another statement of support for the remaining rightwing candidate, [...]

Republican state Rep. Paul Kohls has put his gubernatorial campaign on hold, according to the Jordan Indepedent. The Victoria, Minn., resident emailed supporters with the news this morning, noting that “it has become clear to me that the activists are lining up in much greater numbers behind some of the other candidates in the race, [...]

City elections tend not to draw much attention from the mainstream media, but there’s plenty to talk about in advance of Minneapolis’ election day on Tuesday: the inaugural use of ranked-choice voting, a mayoral race that’s been short on debate between the incumbent and his challengers, and city council races in all 13 wards. Reporters [...]

Seventy-five Republicans — lead by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and including Rep. Michele Bachmann — introduced a resolution today to officially commemorate the 9/12 taxpayer march on the nation’s capitol, the Washington Independent reports. The resolution expresses “gratitude and appreciation” for the “freedom-loving Americans” who rallied Sept. 12 in protest of “skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, [...]

Like fellow Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has now thrown his support behind Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York State’s special congressional election. When asked about the race in Washington last week, he refrained from answering, stating he didn’t know enough about the contest. Now that he does, he’s snubbing the [...]

Updated: Shortly after the Star Tribune reported that the faith-based Riverview Community Bank had been shut down by the state, we — like others — noticed that the paper’s online report deleted a reference to Mary Kiffmeyer, the former Secretary of State and current state representative who has close ties to the bank.

If a public option ends up in whatever health care reform bill is passed, Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he’d prefer Minnesota not participate. Appearing on ABC’s Top Line today, he said he’d lead the charge to have the state opt out because he “doesn’t believe in government-run health care.”

Republicans cross-country — from Sarah Palin to Michele Bachmann — are weighing in on the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. But what’s unusual is that they’re throwing their support not behind the endorsed Republican, but behind the Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman.

Huffington Post’s Sam Stein is reporting that an amendment to the defense appropriations bill authored by Sen. Al Franken and approved in the Senate two weeks ago may be stripped from the final bill. Thirty Senate Republicans — now commemorated in the satirical web site Republicans for Rape — opposed the measure, which would prohibit [...]

Quick: What rhymes with Bicking? In South Minneapolis’ city council race, Ward Nine challenger Dave Bicking is rolling out an unconventional campaign tool: the Green Party–endorsed candidate now has a song written about him. And to answer that question, “kicking” is the rhyming word — and it’s followed immediately by the word “ass.”