Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty touts himself as a competent but firm manager in the 2004 Minnesota transit strike and 2005 Minnesota government shutdown in an ad playing in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa:

The narrator says that in the 2005 government shutdown, “Tim Pawlenty would not accept Democrats massive tax and spending demands.”

Not exactly. The shutdown ended when Pawlenty accepted a rise in the cigarette tax, increases in some property taxes, and more funding for schools–so he did raise taxes and spending.

However, the ad is very relevant — Minnesota is, of course, having a government shutdown already far worse than the 2005 partial shutdown, debt ceiling negotiations are at a standstill, and the GOP base loves governors fighting with public employee unions.

Tim Pawlenty. Photo: Facebook

Tim Pawlenty came in fifth in a new presidential poll released by McClatchy-Marist. Minnesota’s governor has consistently finished in the bottom half of presumed presidential contenders in polls conducted in recent months. This one comes as he heads to New Hampshire next week.

Mitt Romney had a solid lead in the poll with 25 percent, followed by Sarah Palin with 18 percent. Rounding out the survey was Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee tied with 16 percent, Pawlenty with 6 percent, Mitch Daniels with 4 percent and Maley Barbour with 2 percent.

The poll follows a Public Policy Polling poll of GOP contenders in New Hampshire last week, which showed Pawlenty in sixth place with 5 percent. A similar survey in July also had Pawlenty in sixth, but with only 3 percent.

Pawlenty is headed to New Hampshire to campaign for Republican candidates for Congress next week. Those plans sparked criticism from the Democratic National Committee.

“Governor Pawlenty should be more concerned with the state of Minnesota than the state of his presidential campaign – both of which are struggling due to his ineffectiveness as a leader,” said the DNC’s Frank Benenati of the DNC. “This month, Pawlenty has spent more time out of state — and even out of the country — than he has in the Governor’s mansion in Minnesota. With state deficits, an administration that can’t pay its bills, skyrocketing property taxes and schools being forced to move to four-day weeks, it is clear that Pawlenty should spend more time in Minnesota than in New Hampshire – but we, nor the people of Minnesota, should hold our breath.”

Pawlenty has consistently been at the back of the pack in straw polls as well.

At CPAC in February, he finished fourth behind Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. He tied for sixth place at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in April, with 3 percent. That same month he again tied for sixth in the Iowa Straw Poll sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa, garnering one percent of the vote.

Photo: Jim Meffert for Congress

DFL candidate Jim Meffert filed an ethics complaint with the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday charging that Rep. Erik Paulsen, his Republican opponent, falsified information in an official House communication with district residents. The Meffert campaign is taking issue with a tax-payer funded mailer that shows a graph of the national deficit, claiming that the graph is purposefully distorted. Paulsen’s campaign complained that Meffert confused debt with deficit and that the mailer passed through the House franking office.

“Somehow, an increase of a projected $1.1 trillion per year under President Obama is depicted as drastically sharper than the $2.2 trillion per year increase under President Bush,” the Meffert campaign said in a statement.

In a letter to the House Ethics Committee, Alex Falconer, Meffert’s campaign manager wrote, “If plotted correctly, Paulsen’s own numbers would show an economy that is slowing the bleeding; but Paulsen manipulated the numbers on the graph to show the opposite of the truth. He lied to the people of the Third District and he should be held accountable. Congressman Paulsen should be investigated, and we need to find out how he was able to push such a deceitful piece through the House Ethics Committee.”

The mailer, which was sent out in March, exaggerates the increase in the deficit. Here is the chart Paulsen’s office created:

And here’s the chart with the figures plotted correctly which was provided by the Meffert campaign:

But Mark Giga, spokesman for Paulsen shot back at Meffert: “Jim Meffert needs to learn the difference between the national debt and the federal deficit.”

He said, “The Paulsen mail piece examines the exploding national debt while Meffert’s press release complains about ‘the federal deficit growing at an increasingly rapid pace.’ We agree with Meffert that the federal deficit is growing at an increasingly rapid pace.”

Giga added, “There isn’t a single number or word on the mail piece that is inaccurate.”

Giga said the mailer “was approved by the Commission on Mailing and Standards (the Franking Commission) of the Committee on House Administration. Both of which are chaired by Democrats.”

But Meffert’s campaign says that Paulsen is dodging the real issue.

“Who can look at the graph in question and say it is a fair representation of the data?” asked Falconer. “The point of a graph is to show data. The graph in question morphs the data to show something very different than what the same data would show when graphed properly. This graph is clearly meant to lead constituents to the opposite conclusion from what the numbers, graphed accurately, would show.”

The Meffert campaign said it did conflate debt and deficit and that they have amended their complaint. “The graph is still as misleading as ever,” said Falconer. “Is this childish and flippant response the best we can expect from the office of our Congressman?”

Bachmann’s political advisor Andy Parrish said in a statement, “Voters should ask Tarryl Clark whose side are you on? Her record shows that Tarryl Clark is on Nancy Pelosi’s side, and would be [sic] rubber-stamp for the Pelosi/Obama government-knows-best agenda.”

The Clark campaign issued a statement and video in response to the ad. “Michele Bachmann is up on the air with (yet another) attack ad today, and for the second week in a row, ‘Fake Jim’ the Election Guy is nowhere to be seen,” wrote the campaign in a fundraising pitch. “It seems to be official: Bachmann’s Fake Jim is off the air. People in the 6th District weren’t buying what Fake Jim was selling. No longer will he mislead Minnesotans, or attack Tarryl for supporting policies that Bachmann also supported. Despite his challenges with the truth, we’ll all miss Fake Jim.”

The campaign issued this “memorial” to Jim the Election Guy after Bachmann’s first non-”Jim” ad came out:

Photo by Simon Stromberg

Rep. Michele Bachmann lashed out at Bill Clinton on conservative radio this weekend after the former president criticized Bachmann at a fundraiser for her DFL opponent Tarryl Clark last week. Both Clinton and Bachmann have been prolific with fundraising emails at the expense of each other over the last week as well. Clinton said it’s “stupid” for Bachmann to put ideology over evidence, while Bachmann called Clinton’s statements “bizarre.”

“That’s how I see Rep. Bachmann. She’s very attractive in saying all these things she says, but it’s pretty stupid,” Clinton said at a Clark fundraiser last week.

“Your opponent,” Clinton told Clark according to Salon, “is the ultimate example of putting ideology over evidence.”

“I respect people with a conservative philosophy,” he continued. “This country has been well-served by having two broad traditions within which people can operate. If you have a philosophy, it means you’re generally inclined one way or the other but you’re open to evidence. If you have an ideology, it means everything is determined by dogma and you’re impervious to evidence. Evidence is irrelevant.”

Bachmann didn’t appreciate the characterization — or Clinton’s visit to Minnesota. “Bill Clinton was in campaigning against me this week,” she told conservative radio host Mark Levin. “This is a major effort. I’ve always been about the number one target for Nancy Pelosi to defeat.”

“Emily’s List has made me their number one target, the League of Conservation Voters has made me their number one target,” she said. “But this is almost bizarre what the former President of the United States has said.”

“He is saying that I am the epitome of a trend that that is profoundly dangerous to the nation’s future and he said that my comments are pretty stupid.”

She then defended herself and the tea party movement. “He said our party has moved closer to Michele Bachmann. He’s calling us segregationists. He’s saying that the things that they tea party is saying, that I’m saying in particular, are stupid, that we don’t stand for evidence, we stand for ideology.”

Then she took him on directly.

“So, I would just ask the President of the United States, is it ideology or is it evidence that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have spent us 3.6 trillion of failed stimulus and bailouts that didn’t get us anywhere? Is it ideology or evidence that we have persistent unemployment at 9.6 percent? is it ideology or evidence that we have lost 3 million jobs?”

She added, “Who is he charging bases our assertion on ideology over evidence?”

In a fundraising pitch, Bachmann said, “This is yet another example of how the liberal Democrat [sic] establishment has put a target on my back for defeat. They’ll say and do anything. The comments from Bill Clinton have hit a new low and I must have the resources to defend myself and fight back.”

She continued, “I am proud of my record and I refuse to be bullied into silence by Bill Clinton. Liberals across the country believe if they defeat me in November, the Tea Party movement will be eliminated.”

In a followup, Bachmann wrote, “Bill Clinton is the latest liberal to get involved in this race and has attacked me and other Tea Party activists. In 24 hours, thanks to the generosity of activists Bill Clinton attacked, we’ve raised more than $42,000 to fight back against these attacks.”

And Clinton is still pulling for Clark. In an email pitch yesterday, the former president wrote, “The people of the 6th district deserve a leader who will deliver results instead of divisive partisan rhetoric; who will roll up her sleeves and get to work on the critical issues instead of just getting people wound up about them.”

Here are Bachmann’s remarks on the Mark Levin show:

“Tom Emmer won’t fix Minnesota’s problems. He’ll make them worse,” the AFL-CIO mailer states. The federation notes that Emmer voted against funds that “may” have prevented the bridge collapse, he voted against a compensation fund for the victims of the bridge collapse, and he voted against “infrastructure improvements” after the collapse.

“He voted against fixing our bridges and when the I-35 bridge collapsed, he opposed compensating the people who got hurt.”

Here is the mailer courtesy of the Huffington Post:

click to enlarge

WCCO reports that Buesgens was stopped after driving into a ditch. A field sobriety test led to suspicion of driving while intoxicated, and he was arrested. Officers found open liquor in Buesgens’ vehicle. Buesgens’ blood alcohol registered at a 0.16.

The report also finds more than 40 instances of Koch Industries donating to groups that have in the past opposed climate legislation.

Some examples from the report:

• “More than $5 million to Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) for its nationwide ‘Hot Air Tour’ campaign to spread misinformation about climate science and opposing clean energy and climate legislation.”
• “$365,000 to Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) which advocates against taking action on climate change because warming is ‘inevitable’ and expensive to address.”
• “$360,000 to Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRIPP) which supported and funded An Inconvenient Truth…or Convenient Fiction, a film attacking the science of global warming and intended as a rebuttal to former Vice-President Al Gore’s documentary. PRIPP also threatened to sue the US Government for listing the polar bear as an endangered species.”