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The Minnesota Independent’s sister site, the Washington Independent, was on the scene Thursday for U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s “House Call” protest against health care reform at the U.S. Capitol.

MSNBC commentators jumped on a remark by Gov. Pawlenty this morning about minimum requirements for being a Republican candidate: ”There’s a range of behavior and issue positions you can take. You just can’t be so far out of the mainstream that it becomes a joke.”

State Rep. Paul Thissen may be seeking the DFL Party’s gubernatorial endorsement, but he sounded down on the whole party thing in a karaoke duet with his wife, Karen Wilson, over the insistent synth tones of Prince’s “1999.”

While Rep. Michele Bachmann doesn’t get a shout-out as a “hero” in rightwing rapper Hi-Caliber’s new video (that distinction goes to Joe “You Lie” Wilson, yo), our fair state does merit a mention — as the place where President Obama was “hiding” — in plain sight — during the 9/12 “tea party” march on Washington.
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Imagine this notice tacked up in Anoka, circa 1970: “Wanted: Future Member of Congress to babysit future Miss America and Fox News host.” That’s just one of the rabbit-holes your mind can wander down if you ponder this fact, that culminates George Will’s column about U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann: she was once Gretchen Carlson’s nanny. [...]

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman caps off the long version of his new TV ad by quoting hockey great Wayne Gretzky’s advice to skate to where the puck will be. It’s a quote Gov. Pawlenty has been using for years, as Brian Bakst of the Associated Press notes. Indeed, it’s a favorite among consultants, businessmen and [...]

Minneapolis mayoral candidate Al Flowers heckled Mayor R.T. Rybak at length yesterday as Rybak delivered a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for new KMOJ-FM studios in North Minneapolis.

Pity the U.S. Senate committee witness who tries to slip a fishy statistic past Al Franken. The fearsome Harvard math major punished conservative economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth for claiming that Democrats’ reforms would jack up bankruptcies for medical reasons. 

A new web ad by a Georgia candidate for governor next year shows what the new-media future could hold for Minnesota’s own 2010 gubernatorial contest. “The Ox vs. King Roy The Rat,” an animated attack by Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine on former Gov. Roy Barnes, is going viral as possibly the worst political ad ever. [...]

Chris Coleman waited only three hours or so after he decided against running for governor to publicly announce his move. Apparently that wasn’t enough time for the St. Paul mayor to soften an implied critique of his Minneapolis counterpart’s own guv bid.