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By way of explaining his decision not to seek re-election, Gov. Tim Pawlenty bragged to Fox News host Sean Hannity last night that “in Minnesota [we're] good about taking turns.” In view of Pawlenty’s past, his highlighting the concept of taking turns is highly suggestive about how he sees his future.
Video after the jump.

Here’s more evidence that the GOP is still struggling to find fitting metaphors to talk about itself. The party was likened to a miffed Eminem by Gov. Tim Pawlenty at the College Republicans’ national confab over the weekend, while at another of the convention’s sessions, RNC chair Michael Steele was coming up with imagery of [...]

Yesterday we posted video of Norm Coleman speaking at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference about cultivating “grass e-roots” to grow a movement based on conservative values. After the jump, see a clip of the man Coleman replaced in the U.S. Senate, Paul Wellstone, speaking just before his death in October 2002 on his concept of [...]

Here’s a post about something Rep. Michele Bachmann didn’t say. Last year, Bachmann reveled in connecting dots between Barack Obama, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, and last month she pronounced it “interesting” that swine flu outbreaks only happen during Democratic presidencies (forgetting that Republican Gerald Ford was in office for the last one). So [...]

Minnesota’s one confirmed case of the new flu is sending investigators looking in “concentric circles” for other people who may have the infection, according to state Health Commissioner Dr. Sanne Magnan.

They’re wearing riot gear in London and they’re talking recounts in New York. It’s all so St. Paul, last fall.

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign spokesman Cullen Sheehan suggests that the publication of a campaign donor database on Wikileaks.org is the work of politically motivated individuals who have “found a way to breach private and confidential information” and may be a “political dirty trick.” MinnPost’s Joe Kimball echoes the sentiment, attributing the discovery of the unprotected database to “some hackers.” But according to the IT professional who first called attention to the exposed donor database, the site wasn’t hacked at all.

It’s apparently hard for reporters to find an ordinary voter to comment on the extraordinary struggle over Minnesota’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. The latest example: The Associated Press cited one person — who didn’t vote for either Al Franken or Norm Coleman — in its story Monday about Minnesotans being “tired” of the Senate battle. [...]

St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is leaving to become head of the Austin, Texas, school system. At a public meeting this morning, the Austin district’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name Carstarphen the sole finalist for the position. Although three weeks must elapse before she can sign a contract, Carstarphen immediately announced [...]

What fate might Al Franken have faced today had he tried to take his seat in the U.S. Senate today? Although unlikely, he could’ve ended up where Roland Burris did: shut out and in the rain. The senator appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the seat vacated by the election of President-elect Barack [...]