Debate

Blowing off “Almanac” last Friday and going to the Guthrie Theater instead seemed like a good way to put an end to an exhausting political campaign season. We got rush tickets to the penultimate performance of Arthur Miller’s play “A View from the Bridge,” ready to be transported to working-class Brooklyn purely for the escapism, without a thought to exit poll demographics. At first, it seemed to be working. Then one line at the play’s climactic scene brought it all back, unwelcome and unbidden.

Today at 11 am MPR’s Midday is broadcasting the final candidates’ debate between Republican Michele Bachmann and Democrat El Tinklenberg for Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District seat. MnIndy’s Andy Birkey and Steve Perry are liveblogging the event here.

MPR’s Midday program at 11 a.m. today will be given over to the last debate between Rep. Michele Bachmann and her 6th district opponent, El Tinklenberg. You can find the live feed here at the appointed hour. And come on back to MnIndy for our live blog of the half-hour-long faceoff.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visits Minnesota today to campaign for 3rd District DFL congressional candidate Ashwin Madia. Republican state Sen. Erik Paulsen’s new TV ad is called “Disturbing.” Independence Party candidate David Dillon held forth for an hour at the Humphrey Institute on Friday, and that night KSTP hosted a debate for all three contenders. Video and audio after the jump.

At the final debate of Campaign ‘08, Barack Obama listened politely while opponent John McCain spoke. But when Obama got his turn at the mic, McCain resorted to eyeball rolling, fidgeting and chagrined sighs.

YouTube version here.

A flashpoint in the 3rd Congressional District mini-debate on TPT’s Almanac program Friday (video) was Republican candidate Erik Paulsen’s charge that DFL candidate Ashwin Madia has illegally coordinated his campaign with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an independent group. Madia denied it and challenged Paulsen for proof. State Rep. Paulsen produced from his breast pocket [...]

Remember the second questioner from the second presidential debate? His name was Oliver Clark. Remember how John McCain answered Clark’s bailout question? He said lots of things, but you’ll remember this zinger: “The match that lit this fire was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I’ll betcha you may never have even heard of them before [...]

Last night’s presidential debate went handily to Barack Obama, according to a variety of sources: CBS’ poll of undecided voters found that 40 percent thought the Illinois senator won, compared to 26 who sided with McCain; and CNN’s flash poll was higher for Obama, 54 to 30 percent. But perhaps the biggest topic of conversation this morning is… how much the candidates seem to despise each other. Here’s a video rundown of a few key points, starting with McCain’s “Minnesota Nice” utterance — “my friends,” which he said 21 times — followed by the post-debate handshake that wasn’t and the instance when McCain, in a moment his campaign says was supposed to be funny, couldn’t say Obama’s name, but called him “that one.”

Republican incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann and two challengers who hope to unseat her to represent Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District in Washington met in Stillwater Wednesday evening for the first candidates’ forum. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Bachmann, DFL-endorsed El Tinklenberg and Bob Anderson, the unendorsed Independence Party candidate, sparred mainly over the economy, although energy, the war in Iraq and the Stillwater lift bridge each garnered some attention.

The best line of the night came when Tinklenberg criticized Bachmann on her offshore and ANWR drilling proposals: “The strategy that she has proposed of ‘Drain America First’ is a bad strategy.”

A stock line of Sen. John McCain’s over the years has been that the vice president of the United States really only has two duties. He hasn’t always named the same two duties, but none would require of Gov. Sarah Palin anything as difficult as debating Sen. Joe Biden or even being interviewed by Katie [...]