Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision to not seek a third term means that next year’s gubernatorial contest will be a wild, wide-open affair. The candidate pile-up on both sides of the aisle is well into double digits. The Independence Party is also vowing to run a credible challenger, while the Green Party already has at least two contenders.

Politics in Minnesota’s matrix of gubernatorial hopefuls currently includes 36 potential candidates. Here’s a thumbnail analysis of the current Democratic field. Next Monday: the Republican contenders.

Definitely in: Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, state Sens. John Marty and Tom Bakk, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza.

Gaertner (left) and Marty will likely face the toughest odds. The former has law-and-order bona fides that could prove useful in a general election but won’t carry much cache with the DFL base. Her prosecution of the so-called RNC Eight, in particular, has caused consternation among the rank-and-file Democrats who will determine which candidate gets the party’s official backing. Could Gaertner bolt for the Independence Party?

By contrast, Marty is arguably the most liberal contender in the field, leading the fight on legalizing gay marriage, for instance, which should play well with DFL loyalists. But he faces another significant hurdle: the stench of loserdom still clinging to him from the 1994 gubernatorial contest, when he was pummeled by a 63 to 34 percent margin.

Entenza (left) and Dayton are certain to be factors for one simple reason: money. Dayton has his family fortune to squander. Entenza comes from more humble origins but has his wife’s considerable wealth (amassed as a health-care executive) at his disposal. Both have the ability to bypass the DFL endorsement and run in a primary. But significant questions persist about both: Has Entenza escaped the cloud under which he departed the Attorney General’s race in 2006? Did Dayton’s U.S. Senate tenure damage his reputation, particularly the bizarre decision to close his Washington office due to terrorism concerns?

Bakk is the wild card of the currently declared crop of contenders. He’s the only non-metro candidate and will garner significant support in the DFL stronghold of the Iron Range. Bakk’s also got significant support in labor circles, benefiting from his three decades as a union carpenter. The chair of the Senate Taxes Committee emerged as perhaps the strongest voice calling for tax increases during the recently completed legislative session. This stance would set up a stark contrast to whoever emerges from the GOP field.

Almost certainly in: Rep. Paul Thissen, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, former Sen. Steve Kelley and Minnesota Farmers Union President Doug Peterson.

Thissen has had an exploratory committee up and running since last year. He’ll battle a lack of name recognition (the average voter doesn’t even know how to pronounce Thissen — it’s Tee-san), but turned heads by raising roughly $125,000 in just the last two months of 2008.

Kelliher has all but declared her candidacy in recent weeks. The Minneapolis legislator emerged from the 2008 session as the level-headed face of the DFL leadership. Her ability to joust with Gov. Pawlenty without resorting to sandbox-style insults won plaudits from political observers. But the 2009 session may have taken some bloom off her rose. It’s widely believed that Pawlenty out-maneuvered the DFL leadership by opting to solve the state’s $2.7 billion deficit on his own, leaving Democrats to shout from the sidelines.

Coleman (left) and Rybak face the same dilemma: They must run for re-election this year while (not-so-quietly) plotting a gubernatorial run for 2010. This means they must at least pay lip service to serving out their full four-year terms without being completely disingenuous. Hence statements like this from Rybak’s communications director, Jeremy Hanson: “Right now he’s focused on this election and doing the job he loves.”

While such political two-step could prove difficult, both mayors have benefited from the fact that they’ve not attracted serious opposition in their re-election efforts. This allows them to build a campaign structure for 2010 while continuing to profess interest only in retaining their current posts.

Kelley has long sought statewide political office only to come up short — a history that may dog him in this contest. He lost out to former Attorney General Mike Hatch in seeking the DFL gubernatorial endorsement in 2006. Kelley then turned around and ran for attorney general but was defeated by fellow Democrat Lori Swanson in the primary. He also failed in his bid to gain party backing for the 2000 U.S. Senate contest.

Doug Peterson’s viability is difficult to gauge at this point. He brings a formidable resume: more than a decade as a state legislator and currently serving as president of the Minnesota Farmers Union. But after a half-dozen years largely out of the political spotlight, he might find it difficult to break through the mass of better-known contenders.

Peterson sounds serious about running. “I think everybody has kind of benchmarks as to how they’re accepted,” he says of the emerging field. “Frankly it’s wide open and it’s very early.”

In the ether: Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, state Reps. Tom Rukavina and Joe Atkins, and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.

Along with Kelliher, Clark emerged during the 2008 session as the composed face of the DFL leadership. Did she lose any of that luster during the just-completed session? She’s also been frequently touted as a possible challenger to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in 2010.

Rukavina (left) and Atkins would both be long-shots. The former is an Iron Range populist who frequently chafed at the DFL leadership’s reticence to raise the specter of tax increases during the 2009 session. The latter has displayed a genius for getting his name in the newspaper and is thought to harbor statewide ambitions but was largely absent from the debate during the recently completed session.

Walz has publicly declared that he’s not running, but some political observers harbor suspicions that he’s still eyeing the race. The Mankato Democrat, who emerged as a political rock star during the 2006 election cycle, would immediately leap to the top of the pack if he reverses course and gets in the race.

Related: Who’s in for 2010: Republicans eyeing the governor’s mansion

Ominous news about job losses and financial woes at Minnesota hospitals over the last week coincide with Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s line-item veto of $381 million in General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) grants and his vow to make even more cuts by unallotment. But as bad as the doomsday scenarios are, they shouldn’t include St. Paul’s Regions Hospital closing — a prospect that the DFL warned of over the weekend.

Here are some headlines from the last week that, to some at least, read like plot lines for a series-ending episode of TV’s “House” doctor drama, if not a medical prequel to the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max” movies.

» Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis will lay off 100 staffers.

» Park Nicollet Health Services lays off 240 and closes a clinic in Hopkins. The owner of Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park has already laid off more than twice that number over the last six months.

» Willmar’s Rice Memorial Hospital continues to shed staff. Layoffs have left the city-owned hospital with its smallest workforce in a decade.

» In rural areas of the state, doctors are scarce. Health care organizations must dangle bonuses to attract debt-laden med school grads to the hinterlands.

» St. Peter bucked the trend by expanding a local clinic of Mayo Health System, but Mayo’s flagship facility in Rochester will lose $30 million from Pawlenty’s GAMC veto alone.

» Losing patients, North Memorial Health Care is cutting 100 jobs. A 6-percent decline in stays at the Robbinsdale hospital hides one area in which business is up by 22 percent: charity care.

» Two metro hospitals that care for the poor — Regions in St. Paul and HCMC in Minneapolis — will make deep cuts. HCMC Medical Director Michael Belzer says revisiting state cuts during the 2010 Legislative session will be too late, as hospitals will have set budgets and take actions necessary to meet them by then.

But Regions is not in danger of closing its doors, contrary to a DFL Party announcement (see below) from the closing days of the legislative session.

“That’s not going to happen,” Regions spokesman Vince Rivard told the Minnesota Independent on Monday, adding that a hospital expansion financed with St. Paul municipal bonds is still set to open this summer.

Still a variety of program cuts at Regions and even imposition of new, restrictive geographical boundaries are possible, Rivard said. The hospital sees patients from as far away as Montana but is only obligated to provide Ramsey County residents with non-emergency services.

And Rivard agreed with HCMC’s Belzer that fixes the Legislature next year makes to the governor’s vetos would come too late to forestall drastic cutbacks.

Here’s the press release from the DFL House DFL Caucus that asserted that Regions Hospital could close. It was sent out Saturday, midway between Pawlenty’s Thursday night line-item veto of GAMC and the end of the Legislative session Monday night.

NEWS STATEMENT
Minnesota House of Representatives

May 16, 2009

PAWLENTY VETO MAY RESULT IN FULL OR PARTIAL CLOSURE OF REGIONS HOSPITAL

Local lawmakers speak out against Governor Pawlenty’s deep cuts to
Regions Hospital

After announcing Thursday he plans to make billions of dollars in
budget cuts alone without public or legislative input, Governor Tim
Pawlenty eliminated General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) in Minnesota.
With one line item veto late Thursday night, the governor cut $381
million that was dedicated exclusively to treat the poorest people in
the state – including veterans, senior citizens, and the mentally ill.

Those cuts may result in the full or partial closure of Regions
Hospital in St. Paul. By eliminating GAMC, the hospital will face a $46
million budget cut – 10% of its gross revenue. Regions Hospital employs
roughly 5,000 people and serves nearly 23,000 patients every year.

The following is a statement from local state lawmakers deeply
concerned about these devastating cuts to Regions Hospital and the
potential impact on residents of St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs:

“Governor Pawlenty’s veto pen single-handedly put Regions Hospital in
St. Paul at serious risk of significantly cutting back critical services
or potentially closing its doors. This is a devastating blow to tens of
thousands of citizens in St. Paul and the surrounding communities who
rely on Regions Hospital for quality, expert medical care. It has
threatened thousands of jobs, and the health and safety of our
communities.

This deep and devastating cut could have been avoided. Lawmakers
offered a responsible alternative that would have cut Regions Hospital
only $5.7 million – a budget reduction the hospital could have sustained
without significantly drawing back critical medical services to our
community.

By eliminating GAMC, Governor Pawlenty has cut 30,000 of Minnesota’s
poorest, sickest citizens off health care. Many are veterans, senior
citizens, people with mentally illness, or those who are homeless. 70%
have expensive mental health or chemical dependency challenges, and 40%
have chronic disease that leads to frequent hospitalization. Without
care, these Minnesotans will be at risk of devastating health
implications.

Finally, these cuts have made the state’s budget shortfall even
worse. Eliminating GAMC in Minnesota costs the state $100 million in
federal matching funds. It also requires that inmates in county jails
and sex offenders who are constitutionally required access to medical
care must now be paid for in general fund dollars.

We are deeply disappointed in Governor Pawlenty’s decision to balance
the budget with jobs and deep cuts to hospitals. In the final days of
session, we’ll keep fighting to protect jobs and keep Minnesota’s
hospitals whole.”

Officials whose names appeared at the top of the release are State Reps. Joe Atkins, John Lesch, Karla Bigham, Leon Lillie, Paul Gardner, Tim Mahoney, Mindy Greiling, Carlos Mariani, Rick Hansen, Erin Murphy, Alice Hausman, Michael Paymar, Sheldon Johnson, Bev Scalze, Kate Knuth and Cy Thao.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark at the Regina Medical Center strike in Hastings. Photo: Paul Demko

When union workers at Regina Medical Center in Hastings walked off the job for two days last month to highlight a contract dispute, their cause drew a few noteworthy supporters. On day one the workers were joined by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark and House Speaker Margaret Anderson-Kelliher. The next day Rep. Paul Thissen and former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton helped rally support for their cause.

While the Democratic pols were no doubt sincere in their support for the workers, their presence was conspicuous for another reason: each are on the (not-so-short) list of potential 2010 gubernatorial candidates. With this year’s election (almost) out of the way, attention will soon turn to the 2010 contest. On the Republican side, there is only one relevant question: Will Gov. Tim Pawlenty run for a third term? The incumbent would surely clear the field (save for the odd screwball challenger) if he chooses to seek a three-peat.

But on the Democratic side, seemingly every pol who’s ever been elected to the Lake Elmo City Council is salivating at the prospect of taking back the Governor’s mansion — whether or not Pawlenty runs again. There are currently three credible announced challengers: Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, Sen. Tom Bakk, and Rep. Paul Thissen. The former arguably enjoys the best name recognition and brings considerable law-enforcement bona fides, but will have a tough time endearing herself to the (liberal) DFL faithful. Bakk is chairman of the powerful Taxes Committee, potentially the only Iron Range-er in the field and enjoys strong labor support. He’ll undoubtedly be a factor in the DFL-endorsement battle. Thissen is perhaps the least known of the declared candidates, but brings a formidable resume: Harvard undergrad; editor of the law review at the University of Chicago; partner at Briggs and Morgan.

“It was my judgment that somebody sitting in my position, who may be less known than some of the other candidates, needs to get an early start,” says Thissen, who figures he visited half the counties in the state during the recently concluded campaign season. “I think it will be really good for the party and Minnesota to have a number of choices as we move through this process. (Iron range blogger Aaron Brown recently published an interview with Thissen.)

Beyond this trio of contenders, what the field will ultimately look like is mere speculation. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz would undoubtedly climb to the top of the heap if he decides to run. His name recognition and charisma, along with the fact that he just won a landslide re-election victory in a part of the state that traditionally favors Republican candidates, would be an enticing combination for Democrats. (Walz’s office declined to comment on his plans for 2010.)

Two other candidates — former House Democratic Leader Matt Entenza and former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton — would immediately be legitimate contenders for a slightly different reason: money. The latter is (of course) an heir to the department store empire, while Entenza’s wife is a high-powered executive and major DFL donor. Either could bypass the DFL endorsement and proceed straight to a primary contest.

Entenza did not return a call seeking comment, but he’s all but certain to enter the race. “Entenza’s definitely in and full speed ahead,” says Roy Magnuson, a veteran DFL activist. “I’m inclined to believe he has a pretty good plan.” Dayton’s intentions are less well known, but the former Senator made it clear that he still wants to be a serious player by throwing the biggest bash at the state convention in June.

Twin Cities mayors R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman face the same dilemma in weighing a gubernatorial bid: they have to run for re-election next year. This means they’d be forced to then turn around and immediately declare their candidacy for the state’s top job — a feat of political jujutsu that not even the notoriously nimble Norm Coleman could pull off.

Rybak has said he’ll announce his intentions before Christmas. Coleman claims to be focused solely on retaining his mayoral post. “We don’t think that on the heels of a four year presidential campaign and in the middle of a financial crisis that the public is interested in a two-year gubernatorial race,” notes communications director Bob Hume, in an email. “Mayor Coleman is running for re-election and is proud of what we’re accomplishing in Saint Paul.”

The last legislative session saw two women emerge as the most conspicuous faces of the DFL at the Capitol, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher and Tarryl Clark. Both drew plaudits for their level-headed leadership and ability to work with Gov. Pawlenty, sparking speculation that they might be interested in taking his job. A looming $5.2 billion budget deficit will undoubtedly mean a much messier legislative scrum this time around, with no one emerging politically unscathed. Don’t expect either Andeson-Kelliher or Clark to announce their intentions until after the session ends.

Other DFLers rumored to be in the mix: former Sen. Steve Kelley and Reps. Joe Atkins and Tom Rukavina. With the race still nearly two years out, the field will undoubtedly continue to shift. But whatever transpires, judging by the long line of DFL politicos at the strike in Hastings last month, one thing is certain: there will be many Democrats vying for the Governor’s mansion in 2010.

Of course, he was helped by the implosion of his DFL opposition in the waning days of the campaign. Lieutenant governor candidate Judi Dutcher’s bumbling response to a question about E85 ethanol was arguably survivable. But Hatch’s bullying, over-the-top response to the flap merely served to ratify the caricature of him as an unstable hothead that Republicans had been attempting to paint for months.

Despite that lucky break, there’s no doubt that Pawlenty is a nimble campaigner whose Aw shucks, I’m just Tim from South St. Paul schtick plays well with voters. In what is clearly shaping up as a brutal political climate for the GOP in 2008, T-Paw still regularly commands not-too-shabby approval ratings of 50 percent or better.

So Democrats could be forgiven for (quietly) hoping that Pawlenty is indeed tapped by John McCain for the Republican presidential ticket. With the two-term incumbent out of the way, and Gov. Carol Molnau (!) as his lame-going-on-dead-duck successor, the field would be extremely enticing for DFLers — who haven’t won the state’s top post for nearly two decades.

“Any Democrat sizing up the governor’s race will be encouraged not to be facing an incumbent who’s been a political killing machine,” says Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “The stronger quality candidates are more likely to jump in the more open they see the race.”

Some DFLers aren’t bothering to wait and see if Pawlently ultimately gets the nod from McCain.

Continued: Click “Read more”Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner has been raising money and traveling the state for more than a year already in anticipation of a 2010 bid. Last weekend the four-term prosecutor was working the room at the 6th Congressional District’s DFL endorsing convention. Yesterday she was on the road to Duluth for a house party. “I’m not talking about it; I’m doing it,” says Gaertner of running for governor.

Also testing the waters is Sen. Tom Bakk, chair of the powerful Taxes Committee. The Virginia DFLer intends to form an exploratory committee to gauge support for a gubernatorial run as soon as the legislative session ends later this month. “I don’t see where we’re getting much leadership out of Gov. Pawlenty,” Bakk says. “I’m just not going to sit by and manage the decline of the state.”

Bakk says that earlier this week the Ghermezian brothers, owners of the Mall of America, were in town to promote their plans for a roughly $2 billion expansion. They expected to meet with Pawlenty about their proposed development, but were forced to settle for a confab with some of his staff members. “Here they come down from Edmonton, the people who own the Mall of America, and they can only get a meeting with the staff,” Bakk says. “I’m just very troubled by the fact that I don’t think the governor is very interested in governing.”

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak could also be seen stalking the 6th District convention last weekend. Surely constituent services weren’t his motivation. The 52-year-old two-term mayor openly floated the possibility of seeking the governorship at a New Year’s Eve fundraiser.

Rybak’s counterpart across the river, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, is also frequently cited as a pol with gubernatorial ambitions. But he’ll face re-election in 2009, and it would require an exceedingly dexterous political dance to then turn around and run for governor. Another former mayor of St. Paul who shares Coleman’s surname famously failed to make that electoral leap in 1998.

Several state legislative leaders might also find the race enticing. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, fresh from successfully corralling enough votes to override Pawlenty’s veto on the transportation bill, is drawing attention. “Kelliher has been soaring in people’s estimation,” says Jacobs. “That was a very difficult vote and to be able to pull it off and pull away those Republicans in an era of hyperpartisanship is notable.”

Her ally in the Senate, Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, is also drawing attention from political prognosticators. Another potential wild card is third-term Rep. Joe Atkins, whose penchant for getting his name in the media has not gone unnoticed. “Within the Legislature, Atkins is the one that everybody seems to think is being groomed,” says David Schultz, political science professor at Hamline University.

The final name that pops up frequently in discussions about the 2010 gubernatorial race is first-term U.S. Rep. Tim Walz. The Minnesota National Guard vet from Mankato soared to rock-star status in the DFL by defeating seven-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht two years ago and has raised a formidable war chest to protect his seat this year. “He certainly has impressed people. And he comes from outstate, which is a big advantage,” says Jacobs.

Those politicos who are open about their gubernatorial ambitions profess to not be daunted by a potential electoral dustup with Pawlenty if he ultimately fails to get the VP nod.

“That’s obviously a more difficult task,” says Gaertner. “But I’m more than willing and ready to run against Tim Pawlenty.”

“If he is in, I’m probably more likely to be in,” says Bakk. “He’s got a record to run against. He won’t be easy to beat, but he does have a record.”

Salvia is a plant from southern Mexico and is a member of the mint family. Closely related to the purple or red garden flowers, salvia has been cultivated by the Mazatec peoples of Mexico for centuries. Botanists haven’t located the original species — a sign, they say, that the human cultivation of salvia may date to Mexico’s prehistoric age.

Like Minnesota’s salvia users, the Mazatec chew, smoke or steep the plant’s leaves. The effects of use include visual disturbances, sudden and vivid remembrances of past memories, a sense of being “out of body” and laughter. The main effects last around five minutes and aftereffects include a sense of calm and mild sweating that can last up to an hour. One local man I spoke to, who tried salvia purchased at a “head shop” in Minneapolis, called the experience “like whippits, but with marijuana after-effects.” (“Whippits” are hits of nitrous oxide inhaled from canisters or whipped cream dispensers, another legal and generally safe psychoactive substance.) Another user said the foul taste of salvia’s dried leaves and smoke wasn’t worth the brief effects.

Nevertheless, many users report profound effects from smoking salvia.

Continued: Click “Read more.”The Erowid Vault, an online forum of users’ experiences with a number of substances, had this to say about salvia: “S. divinorum is not considered a ‘party drug’, as its effects are not particularly conducive to social interaction, tend towards the non-verbal, and can often be extremely disconcerting and frightening. Those experienced with Salvia divinorum generally use it in more quiet settings for introspective contemplation and meditation.” In Canada, where salvia is legal, some Christian groups have used it in their meditation rituals.

Salvia’s psychoactive properties are produced by Salvinorin A, a novel chemical that acts on the kappa opioid receptor. This pathway makes it distinct from most street drugs. Unlike LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, two substances that create powerful hallucinations and dissociative experiences, and cocaine and methamphetamine, two powerful stimulants, Salvinorin A does not affect the brain’s serotonin or dopamine receptors — making its impact relatively mild compared to more commonly abused street drugs.

Toxicological studies of salvia have thus far found little cause for concern. Mega-doses of the plant given to mice haven’t caused any harm. Further, a constant increase in use over the last decade in the 32 states where salvia is legal have not caused overdose deaths, drugged driving accidents or the addiction potential associated with other legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. 

In fact, some media reports have suggested that the drug’s increasing popularity is due to media attention arising from efforts to create legal prohibitions of the plant. The Washington Post’s Offbeat blog wrote last week, “Since Nebraska introduced a bill to ban Salvia by this summer, sales of the drug have reportedly been booming.”

If Atkins’ bill becomes law, Salvia divinorum would be classified as a Schedule IV drug and possession could result in jail time of up to five years and a $10,000 fine. It would join drugs such as barbiturates, benzodiazepines (Xanax and Valium) and marijuana, although possession of small amounts of marijuana is not considered a crime in Minnesota.

Photo via Flickr user Ogal.