John Mccain

Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn’t the first to use the phrase “Freedom First,” the name of his new political action committee (PAC).

A year ago the Republican National Convention opened at the Xcel Energy Center. The St. Paul Police Department pledged that protesters and Republican delegates alike would be welcome on the city’s streets. The reality was that roughly 800 people were arrested, primarily in mass sweeps. The contentious four-day gathering continues to play out in the state’s courts through both criminal cases and civil lawsuits.

Gov. Pawlenty recalls taking comfort at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair after U.S. Sen. John McCain’s campaign for president left him high and dry in Denver. They’d sent him to do TV interviews at Barack Obama’s nominating convention, but pulled the plug on that at noon. The Star Tribune’s Rachel E. Stassen-Berger charts how a [...]

One-time University of Minnesota football coach Lou Holtz now says he’s not mulling a run for Congress in Florida, as reported. If so, he’d be keeping a promise made in 1983 to the late Rudy Perpich, then governor of Minnesota, on WCCO-AM: “I assure you, I will have nothing to do with politics.”

The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election, veteran Washington Post reporters Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s chronicle of last year’s epic campaign, hits bookstores tomorrow. But the newspaper has been teasing it with excerpts.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is viewed unfavorably by 48 percent of Minnesotans, while 44 percent view him favorably, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling. The lame-duck governor’s standing has faded since the polling firm’s last survey, when he won approval by a 46-40 percent margin.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty was at odds with his own communications office on a couple points at his press conference yesterday — including the topic of his talk.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is no longer swimming at the deep end with the Republican Party’s top 10 ‘influencers,” says The Fix. But he had another visit from the person in the fish suit during his radio show today — a sure sign it’s time to declare a winner in last week’s caption contest.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar gets more plaudits in today’s New York Times for soldiering on as Minnesota’s sole senator. And she’s staying popular as she stays busy — though that isn’t quite good enough for one University of Minnesota political-science blog.

On one hand, Walser Automotive Group’s full-page ad — which touts President Obama’s federal government warranty for General Motors products — does laudable double duty for the economic recovery: It simultaneously supports GM and the struggling Star Tribune (whose staffers take to the streets tonight to Save the Strib). On the other hand, in these dark days [...]