Paul Wellstone

The 2010 gubernatorial contest will not be a two-party affair. With no clear favorites on either the Democratic or Republican side of the aisle, the political climate is potentially ripe for a third-party candidate to gain a toehold in the race.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is due back at work today following a mysterious several-day absence. For Minnesotans whose memories extend to the 1970s, news of an AWOL governor evokes the early days of Gov. Rudy Perpich’s first term in office — days Perpich spent out of the office, whereabouts (then) unknown.

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.

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 [...]

Barack Obama’s White House would rather not fight or switch when it comes to making nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Sonia Sotomayor’s clean slate on political campaign contributions weighed in her favor, against rivals who regularly cough up cash for candidates. It’s a hazard that Minnesota’s high-court justices [...]

The Republican ticket of Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau has twice emerged from three-way races victorious by plurality. Now Pawlenty is thinking about seeking a third term in 2010. If he goes for it, he’ll have a past failure to thank for the opportunity: In the 1990s, he and Molnau sought to enshrine term limits on governors and lieutenant governors in the Minnesota Constitution.

Like other Minnesota pols, Norm Coleman likes to invoke the memory of the late Hubert H. Humphrey, whose Senate seat the Republican held until last month (and which he is now trying to regain in court). The latest example came in a newspaper column opposing the Senate stimulus bill in which Coleman claimed to quote Humphrey, deftly identifying himself with the legendary leader of Minnesota’s DFL Party. But signs are scant that Humphrey spoke those words — unless Coleman meant the other Hubert Humphrey?

Last week, we posted video of Al Franken’s sharp response to Ann Coulter at the 2004 Connecticut Forum. After the rightwing pundit said if she could go back in time as a historical figure she’d be FDR to prevent implementation of the New Deal, Franken shot back that he’d be as Hitler so he could [...]

We take a moment to note that Norm Coleman’s term as Republican U.S. senator from Minnesota — which began in early 2003, just weeks after the untimely death of the man he challenged, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone — came to an end today at noon. (The Pioneer Press has the particulars.) The moment passed without [...]

Election Day always follows hard on Oct. 31, so political ads regularly riff on and rip off Halloween, erecting gratuitous gravestones or mining images from scenes in gory horror flicks. In a current anti-union Web ad, Al Franken’s head appears delighted enough to dance disembodied on democracy’s grave. And a new Republican mailer Photoshops U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s face into that of a chainsaw killer. Yet it’s a holiday hook that’s not without its hazards — as a business group learned in Minnesota six years ago, with a mailer that seemed merely macabre one day but appeared to mock the dead the next.