Shelley Madore

Former state legislator Shelley Madore defeated DFL-endorsed Dan Powers by a large margin Tuesday, 54 to 45 percent, and will take on Rep. John Kline in the November general election. Madore challenged Powers after losing the endorsement at the DFL convention. Though she originally said she’d abide by the endorsement, Madore jumped into the race in April, frustrating some DFL activists.

“The voters tonight stepped up and said, you know what? We want a strong challenger against John Kline and they made a choice tonight,” Madore told the Star Tribune late night. “I am prepared. We are ready to go. Our race against John Kline starts tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.”

“Instead of focusing his efforts on job creation and the betterment of Senate District 12, Paul Koering has demonstrated incredibly poor judgment by spending time with an escort and pornographic film star,” GOP chair Tony Sutton said in a statement to the Dispatch. “With his campaign message of lower taxes, sensible government and economic development, Paul Gazelka is the right leader for Senate District 12, and the Republican Party of Minnesota stands united behind his candidacy.”

Koering told the newspaper that he didn’t know what the big deal was.

“I went to dinner with this guy,” Koering said. “His mom is my constituent. I would just say I don’t see where the story is. If I have to start asking someone for a resume when I go out to dinner with him, or lunch, it’s pretty sad.”

lol so funny !! in 45 min’s im going 2 dinner with the senator : )

In an interview with gay porn news website The Sword, Koering admitted to the date.
“I don’t see anything wrong with going out with him. Do I think that being a porn star is the best thing? No. But that’s his choice,” Koering said. “I think he’s a nice guy.”

Wilde has starred in films such as “My Brother’s Hot Friend” and “Cruiser Boys.” He divides his time between Brainerd, Minn., and West Hollywood, Calif., and at one time offered escort services on rentboy.com, the same website where religious right figure George Rekers found his “vacation companion.”

“I think he wanted to get in my pants, truthfully,” he told The Sword following the date. “And he was pretty flirty. But it was just dinner. We both were checking out the waiter though. It was fun.”

“He told me he wants to be president one day! But first, he needs to win his re-election,” Wilde told The Sword. “He said once he was re-elected he’d work on gay rights issues and NOH8 stuff, you know? He said he’d make it so gay marriage was legal in Minnesota.”

Koering denied that portion of the conversation.

On the sixth ballot, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher edged out Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak Saturday to become the DFL-endorsed candidate for governor. “DFLers, are you ready to make some history?” Kelliher asked the crowd at the party’s convention in Duluth: She’s the first woman gubernatorial candidate endorsed by a major party in Minnesota history.

According to Smart Politics, her endorsement is also somewhat unique in the Midwest. While Democrats in Iowa have endorsed a female candidate for governor twice, it’s never happened in Wisconsin or South Dakota.

Kelliher will immediately get the backing of party leaders. On Monday, Sen. Al Franken, Reps. Tim Walz, Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, state Sen. John Marty and Rep. Paul Thissen will appear at a rally in Bloomington as part of a statewide tour.

But opponents were quick on the attack. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, a group opposed to all abortions as well as comprehensive sex education, criticized Kelliher, who has the endorsement of EMILY’s List.

“Anderson Kelliher is an extremist on the issue of abortion,” said MCCL Executive Director Scott Fischbach in a statement. “She has never heard of an abortion she didn’t support or want to force taxpayers to pay for.”

While conservative groups launch their attacks on Kelliher, she will face a primary challenge on Aug. 10 by two candidates who have significant resources; Matt Entenza and Mark Dayton have significant family financial resources to draw from. (Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner will also be running in the primary.)

“This is really going to be Margaret versus two Goliaths,” Kelliher said on Saturday.

Photo: Minnesota Independent

Woodbury attorney Chris Johnston says he is “mulling a run” against Rep. Michele Bachmann in the next Republican primary. Johnston says the district needs to be represented by a Republican “who thinks before they speak.”

Johnston, a self-described “common sense conservative attorney” who has a practice in Roseville, says he is only exploring a run. On his blog he had some harsh words for Bachmann:

“You may have heard of her…Michelle Bachmann. Yes, that Michelle Bachmann — the hiding in the bushes during a gay rally, the “anti-American” hurling, malaprop spouting, they took me out of context, Congress woman. Mrs. Bachmann and I do share some strong conservative beliefs but it has become painfully aware that the people of the 6th District deserve to be represented by someone who thinks before they speak and will work hard to effectively represent every citizen of the district.”

Johnston says he’s had quite a bit of support, but that some prominent Republicans are worried that anti-Bachmann crossover voting from DFLers will spoil the primary. But Johnston said he isn’t too concerned about that.

“Seems to me that what is in the best interest of the party is to have the best candidate on the ballot in November,” he wrote.

No, I didn’t sleep in: I’m in Thailand, thirteen hours ahead, visiting family, and that commentator was Suthichai Yoon, the group editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Nation, the country’s only Thai-owned English-language daily newspaper. In two days I’d be meeting with Suthichai on a personal call — to discuss media and say hi from an old friend, Jim Boyd, former mentor to Minnesota Monitor and a Harvard Nieman fellow with Suthichai years ago. Given the chance to meet one of Thailand’s pre-eminent political thinkers, I decided to ask him a few questions about how the American presidential race is playing in Asia, and how our trade, diplomatic and economic policies affect people half a world away.

Photo: Santikan Boontongkumkaewmanee

By Holly Yeager at our sister site, The Washington Independent

The votes were still being counted Tuesday night when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) looked ahead to the next stage of the Republican primary campaign, trying to shore up support among conservatives who remain resistant to his candidacy.

“I enlisted as a soldier in the Reagan revolution,” McCain declares in a new television advertisement that aired in the Washington area, home of much of the conservative establishment and the site of next week’s “Potomac Primary” for voters in Maryland, Washington and Virginia.

The spot shows McCain, the war hero, when he was a POW in Vietnam, then shaking hands with Ronald Reagan, a revered figure in the modern conservative movement. The tag line: “John McCain, the true conservative.”

The direct appeal to the conservative base of the Republican Party came as McCain claimed victory in nine states on Super-Duper Tuesday — a strong showing, but not enough to take a firm hold of the nomination.

For McCain, though, it was enough to claim the lead. “Tonight,” he told cheering supporters in Phoenix, “I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front-runner for the nomination of president of the United States.”

The results also brought more cheer to Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher, who showed surprising strength, winning states across the South with strong support from evangelicals. It rescued his candidacy, at least for the time being.

“Over the past few days, a lot of people have been saying this is a two-man race,” Huckabee declared in Little Rock. “And you know what? It is. And we’re in it.”

Mitt Romney, who had hoped to be the second man in that two-man race, also won several states on Tuesday — including Massachusetts, where he was governor, and Michigan, where his father was. He beat McCain among voters who identified themselves as conservatives, 42 percent to 30 percent, according to national exit polls, and vowed, too, to keep fighting.

The protracted battle is unusual for Republicans, who generally fall in line quickly behind an establishment candidate. Some party leaders, including Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, have begun to urge the GOP to avoid further in-fighting and coalesce around a nominee. This has been the party’s standard operating procedure.

But conservatives remain unhappy with McCain, pointing to his opposition to President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, his support for immigration reform, his authorship of campaign finance reform and his public clashes with leaders of the religious right. Their displeasure is expected to be in evidence later this week in Washington, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

James Dobson, the founder and CEO of Focus on the Family, yesterday showed no signs of softening his opposition to McCain. “I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative,” he said, “and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. …I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.” (As Colorado Confidential reported, Dobson has yet to say who he would support.)

McCain relied Tuesday on the votes of moderates, who favored him over Romney, 52 percent to 24 percent. In California, the biggest prize of the night, 51 percent of Republican voters who think abortion should be legal backed McCain — even though he is not pro-choice. Many of his victories came in states like Connecticut, Illinois and New York that often go to Democrats in general elections.

While such backing may help McCain secure the nomination — he now has more than half the delegates he needs — party strategists worry it could hurt Republican chances of holding on to the White House in November’s general election. Conservatives have provided much of the party’s election-day prowess in recent years, and lackluster support for McCain could keep some away from the polls.

McCain’s struggle with the core of the GOP was also evident in the results in his home state of Arizona, a traditional conservative stronghold. He won the state, but his 47 percent of the vote was a less-than-overwhelming endorsement from those who know him best. Romney took 34 percent of the vote.

Romney and McCain also clashed Tuesday in West Virginia, where Romney won the first round of voting at a GOP caucus. Under party rules, he did not have enough votes to be declared the winner, so a second round was held. At that point, McCain’s backers threw their support to Huckabee, making him the winner in the state.

The Romney campaign used the episode to hammer home its critique of McCain. “Unfortunately, this is what Sen. McCain’s inside-Washington ways look like,” said Beth Myers, Romney’s campaign manager. “He cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Gov. Romney’s campaign of conservative change.”

Whether McCain can convince Republican voters that he, too, stands for conservative change remains to be seen.

(image from Wikipedia)9:00 am — local bloggers start to weigh in:

At Centrisity:

The Republicans have had over 7 years in the White House, and controlled both legislative houses early on. They have shown they do not have the judgment necessary to lead this country, in fact, their decision have created a tumultuous environment not only economically, but globally as well. I may agree with them on the 2nd amendment, and fiscal restraint, on public funding options and the War on terror. But support on those issues aren’t enough to allow them to remain in control of the White House. There is a lot more to this race then personal preference on a handful of issues. We have internationally healing that needs to take place, and economy to save, and an education system to salvage. The GOP has shown they just aren;t up to it, so it is time to put the grown-ups back in charge.

RM

9:30 am — Via Polinaut, Pawlenty is being introduced around as being on McCain’s short list” for VP candidates.  Governor Molnau anyone?

A Norwegianity reader send him this email:

Our house just got a phone call (real person, according to Wife) from -supposedly- Obama ’08, informing us to caucus at a different location than S.o.S. Mn. The number was local (612) so I tried to call back. Phone rings to the answering service for Meyers Assc. Have you heard about anyone else being redirected to caucus locations?

==

If you’ve had this issue as well, or any other strange pre-caucus experience, we’d like to hear from you.
RM

10:00 am — James Lileks’s daughter supports Hillary, Lileks threatens to not take her to Disney World.

From our sister site, The Washington Independent, how will early voting effect the outcome in California?

In California, the super-strong Service Employees International Union had endorsed Edwards. But after some nudging from Ted Kennedy, it’s now supporting Obama.

This-and other recent developments-could all matter less than we think. Some 2.5 million early ballots have already been returned in California, and just 50-60 percent of ballots in the state are expected to actually be cast on Feb. 5.

Early voting is a factor in other states, too. Anybody want a do-over?

And Smart Politics will also be liveblogging results, with one blog for each of the 24 participating states.  That’s sounds like a ton of work, and we are happy to let them do it… RM

12:00 pm — More from the Norwegianity reader:

I called the number for Meyer Assc. back this morning- actually spoke to someone too- telling me that “it must have been a mistake” to give me the Republican caucus location. The person didn’t seem to be too concerned about it though. Next call was to the S.o.S- all I could do was leave a message. I called Obamas local HQ, the volunteer had heard of some similar calls and initially thought it was due to an ill informed volunteer caller. When I informed him that this was a professional marketing firm he got quite excited and went to talk to the higher ups. I got the impression that Obama isn’t using a professional calling service.

More blogger endorsements, as Hal Kimball, Jambo,Gary, Mitch and Michael weigh in.

Did you know you can challenge a person’s right to caucus for your party?  I didn’t, either.

And the Uptake has some video from an Obama and a Romney rally.  RM

1:30 pm — Is the Minnesota caucus a disaster waiting to happen?  Dave Mindeman thinks so:

As we approach the zero hour for caucuses, my confidence in the ability of the DFL structure to maintain an orderly process has approached absolute zero.

The public message is …everybody come…. with little thought regarding “how many can we process in an hour and a half”. That is a question that needed to be addressed long ago, but that ship has sailed.

Because the caucus dates were moved up, school facilities did not have the time to change their regularly scheduled activities. Normal caucus procedures needed to be altered to accomodate a “binding” presidential poll. And there has never been a test of the new registration method…..(which might have worked great in regular caucus years, but this year is nowhere near regular).

So, be prepared for some frustration and lines and confusion.

And be prepared for a late night for posting results. Good luck, DFL, you will need it!

More kids weigh in on the presidential race.  My baby, in case you are wondering, will just vote like I tell her to…

Some folks are so excited they just can’t wait to vote. Too bad their state isn’t voting today.

RM

2:15 pm — First results are in, and Mike Huckabee has won West Virginia’s delegates.

Wondering where feminists stand on the Obama v Clinton fight?  Here’s the roundup.

Speaking of which, Hillary Clinton has agreed to a Fox News Democratic debate.

National Review Online calls us hopelessly complicated.

RM

2:36 p.m. If you’re interested in minimalist anti-Clinton ads, BoingBoing has you covered.

JKF

2:41 p.m. Barack Obama holds an early lead in at least one of the states up for grabs today: Democrats Abroad, which sends 22 delegates to the national convention. The delegation is made up of Democrats who live outside the U.S. Obama received early support from Democrats living in Indonesia, where Obama spent part of his childhood.

JKF

3:03 pm — Want to talk huge?  Tonight’s results will be billboard huge.  From our inbox:

Minnesota caucus results to be displayed tonight on digital billboards

If you’re out and about on the road tonight, you will have a new way to stay updated on Minnesota’s caucus results.

Starting at 8 p.m., Clear Channel Outdoor’s 16 digital billboards located throughout the Twin Cities will display results from Minnesota’s DFL and Republican caucuses.

This effort is in partnership with KMSP Fox 9 News to help people stay up-to-date on Super Tuesday as Minnesota caucus goers make their decisions.

  RM

3:23  pm — Google Maps + Twitter + Super Tuesday= This.

Just popped up: FrankVanRad in Minneapolis tweets:

Ugh, local republican caucus is at my alma mater. Maybe that will convince them to fund education given the school’s current sorry state.

TE

3:43 pm — Warm weather in Georgia may make for a huge turnout.

TE

4:43 pm — The Obamas vote: “It was close, but in the end I voted for Obama,” joked Sen. Barack Obama. “I still think Sen. Clinton is the favorite,” he said.

TE
 

6:00 p.m. — First Democratic call of the night: Georgia for Obama. Not a surprise, as he’d been expected to do well.

GOP in Georgia is too close to call.

JKF

6:02 p.m. — Keeping an eye on the economy, sales of boxed Macaroni and Cheese are way up, and not just because of my daughter. The bad news? Well, box Macaroni and Cheese has never been known as the food of the rich, as anyone who’s heard the Barenaked Ladies’ hit “If I Had a Million Dollars” can tell you.

JKF

7:10 — report from caucuses.  I just got a call from a goer in edina stating that there is a two mile line of cars trying to get into his caucus.  our caucus is already at three times the 2004 turnout.  RW

The sculptures were created for the Jan. 10 GOP debate there, but one shot of the installation seems to suggest the make-or-break nature of the Jan. 16 primary for Fred Thompson, who, as the Wall Street Journal says, has “fizzled” in all previous contests. From the looks of it, he’s being… buried alive.

Lest my headline offend, don’t worry: Next week, the Democrats will have their heads in the sand, too.

Photo: Bob Urban