Rep. Michele Bachmann will headline a rally on Monday sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, a tea party-related think tank founded by an owner of Koch Industries. The rally coincides with the final weeks of the 111th Congress, where Democrats will try to pass several of their initiatives before the Republicans take control of the House in January.

The rally, part of an AFP project called November Speaks, will attempt to dissuade Democrats from passing funding for health care reform, Cap and Trade, or the Employee Free Choice Act.

“Congress must respect the will of the people and refrain from passing any new legislation that supports or funds the left’s global warming agenda, the bailout for union pensions or funding for the Obama-Pelosi health care takeover,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity.

Along with Bachmann, the event will also feature Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana

An e-mail from AFP grassroots director Chris Marie Farr said, “Michele Bachmann wants you in DC, Monday!”

“Now that November is here, we must fight to protect what we’ve worked so hard for. We can’t let the Senate push through their big government agenda in the final hour,” Farr wrote. “We must stop their plans to implement policy rejected by the American people in a lame duck session starting November 15th.”

A rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer at a Lake Street Mexican restaurant was canceled on Thursday after pressure from members of Minnesota’s Latino community and supporters. The rally, to be held at a popular Lake Street restaurant, was canceled after the owner was told the event was for Emmer. He told Spanish-language radio station La Invasora 1400 that the organizers failed to tell him it was a political rally.

Oscar Reyes, owner of the Los Mojarras Restaurant, said that the rally was set up by Rich Aguilar, who did not tell him it was a rally for Emmer. Aguilar, a Republican activisit, is a member of the Metropolitan Council who was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He did not respond to a weekend request for comment.

Calling the move “cínico” (cynical), radio host Alberto Monserrate said, “In all of the organizing I’ve observed, those setting up events let businesses know that it’s a campaign-related event because of the potential for customer disapproval. Those organizing this rally appear to have sought a meeting in the Latino community, but failed to tell the Latino small business owner that this event was for Emmer.”

The Republican Party of Minnesota sent out an email to its members on Oct. 19 alerting them to a “rally with gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer in Minneapolis.” By Thursday, the event had been canceled. An email alert to members didn’t explain the cancellation or the controversy surrounding it: “The Tom Emmer event that was originally planned for Saturday morning in Minneapolis has been CANCELLED,” the email said.

According to a press release, Reyes said learned that it was an Emmer rally after “community organizers and activists” made hay out of the planned event on Twitter and Facebook.

On La Invasora, Reyes and Monserrate noted that some of Emmer’s policies are not in line with mainstream Latino voters.

Emmer made headlines earlier this year when he said that Arizona’s SB1070 was a “wonderful first step.” He has also called for making English Minnesota’s official language.

The interview with Oscar Reyes is available here.

The highlight, though, was this cryptic exchange about President-elect Barack Obama:

NYT: Are you going to send him a little note congratulating him?
Rove: I already have. I sent it to his office. I sent him a handwritten note with funny stamps on the outside.
NYT: What kind of funny stamps?
Rove: Stamps.

That called to mind one of the more cryptic MnIndy interviews of the campaign season. It took place last month, outside a Todd Palin rally in Moorhead, Minn. Prompted by the Minnesota Independent’s Paul Demko, Moorhead resident Greg Rhodes, a McCain-Palin supporter, revealed that he’d just handed Alaska’s “first dude” some photographs. What kind of photographs?  Watch a less-than-a-minute MnIndy video clip after the jump to find out.

UPDATED  Ana Marie Cox heard “Arab terrorist.” Josh Marshall is reserving judgment now hears only “Arab.” And The Uptake offers a post-game interview with the speaker herself. But one way to judge whether the woman at the Oct. 10 rally in Lakeville, Minn., told Sen. John McCain that Sen. Barack Obama is (merely) “an Arab” or (alternatively) “an Arab terrorist” is to watch video clips from the event for the reactions of people in the crowd who could see her speaking.

See for yourself in videos after the jump, including The Uptake’s subtitled interview with McCain’s interlocutor (campaign volunteer Gayle Quinnell of Shakopee, Minn.) in which she cites the source of her Obama information: an inflammatory flyer circulating at McCain’s local HQ.

Zapruder-like analysis of videos shot from a couple angles reveals a short span of time after the word “Arab” is uttered in which no more is audible but no one yet reacts — a moment long enough for the word “terrorist” to have been mouthed, even if it wasn’t picked up on-mic. The world seems to wait a beat … and then at least two women in the audience visibly react to what they just heard (or saw) being said — whatever it was. (Then McCain offers his “No, he’s a decent man” non-sequiter, but that’s another story.)

The Uptake’s video clip from event and later interview:

The Uptake video, with subtitles (transcript here):

TPM’s clip montage:

TPM’s new clip showing speaker’s face:

Ana Marie Cox has updated her original post to say that after seeing the video (that shows the speaker from behind), she has concluded it doesn’t bear out what she thought she heard the speaker say at the scene: “Arab terrorist.” She notes, however, that the interview video suggests that “terrorist” is indeed on the lips of this McCain backer.

By five Hatch and Klobuchar supporters had started to turn out and were trying to cover all 4 corners. Soon after a Hutchinson contingent showed up in bright orange shirts and ponchos with Indy the Buffalo. The Hutchinson team managed to take over one of the corners while the Hatch team rallied with Hatch’s daughter speaking as well as DFL Associate Chair Donna Cassault.

more inside

The Hutchinson team with the guitarist and Buffalo sang “We’re not going to take it, anymore”. A group of teens on the Hatch corner retaliated with “You’re not going to make it, but we are.” They had about 50 people singing as loud as they could.

Nearly an hour later a bus with some Pawlenty supporters showed up and tried to get some traction on one of the corners but with only about 15 people, 25 with the Kennedy folks they had a hard time making a dent in the show of Hatch and Klobuchar signs.

The nearly block and a half line to get into the Fitzgerald for the free and final debate had plenty of people without buttons or stickers on proclaiming their allegiance, a few undecided people turned out to hear the final candidate pitches.

There were plenty of people who did have their minds made up.

“I think they [the Pawlenty supporters] are at the Chili Peppers concert.” Tim from Shorewood was out supporting Governor Pawlenty, “He got us out of a budge mess without raising taxes.” He was very pleased with Pawlenty’s environmental record as well as the JOBZ program saying Pawlenty is “progressive on creating jobs out in rural Minnesota”.

Boris, a Hutchinson supporter from Downtown St. Paul, said, “I’ve been supporting Peter since July when I saw his campaign video online.” He said the reason he supported Hutchinson was “he is the only one who is going to address the issues.”

“I’m tired of property taxes going up,” said Carol a Hatch supporter from Near North Minneapolis, “I’d be happy to pay more taxes if we got important things out of it, I’d like to see medical care for the poor.”  Carol who said she agreed with Hatch on all the issues said, “I think he represents Minnesotan’s better than Pawlenty.”

You can listen to the debate here.

Color code for signs:
Blue with red- Hatch
Blue with green- Klobuchar
Red with White- Pawlenty
Blue with white- Kennedy
Orange with Blue- Hutchinson
Yellow shirts- Hatch