RNC

A new study says the net economic impact of the 2008 Republican National Convention on Minnesota’s economy was $170 million, Minnesota Public Radio reports. (The research was done for the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee by the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Retail Excellence, so you know it’s good.) But when the St. [...]

Rep. Tim Walz has responded to “misleading ads” that started airing yesterday thanks to bankrolling by the state and national GOP, but the gist of his emailed complaint seems to be with rightwing activists set on shouting down legislators like him at town hall meetings on health care reform.

The Republican Party of Minnesota and the Republican National Committee released a pair of ads on Tuesday attacking Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson on health care reform. The spots spoof the ubiquitous television ads for prescription medications using a fake drug, “Reforma.” They’re not new, having been around since July, but this is the [...]

It was the speech that was supposed to introduce Gov. Tim Pawlenty as a national figure to GOP party leaders, and he did get applause — and even some laughs — from the 200 people at the Republican National Committee luncheon yesterday. But his address seemed to be on the meek side for a potential Republican standard-bearer. [...]

He didn’t quite get to be vice president on the GOP ticket last year, but today Gov. Tim Pawlenty was named vice chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA).

Gov. Tim Pawlenty will address members of the Republican National Committee July 30 in San Diego. It’s a chance to introduce himself to party leaders, Politico reports, quoting an unnamed adviser’s view that “a lot of Republicans don’t know who he is.”

Iran has proven the headline prescient, even if the terminology needed tweaking: “The revolution will be Twittered.” That was the title of Tom Elko’s Sept. 9, 2008, Minnesota Independent post about how Twitter messages (technically, “tweets” that were “tweeted”) came in handy during protests outside the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Roll Call reports that, on this day when Norm Coleman is expected to hear from the state Supreme Court about his prospects of returning to the U.S. Senate, another Minnesota Coleman has secured a new gig in Washington. After serving as the former Minnesota senator’s communications director, LeRoy Coleman has been named director of media [...]

A clothes-shopping spree that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin started in Minnesota didn’t break the law, in the opinion of the Federal Election Commission, even though it was paid for by the GOP.

The Des Moines Register obtained confidential documents last week that show a Ramsey County deputy traveled to Iowa to infiltrate groups protesting the Republican National Convention. The deputy was working for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office as well as the FBI.