Franken, Bachmann, Walz and Ellison "Bobble Reps"

Asked at Saturday’s Netroots Minnesota conference what blogs he follows, Rep. Tim Walz pulled out his iPhone and rattled off a few sites: Talking Points Memo, Bluestem Prairie, MN Publius and others. Then he showed off his favorite iPhone app — a new one that features his likeness and that of every other member of the House and Senate as shakeable cartoon bobbleheads.

The 99-cent “Bobble Rep” app helps users find out who represents them in Congress, either through a direct search or by using the iPhone’s GPS locator. The caricatures — heads for each of 540 legislators put on one of 12 bodies — were drawn by MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond to be fun and nonpartisan. But Apple didn’t see it that way: it rejected the application claiming “it ridicules public figures.”

Richmond wrote:

This is truly ridiculous. These caricatures aren’t mean or very exaggerated. They are simple, fun cartoon likenesses of the politicians and the purpose of the app is an informational database. There is no editorial commentary involved at all.

Indeed, related projects, while likewise tame, could probably be construed as far more “offensive,” to use Apple’s word. Sen. Franken, for instance, was rendered as a 3D vampire bobblehead, “The Count,” (along with Norm Coleman) by the St. Paul Saints baseball team in March. And earlier this month, Franken and Coleman were given the MAD Magazine treatment in a spoof ad for “Democra-cialis, ” a cure for the kind of “electile dysfunction” that plagued their 2008 Senate battle, in MAD’s list of “dumbest people, events and things” of 2009.

But last Monday, Apple reversed its decision, green-lighting the app that made its way to Walz’s cellphone.

Walz’s wielded smartphone could’ve been a good prop for another question he answered — about net neutrality. He said he’s “absolutely convinced that we must keep net neutrality,” and thanks to his resolve, “AT&T doesn’t even come to my office anymore” to lobby against it, he added. He said he’s surprised that conservatives aren’t more concerned about the freedom issues surrounding the possibility of corporations controlling what internet users can and can’t access.

“If you want to wave the patriot banner,” he said, “wave it on net neutrality.”

Here’s how each of Minnesota’s Bobble Reps look:

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning ….

HENNEPIN COUNTY: They told us it would come to this. The county’s medical center will stop seeing uninsured patients who don’t live in the county: fallout from  Gov. Pawlenty’s line-item veto of funding for indigent care. [Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal]

STATEWIDE: Cities face “horror show” from state budget cuts. Metro area city officials meet today to try to figure out how to avoid the slasher. [League of Minnesota Cities]

MOORHEAD: “Downward spiral” from underfunded schools feared. New residents drawn to new schools will simply leave.  [Minnesota Public Radio]

ST. PAUL: Gentrification coming down the track. Along the planned Central Corridor light rail line, property tax hikes can kill a neighborhood sure as bulldozers.  [Twin Cities Daily Planet]

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Recreation and entertainment infrastructure not core to mission. The U of M’s “intransigence” (to use one key legislator’s word) on its Central Corridor complaints threatens funding for its budget requests at the state Capitol. [Minnesota Daily]

FOLEY: Native son nabs National Book Award. T.J. Stiles, a Carleton College grad, won for his biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. [St. Cloud Times]

Rep. Tim Walz and Allen Quist

Quist’s announcement at 1 p.m. in the Rochester City Council chambers will settle a candidacy question that only a month ago he told the Minnesota Independent was “a big if.”

Quist gained the GOP endorsement in 1994 but failed in a run at becoming governor, losing in the primary to incumbent Arne Carlson, who went on to win re-election. Quist was elected to three terms in the state House in the 1980s.

His wife Julie is Bachmann’s district director.

Walz is a DFLer who has held the southern Minnesota district since unseating Republican Gil Gutknecht in 2006.

That statistic is part of an op-ed by Ellison and the chief sponsor of a companion bill, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, at the Huffington Post.

Another statistic they offer: The top five states for 2008 voter turnout — including Minnesota and Wisconsin — all have same-day registration.

Ellison and Feingold urge the District of Columbia’s city council to adopt reforms today that would allow voters to register at the polls.

The new federal legislation, introduced last week, has not yet attracted co-sponsors beyond its original Democratic backers. They include Minnesota Reps. Tim Walz and Jim Oberstar and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Also quoted in the piece is Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie: “EDR [Election Day Registration] is much more secure because you have the person right in front of you — not a postcard in the mail. … We have 35 years of experience with this.”

Click here for information from Ritchie’s office on how to register to vote on Election Day in Minnesota.

Photo: Chris Steller, Minnesota Independent

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison has introduced a bill that would extend Minnesota-style, same-day voting rights to all eligible Americans in federal elections.

The Same Day Registration Act would let people register at the polling place on Election Day rather than requiring registration weeks or months ahead of time, as most states do.

Same-day registration is already law in seven nine states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, plus the District of Columbia. (North Dakota is the only state to do without voter registration altogether.)

Common Cause claims those states see voter-turnout rates as much as 7 percent higher than others; a 2009 Cal Tech/MIT study (pdf) confirms that “election day registration can increase turnout significantly” and doesn’t increase costs or fraud.

It’s an Upper Midwest thing, it seems. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is the bill’s sponsor in the U.S. Senate, where Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar and Iowa’s Tom Harkin are co-sponsors. In the House, two of five co-sponsors are Minnesotans: Tim Walz and Jim Oberstar. So far, the bill’s sponsors are all Democrats.

In a statement, Ellison said,

Minnesota routinely leads the nation in voter turnout – usually over 70 percent. … Enacting a National Election Day Registration law would do for the nation what same day registration has done for our State – give a voice to all who want to vote.

That 70 percent figure applies to years with presidential races. In off-year elections, turnout has run about 10 percentage points lower.

Ellison’s statement also quotes Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie calling same-day registration a “no brainer” and claiming it is more secure than other states’ systems that require registration in advance, because “you have the person right in front of you — not a postcard in the mail.”

In the U.S. Senate election recount between Al Franken and Norm Coleman, Minnesota showed the nation flaws in its absentee-voting system — some involving the mail. Other states saw major controversies over voter registration in last year’s election. One was Colorado, where the secretary of state purged 44,000 voters from the registration rolls before Election Day, in defiance of court orders. A few hundred managed to cast provisional ballots that were counted.

Ellison’s bill comes just as millions across the country prepare to go to the polls next Tuesday — that is, as long as they’ve registered beforehand, in states where that’s required.

In Minnesota, officials expect half a million voters to turn out. But who knows? A few million more could decide to exercise their franchise on the spur of the moment, and if they haven’t registered yet, no biggie.

Here’s the key language in Ellison’s bill (H.R. 3957):

[E]ach State shall permit any eligible individual on the day of a Federal election and on any day when voting, including early voting, is permitted for a Federal election (A) to register to vote in such election at the polling place using a form that meets the requirements under section 9(b) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; and (B) to cast a vote in such election.

The bill’s first stop in the House in the Committee on House Affairs. None of the members of that committee come from states with same-day voter registration.

Rep. Betty McCollum

Rep. Betty McCollum is spearheading an effort to get nonprofit employees included in the health reform benefits being planned for small businesses. She has penned a letter to congressional leaders urging them to consider nonprofits on a level playing field with small businesses.

A letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer reads, “Nearly all nonprofit organizations are struggling to provide health insurance coverage for their employees. These mainly small employers experience the same higher costs and limited options as their for-profit, small business counterparts.”

The letter has been signed by 22 House members including Minnesota Reps. James Oberstar, Keith Ellison and Tim Walz.

Minnesota’s nonprofits employ nearly 300,000 people, or about 10 percent of Minnesota’s workforce.

Current health care reform plans include tax breaks, subsidies and access to a health insurance exchange for small businesses. If McCollum is successful, those benefits will be extended to nonprofits.

“The millions of Americans who work in the nonprofit sector must be included in health care reform,” McCollum said in a statement. “It’s only fair that nonprofit organizations receive comparable treatment to the small business sector in health care reform legislation. I am encouraged that so many of my colleagues from across the country have joined me in this effort to ensure the benefits of health care reform reach the men and women working for nonprofit organizations.”

“I still think it’s a little early,” she says. “I haven’t really given it too much serious thought. I’m concentrating on just completing my job in the Senate.”

But she certainly sounds like a politician with ambitions beyond her current post. Rosen touts her background as an agronomist, her work on the health-care issues at the Capitol and the fact that she’s a woman as political assets.

“I would be a very formidable candidate against Walz,” she says. “If I decided to run I’d work like a banshee.”

She argues that the two-term Democrat is out of touch with the First Congressional District on issues such as health care reform and cap-and-trade legislation. Despite the fact that Walz won re-election by 30 points in 2008, she believes he’s vulnerable.

“I don’t think I would be even entertaining the thought if I thought he was serving us correctly in all areas,” she says.

So does that mean Rosen’s leaning toward the First District instead of a run at the state’s top elected office? Not necessarily.

“I don’t have a preference one over the other,” she says.

The gubernatorial field already includes nine GOP challengers. And at least two other Republicans — Allen Quist and Jim Hagedorn — are already eyeing a Walz challenge. But Rosen insists that she doesn’t feel any pressure to settle on her plans (if any) for 2010.

“I think the decision will come in the proper time,” she says. “It will all work out if it’s supposed to.”

Photo: Minnesota Independent

Michele Bachmann raised $345,000 in the the third quarter of 2009 — slightly more than Democratic challenger Tarryl Clark. The Sixth Congressional District incumbent had just over $600,000 in the bank at the end of September, as reported by The St. Cloud Times.

Clark reported earlier this week that she brought in just over $300,000 in the two months since announcing her campaign. Bachmann’s other principal Democratic challenger, Maureen Reed, banked $130,000 in the three-month period.

Meanwhile Rep. Tim Walz brought in nearly $130,000 during the third quarter, finishing September with $267,000 in the bank. The two-term incumbent Democrat is yet to draw an official challenger. But former state Rep. Allen Quist has been talking to folks in the First Congressional District about getting into the race. In addition, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reports that Jim Hagedorn, son of former congressman Tom Hagedorn, is seriously considering a run as well.

Other third-quarter fundraising totals continue to roll into the Federal Elections Commission. Four-term Republican Rep. John Kline, who currently has no official challengers, brought in $192,000 and has just over $300,000 cash on hand. Minneapolis Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison reported raising roughly $135,000, with an almost identical amount in the bank at the close of the quarter.

MnIndy file photo

Of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, only ten have missed more votes this session than Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, according to the Washington Post’s tally. Bachmann has missed 105 votes, or 13.6 percent of all votes. Fellow Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen had the state’s best record, missing only six votes in the 111th Congress, just one less than Rep. Tim Walz missed.

While California Democrat Rep. Hilda Solis had the highest rate of missed votes — she missed 59 of 78 possibles votes — the number of missed votes by party is roughly the same: Democrats missed 3.5 percent of votes, while Republicans missed 3.3 percent.

Another Minnesotan high on the list: At number 23, Rep. Keith Ellison missed ten percent of the votes, casting 695 and missing 78. Here’s how others in Minnesota’s delegation fared:

Rep. Betty McCollum: 16 missed (2.1 percent of all votes), 757 cast

Rep. Collin Peterson: 25 missed (1.9), 758 cast

Rep. Jon Kline: 12 missed (1.6), 761 cast

Rep. James Oberstar: 10 missed (1.3), 763 cast

Rep. Tim Walz: 7 missed (1.3), 766 cast

Rep. Erik Paulsen: 6 missed (0.8), 767 cast

As we reported in July, Bachmann and Ellison’s voting records were affected by personal obligations. Both missed time during the week of June 18, which had a record number of votes: Bachmann was spending time with family after a relative’s death, and Ellison was attending his son’s graduation from his Americorps program.

Via Dusty Trice.

Rep. Tim Walz and Allen Quist

Allen Quist has been largely out of the political spotlight for roughly a decade. But according to a recent report on Bluestem Prairie, the conservative Republican is mulling a run at U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in the First Congressional District.

Reached at his home in St. Peter, Quist certainly didn’t shoot down the possibility. “I’m not ready to comment on that,” he told the Minnesota Independent. “If I’m in a position to comment, it won’t be very long. That’s a big if.”

Quist served three terms in the state House and was the GOP-endorsed candidate for governor in 1994, but was handily beaten by Arne Carlson in the primary election. A darling of cultural conservatives, Quist sought the Republican endorsement again in 1998, but dropped out before the state convention in favor of Norm Coleman. Since then he’s worked with EdWatch, a conservative advocacy group that has championed home schooling and criticized public school curricula, and taught at Bethany Lutheran College.

Walz is currently serving his second term, winning re-election last year by 30 percentage points. The contest doesn’t make the cut for most lists of potentially competitive House races for 2010. Historically, the southern Minnesota district has leaned Republican, and the Cook Partisan Voting Index rates it +1 for the GOP, but Democrats have enjoyed considerable electoral success in recent years. Walz initially won the seat by knocking off six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht.

There are no announced challengers for Walz yet. Another name that’s generated a lot of discussion: state Sen. Julie Rosen.

Steve Perkins, chairman of the GOP in the first district, says that others are eyeing the race as well, but he declines to name potential challengers. “Clearly there’s a lot of interest in it,” he says. “We’re certainly going to have a number of very strong, electable candidates. Allen may be one of those candidates.”

Perkins argues that Walz is out of step with the district on a number of issues, including his support for cap-and-trade legislation, the federal stimulus package and health-care reform. He doesn’t believe that the Democratic incumbent’s landslide victory in 2008 means that he’s not vulnerable.

“Why don’t you call on Gil Gutknecht and ask about winning by wide margins?” he laughs. “The horizon in 2010 is going to be infinitely different than what it was in 2008.”