Bad pollsters active in Minnesota

By |

Last night I got a robocall poll from none other than Rasmussen Reports. I went ahead and did the whole thing. It was about the U.S. Senate and Governor races, which other polling has consistently shown to be pretty much locks, and quite possibly even double-digit wins, for Al Franken and Mark Dayton, respectively. The robo-voice asked whether I vote in every election (“yes”). Some questions later it spit out something like “Sometimes, something comes up that may prevent people from voting. Do you think there’s any chance that maybe you won’t vote on election day?” (That’s not an exact quote, I wasn’t recording it, but it’s the gist.) That may indicate that Rasmussen intends to apply a super-tight “likely voter” screen, in order to get numbers more favorable to Minnesota Republicans, which the latter, and corporate media, can then pimp as evidence of Mike McFadden and Jeff Johnson “surging.” Or, Rasmussen may correctly recognize those races as lost causes for the GOP, and tell it like it is, so they can claim to have been “accurate.” Either way, I suggest not taking seriously whatever they provide. The firm may be under new ownership, but it’s still Rasmussen. Continue Reading

17 debates that could determine Minnesota’s future

By |

Could a handful of debates really determine Minnesota’s future?Consider this: Minnesota’s legislature has changed hands twice in the last four years on what amounts to a few votes per precinct. Elections for U.S. Senate and Governor both triggered recounts because they were so close. One Minnesota congressional district has flipped from one party to another the last three elections.In a campaign, there is nothing bigger than a face-to-face debate between the candidates. This election season, The UpTake will bring you coverage of 17 of those debates that could determine who wins the election and ultimately determines Minnesota’s future.A single debate for Minnesota’s most spendy congressional raceIt used to be automatic. As sure as it would snow every winter, Minnesota’s Iron Range would elect a Democrat to congress. Continue Reading

Debate double-header: Sen. Al Franken vs. Mike McFadden, Gov. Mark Dayton vs. challengers Jeff Johnson and Hannah Nicollet

By |

UPDATE, 10/2/14: Scroll down to watch replays of the Franken-McFadden debate and the Minnesota gubernatorial debate.Sen. Al Franken has been all business and few laughs during his first term in Washington. However, Republican challenger Mike McFadden has been going for the laughs with his campaign commercials showing him taking a punch in the lower extremities from a youth football player.The two never had much of a chance to mix it up in their pre-primary debate at Farmfest because other Republican challengers were also on stage. The UpTake was the only media organization to provide live video coverage of the Farmfest debate that included several other Republican challengers. So their 8 a.m. Oct. 1 debate in Duluth is the first one-on-one meeting between the two. Continue Reading

McFadden benefits from allegedly involuntary donations

By |

Some of the more control-freakish and ideological employers push their employees to donate to the employer’s preferred candidates. They may stay on a legal line in terms of requiring employees to make donation as a condition of employment, but when the employer pushes for those donations to go through the employer, the message is pretty clear. One such employer is Murray Energy Corp., which is being sued by a former employee on the grounds she was fired for failing to donate to the specified candidates, including Mike McFadden. Continue Reading

Carrie Wasley, candidate for protecting water in Ramsey County

By |

The Ramsey Conservation District (RCD) is commonly called the water board. The board protects the quality of lakes and drinking water from storm runoff. Controlling water runoff also conserves our good top soil. The board encourages people to have rain gardens that trap rain and redirect back into building back up our water table. Since water is our most critical resource, the people who serve on this board are unnoticed heroes. Continue Reading

Rebecca Otto’s opponent implodes

By |

State Auditor Rebecca Otto might as well be allowed to pick her opponents. Wouldn’t get much of a different result. Her primary opponent ran a well-funded lousy campaign, but I thought she might have been the one statewide DFLer to draw a serious opponent. Randy Gilbert is a professional auditor and a small town mayor, so he actually has a relevant resume for the job. The other Republicans are pretty much running just on “vote for me because I’m extremely rich” or “vote for me because I’m extremely conservative”, maybe spiced with shouts of “Obamacare!” and “voter fraud!”. So I wondered, after he was nominated, if Gilbert might be the Republican with the best chance. Then a week ago, Dan.Burns posted: Continue Reading

Bill Maher, John Kline, Mike Obermueller and student debt

By |

As interesting as it is that Bill Maher picked one of our congressmen, Rep. John Kline, CD2, for his #FlipADistrict contest, the reasoning is interesting. He explained it on his Sept. 12 Real Time with Bill Maher. The bit I refer to starts around 2:40, where Maher said the issue of student debt inspired most of the votes for Kline, and then he tore into Kline’s record: Continue Reading

Six reasons why Hmong Americans should vote this year

By |

Historically, the Hmong community has had one of the lowest voter turnouts, but with outreach campaigns there have been considerable advances made in increasing a Hmong voting bloc in Minnesota.While Hmong Americans have faced cultural perceptions that voting makes no difference in the past, the Hmong population in Minnesota has the potential to make a large impact on elections this year, and could greatly benefit the Hmong community, given high voter turnout. So, here are six reasons why Hmong Minnesotans should vote this election year. 1. Minnesota is home to the second largest Hmong population in the U.S.It’s no secret that Minnesota has a large Hmong population.According to 2010 census data, 66,181 Hmong Americans reside in Minnesota, putting the state second behind California for largest Hmong population in the United States. That also means there’s a large potential for the Hmong community in Minnesota to be an important voter bloc for local politicians, but the keyword above is “home.”The Hmong narrative has majorly been about their involvement in the Vietnam War with the C.I.A. and repatriation of refugees to Laos or Vietnam. This common narrative has shaped the structure of Hmong organizations, clans, culture, and leadership in the U.S.But despite the strong connection to Laos and Vietnam, especially from elders and leaders, the Hmong community in Minnesota is here to stay; it is now their home.Recent college graduate Selue Kazoua Yang said she believes that voting is very much a part of the past struggles of the Hmong community. Continue Reading

Amend the Constitution to restore the democracy the Roberts court killed

By |

Money is not speech. Corporations are not persons. Most of us intuitively understand that. The Supreme Court clearly does not. In Citizens United v. FEC, it ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to expend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. More recently, in McCutcheon v. FEC they struck down the overall caps on how much money wealthy individuals can contribute directly to campaigns and to party committees. The Supreme Court’s decisions are wrong and they deserve to be overruled with a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment to its rightful place protecting American democracy, instead of as a tool to suppress speech rather than enhance it. Continue Reading