Minnesota Legislature follow-up

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Wednesday November 07, 2012 · 11:51 AM PST

2012/11/07 · 11:51

I was curious to see how the Minnesota legislature predictions by AndrewMN and OGGoldy turned out.

Biggest Upsets in Minnesota: These are the races where neither diary predicted the correct winner. Either AndrewMN had Tossup and OGGoldy had the wrong party, or both had the wrong party.

Senate:
District 17, Lyle Koenen (D) over Joe Gimse (R)
District 21, Matt Schmit (D) over John Howe (R)
District 28, Jeremy Miller (R) over Jack Krage (D)
District 49, Melisa Franzen (D) over Keith Downey (R)
District 51: Jim Carlson (D) over Ted Daley (R)

4 "big upsets" for the DFL, 1 "big upset" for the GOP.

House:
District 1B: Deb Kiel (R) over Marc Demers (D)
District 2A: Roger Erickson (D) over Dave Hancock (R)
District 2B: Steve Green (R) over Brita Sailer (D)
District 51B: Laurie Halverson (D) over Doug Wardlow (R)

Both the DFL and GOP had 2 "big upsets."

Bonus: Mary Franson (R) only leads by one vote over Bob Cunniff, that might change in a recount. Both diaries had Franson winning. Any DFLer in Alexandria who didn't vote feels like a really big idiot right now.

ajwagner

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Tuesday July 10, 2012 · 3:40 PM PDT

2012/07/10 · 15:40

Here on Daily Kos there have been a number of diaries arguing that the long-term economic vision of Mitt Romney and the Republicans is to loot and plunder the U.S. until we have living standards more akin to a Third World country, at which point they won't even continue to care about the U.S., and will move on to another target.

Well, if a letter in today's Wisconsin State Journal is any indication, perhaps some Republicans are starting to think things are getting bad enough that people will see the "need" to lower living standards as just another "hard truth" rather than the outrage it really is.

Interestingly, he doesn't necessarily seem reflexively anti-government. But he also doesn't think that it's important for millionaires to take a similar hit to their lifestyle through fairer taxes, either, whether out of a sense that we could do something with that money or simply as a matter of fairness.

The last two paragraphs really provide the most succinct look into this worldview. Take a look down below:

ajwagner

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Thursday January 19, 2012 · 8:10 AM PST

2012/01/19 · 08:10

Here in Madison, WI there is a bar owner that always runs right-wing, anti-government talking points in his ads every week. He's clearly more of a libertarian and not a social conservative, but he never talks about the social conservatives--it's always trashing the Democrats and our progressive mayor and city council.

Seems like an odd business strategy but then again even in Madison, about 30-35% of voters vote Republican--I guess it makes them feel like they have a safe space to go.

So imagine my surprise to see his ad today slamming the Republicans for obstructing Obama's jobs bills.

ajwagner

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Tuesday June 17, 2008 · 4:50 PM PDT

2008/06/17 · 16:50

The Wisconsin Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee has noted that there are only 8 seats (out of 99) without a Democratic incumbent or challenger. Republicans control the house 52-47 right now. However, this point could use some more analysis. Some of these seats are very strongly Republican statewide, but some are quite even between the parties or even slightly Democratic, and there is no excuse for not having a candidate.

The eight districts, and the biggest city located in them, are the 6th (Shawano), 23rd (Mequon), 27th (Sheboygan Falls), 33rd (Hartland), 58th (West Bend), 59th (Cedar Grove), 67th (Chippewa Falls), and 99th (Hartford). In particular, Russ Feingold and Jim Doyle did well in the 23rd and 67th.

Below, a couple lines of analysis for each district (mostly statewide election results broken down by district.) I will be using the 2004 Senate and Presidential races and the 2006 Governor race to provide more information on the partisan breakdown.

ajwagner

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Wednesday June 29, 2005 · 9:01 PM PDT

2005/06/29 · 21:01

From Roscoe Bartlett's website (http://www.bartlett.house.gov), comes this little headline:

"This afternoon, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett enjoyed an extensive discussion about peak oil with President George W. Bush at the White House. Congressman Bartlett declined to discuss or characterize any of his private conversation with the President, but said that he was very happy about the meeting."

It's not much to go on, but of all the House members, Bartlett was the most worried about peak oil, just look at his speeches on his House web site. So if he was happy about the meeting, perhaps there is some cause for hope that there might be some action soon. Not time to celebrate, but it's a start.

Before we jump on Feingold

ajwagner

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Thursday March 03, 2005 · 12:21 PM PST

2005/03/03 · 12:21

So, it seems like everyone is jumping on McCain-Feingold here and is making assumptions about their desire to regulate activities on the Internet. I agree, if they're really trying to regulate links and content of a web site, then we need to fight about that. But let's remember a few things here.

1. Russ was the only member of the Senate to vote against the Patriot Act and its infringments on civil liberties. Do you really think he would be out in front of a policy that tries to restrict speech on a web site?

(more below) Read More

Eliot Spitzer = Election Reform?

ajwagner

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Sunday December 05, 2004 · 8:26 PM PST

2004/12/05 · 20:26

I've seen lots of interest and respect here lately for Eliot Spitzer. And I've also seen a lot about election machine reform (and that's an understatement.) But no one's quite synthesized the two yet, as far as I can tell, so, here goes... Read More

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Minnesota Legislature follow-up

They're Not Even Pretending Anymore

Another Wisconsin GOP small business owner wakes up?

Wisconsin Assembly-- 8 seats away from challenging every seat

Bartlett discusses peak oil with Bush

Before we jump on Feingold

Eliot Spitzer = Election Reform?