Well, we have had a bit more happen in the Minnesota Senate race for Mark Dayton's vacant seat.
We have a new DFL contender, Ford W. Bell, who is the president of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.
We also had Darth Cheney visit for a Mark Kennedy fundraiser. The closer Kennedy is tied to Cheney/Rove and the more public the Plame Grand Jury hearings become, the better the odds for the DFL candidate.
More details below.
First, some more
details on Ford Bell.
"I believe our party stands for fairness, for generosity of spirit and for a commitment to help people improve their lives," Bell said. "We are the party of opportunity -- not limited opportunity for a privileged few, but opportunity for everyone."
<snip>
Bell said he favors universal single-payer health care, preservation of Social Security, energy independence, "a new pay scale for teachers" and stronger environmental commitments.
He also opposes the war in Iraq and said he will "be a strong voice for peace and for bringing an end to a war that has taken the lives of almost 1,800 young Americans."
Now to our never-ending observation of the dark side. I just loved the opening two paragraphs in this story.
Vice President Dick Cheney made a stealth visit Friday to a Lake Minnetonka luncheon fundraiser for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, while the DFL Party and national Democrats put on a dog show.
About a quarter-mile from the GOP campaign contributors-only event at TCF Chairman Bill Cooper's lakeshore mansion, a couple dozen DFLers held a news conference depicting Kennedy, the Republican Sixth District congressman, as a lapdog for President Bush.
Now for details of the fundraiser itself
At Friday's fundraiser, steak salads and wine were served to those who paid $1,000 to attend. For $4,200, a couple could pose for photos with Cheney. The event raised about $300,000, said a source close to the Kennedy campaign.
<snip>
The Cheney fundraiser was heavily secured by Secret Service agents and police from several Twin Cities jurisdictions. Parking wasn't allowed on two-lane Ferndale Road W. for at least a quarter-mile in each direction. Agents and police shooed passersby away from the end of the driveway because it was "inside the secure perimeter." A handful of neighbors moved about 25 yards down the road, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of Cheney.
This event was not heavily publicized, however this next part makes me recall the public service commercials of the crying "Indian."
A lone protester stood on the street outside the Cooper house for a couple of hours with a sign that read "Close military bases in Iraq, not the U.S."
This is shaping up to be a hugely negative fight from the Republican side. The good news is that Kennedy has at least one challenger for the Republican primary. Bad news is that more and more DFL'ers are joining so that warchests will be further strained come the home-stretch.
Update [2005-7-23 18:53:9 by guyermo]:
I decided to list the known candidates just for reference.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Amy Klobuchar
Patty Wetterling
Kelly Doran
Ford Bell
Republican
Mark Kennedy
Harold Shudlick
Independence