Minnesota
By Eric Ostermeier on March 31, 2008
Despite relatively positive news coming out of Iraq and a new campaign season that has focused the lens of the news media off the sitting president to the new contenders, George W. Bush cannot shake the horrendous job approval rating that he has faced in the Upper Midwest for...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 25, 2008
With the 2008 general election just about seven months away, Minnesotans are very wary about the state of the nation's economy, and appear to be ready to vote for a candidate who can best protect their pocketbook. The percentage of Gopher State residents who view the U.S. economy as 'excellent'...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 21, 2008
In polling conducted just as the Reverend Wright story broke nationally last week, Hillary Clinton appears to have made substantial gains across the Upper Midwest in terms of her relative competitiveness with Republican nominee John McCain, as compared to her competitor Barack Obama. SurveyUSA polls of 500+ registered voters in...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 17, 2008
Republican Senator Norm Coleman enjoys a 10-point lead over DFL hopeful Al Franken, according to a new survey of 644 registered voters by SurveyUSA, conducted on March 12th. Coleman leads Franken 51 to 41 percent, with 7 percent undecided. This represents a 9-point swing in Coleman's favor from the last...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 14, 2008
Last week John McCain, in a somewhat awkward festivity, accepted President George W. Bush's endorsement for the presidency after wrapping up the majority of delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination. McCain, setting aside his staunch support for the still generally unpopular War in Iraq, is the type of Republican...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 25, 2008
In a fascinating development on Monday, the Minnesota House voted to override Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty's transportation bill veto. The DFL picked up 2 votes since the bill's passage, and thus had one vote to spare in a 91-41 vote on Monday. The Senate voted to override Pawlenty's veto 47-20...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 25, 2008
Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto on February 22nd of a controversial transportation bill has set the stage for the DFL-controlled legislature to attempt an override. Governor Pawlenty has deployed the veto more often (37 times since 2003) than all but 2 of his predecessors over the past 70 years. Governors Arne...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 24, 2008
Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto last Friday of a controversial transportation bill raises the prospect of a veto-override attempt by a DFL-controlled legislature that passed the bills by wide margins on February 21st. The $6.6 billion dollar bill seeks to fund the state's roads, bridges, and transit by implementing a gasoline...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 19, 2008
A new Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters conducted February 16th finds 1-term Republican incumbent Senator Norm Coleman in a dead heat with both Al Franken and Mike Ciresi in the Gopher State. Franken leads Coleman 49 to 46 percent, within the poll's margin of error. This is the first...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 19, 2008
Echoing similar results reported yesterday in Wisconsin, Barack Obama currently has a strong advantage when matched up against John McCain in the Upper Midwestern states of Iowa and Minnesota, especially when compared to Hillary Clinton, according to polls released today by Rasmussen and SurveyUSA. In Minnesota, a Rasmussen poll of...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 14, 2008
A new SurveyUSA poll of 650 registered voters in Minnesota conducted February 10-11 finds 1-term Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman in a dead heat with DFL candidate Al Franken. Coleman, who has remained fairly popular with Minnesotans despite a statewide turn to the left in recent years, has a statistically...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 5, 2008
3:43 p.m. Caucuses will end in Minnesota at 8:00 p.m. CST. The Democrats will allocate 72 of its 88 convention delegates from the caucus vote tonight: 47 delegates are allocated based on the caucus results in each of the state's eight congressional districts, while 25 are allocated based on the...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 1, 2008
A Minnesota Public Radio / Humphrey Institute poll of 917 Minnesotans finds DFL candidate Al Franken running ahead of 1-term Republican incumbent Norm Coleman 43 to 40 percent. The MPR / HHH survey, conducted January 20-27, marks the first time Franken has polled on top in any of the...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 31, 2008
A Minnesota Public Radio / Humphrey Institute survey of 917 Minnesotans conducted January 20-27 finds Hillary Clinton and John McCain with an edge in the presidential nomination race in the Gopher State (view the report). The pollsters note the survey was not conducted among likely caucus voters, so expect some...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 23, 2008
A brand new poll of registered Minnesota voters by SurveyUSA finds John McCain is the only Republican candidate who could beat Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, if the presidential election were held today. Smart Politics has discussed McCain's viability against the Democrats across key battleground states throughout the past year,...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 16, 2008
Minnesota is home to a particularly lively political blogging community and Minnesota Democrats Exposed (MDE) is perhaps the most influential conservative political blog in the Gopher State. MDE, authored by Michael Brodkorb, is known for both breaking political news and a worldview that unflinchingly shines a light on the...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 11, 2008
10:05 a.m. Several prominent former Minnesota officeholders will testify this morning on redistricting before the Senate's Committee on State and Local Government Operations and Oversight. Redistricting will be a big issue in Minnesota - especially in light of the fact that the Gopher State may lose 1 seat in the...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 11, 2008
Several prominent former Minnesota officeholders will testify on redistricting before the Senate's Committee on State and Local Government Operations and Oversight at 10 a.m. Friday morning at the Capitol. Testifying before the committee to discuss the creation of a bipartisan redistricting commission are former Governor Arne Carlson, former Vice President...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 19, 2007
As tracked here at Smart Politics over the past few months, John McCain continues to prove to be the strongest Republican candidate to defeat the Democrats in 2008. McCain consistently, and by wide margins, polls better than his chief GOP rivals in almost all key battleground states—those states that Republicans...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 27, 2007
Iowa's influence on presidential politics is in the spotlight right now, with its caucuses now just 37 days away, on January 3, 2008. The winner of each party's caucus is by no means guaranteed to go on and win the nomination, but a surprise showing can go a long way...
