--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

I sincerely apologize for the lack of bloggage these last few months. This semester was crazy busy, but now it's summer. And with summer comes the possibility for new adventures. Thus, this post will serve as the announcement of my return to semi-regular blogging, at new digs I call...

Wetterling v. Bachmann

Check it out! If anyone is interested in helping, please contact me, either through the comments or (this option is probably better) email-- it should be listed at upper right.

Fortunately, the Catholic school across the street was letting out for recess and out of sheer habit, I started to expose myself, only just stopping myself in the nick of time out of fear I might upset the little dears, since I wasn't wearing my priest outfit, so I just said something creepy and kept on walking.

When I realized how close I'd come to committing a serious faux pas, I lit up a cigarette and threw the empty pack on the sidewalk. For some reason, this simple act of blatant littering put everything into focus. Normally, I think nothing of it. But I realized, I now represent the left-wing blogosphere, and I must set an example...!

Hilarious, if a little inappropriate.

After the polls closed Wednesday evening, 2,840 of 27,016 eligible students had voted. Last year 3,839 students voted in all-campus elections.

But seriously, I'd like to say a big 'thank-you' to those of you who voted for me. I promise I won't let you down. Congrats also to Max and Monica. I know they will do a great job.

I need to go to bed, but here are the results in case you care:

I might post more later on the presidential race. We'll see.

Anyway, as the title of this post suggests, I am running for MSA as an At-Large candidate for Forum. I meant to post about this weeks ago, when I actually filed, but obviously that didn't happen. I completed the following candidate survey for the Daily, explaining why I'm running and some of my concerns. It should be posted on the Daily website sometime soon, but I figured I would share it here, as well.

Please, read through my statement, comment, let me know what you think, but above all, VOTE next Tuesday. I would appreciate your support.

Please provide any background you feel pertinent to your campaign:

I am a second-year student here at the U, hoping to double-major in English and Russian. In my two years here at the University, I have tried my best to get involved in the community, participating in groups such as Habitat for Humanity; Students Today, Leaders Forever; and U-DFL (College Democrats.) I am proud to be U-DFL-endorsed.

I have been interested and involved in local and campus politics throughout my time here, and this year I decided to run for office myself.

What should the student government’s role be at the University of Minnesota?

First and foremost, I believe that MSA needs to be a more effective, responsive, and visible voice for students. Talking to other students while campaigning, I’ve realized that few people have heard of MSA, and even fewer have any idea of what it does. That is a problem.

MSA needs to act on, not just discuss, the issues that matter to students—-otherwise, what’s the point of the organization? MSA can act constructively by:

*Communicating with and reaching out to students more effectively (see below.)

*Focusing on action rather than voting on ineffective position statements.

*More successfully communicating with the University administration to find solutions, and holding them accountable to the wishes of the students.

*Working with the diverse communities that surround campus, as well as state and local governments, to realize our goals.

For which issues should student government advocate?

Obviously, the first duty of student government is to react to the concerns of students and attempt to address those issues. But there are a few issues I am particularly concerned with:

*Finding a way to curb the huge increases in tuition, fees, and textbook costs that have become yearly occurrences.

*Combating widespread student disengagement from local and campus politics.

*Working out a feasible, responsible plan for an on-campus stadium, one that does not place an unnecessary burden on students and addresses community concerns.

How would you reach out to the student body?

Communication between the student government and the student body is important if MSA is to be an effective voice for students. A key factor in the effectiveness of MSA is the degree to which it is able to mobilize the student body to action on the issues that matter to students. We need to improve campus communications by working with all available media (campus publications like the Minnesota Daily; electronic options like e-mail and websites; and face-to-face interaction-- perhaps a regular “meet and greet� with student government) to spread information about what’s happening in MSA to the campus community. If students are more engaged in the political process, I believe MSA will be better able to accomplish its goals.

Should you be elected, what could students expect to see from you in your time on Forum?

If elected, I would be a dedicated, responsible, hard-working representative for students. I would be responsive to student concerns and well-informed about every decision that comes before MSA. Above all, I would push for action rather than debate. By the end of my time on MSA, I want to be able to honestly tell students that we’ve made real progress on the issues that matter.

Thanks for reading. Please also consider voting for Max and Monica.

First things first: I am officially a delegate to the SD-59 convention March 25th. Let the bidding for my vote begin... j/k. It's not for sale. You can try to convince me if you want, though.

The caucus was pretty fun. In my precinct (2-9) there were maybe 35 people there (a few came, filled out the straw poll, and left.) It was mostly college students, or maybe just out of college, and senior citizens. There were 27 delegate slots for our precinct (must be a big precinct, but it's mostly students, and you know they don't show up) but only 19 of us wanted to be delegates, so there wasn't even a vote. We passed some resolutions on healthcare, the DREAM act, GM wild rice, Instant Runoff Voting, and putting the proposed University Avenue light rail underground or above street level so it wouldn't cause traffic problems.

Then we got the straw poll results back. I was pleasantly surprised: in my precinct at least, Steve Kelley got about 2x the votes of anyone else; Mike Hatch got only 3. Ford Bell actually beat Amy Klobuchar 15-10-(a few undecided.) Mark Ritchie beat Christian Sande by a few votes, and Rebecca Otto was the clear choice for auditor. Unfortunately, the straw poll didn't cover congressional districts, but delegates get to vote on that at the district convention. (I'm still undecided, but I'm seriously leaning towards Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. He seems like a pretty nice guy.)

Ford Bell 15.9
Amy Klobuchar 76.9
Undecided/other 7.2

Governor (22,697)

Kelly Doran 6.4
Mike Hatch 38.3
Steve Kelley 22.4
Becky Lourey 22.7
Ole Savior 0.3
Undecided/other 9.8

Attorney General (20,729)

Matt Entenza 81.8
Undecided/other 18.2

Secretary of State (19,427)

Christian Sande 15.4
Dick Franson 5.4
Mark Ritchie 38.3
Undecided/other 40.9

State Auditor (19,157)

Reggie Edwards 12.1
Rebecca Otto 46.8
Undecided/other 41.1

(75% of precincts reporting.)

From dfl.org. Anyone else noticed that the SOS website is sloooooooow as heck?

More soon.

*The Daily has a short, not very informative article about last night's DFL debate. They did, however, get the money quote from Kelly Doran:

"My generation is doing a pretty good job of trying to screw your generation," Doran said. "And that's wrong."

They also have a poorly-edited video that highlights a few things from the debate, though most clips are taken out of context. One of the editors must have a grudge against Steve Kelley, because the ending clip shows him getting cut off by the moderator, when, in reality, it was Sen. Lourey that regularly went over her allotted time.

*Does anyone else find this funny?

First-year student [name deleted, but trust me, it's in the article] discovered an option to clear her record when she was ticketed with minor consumption in the third week of September. Along with the citation was information about the restorative justice program, a chance to erase the incident from her record.

Having a criminal record could affect future employment, depending on the severity of the crime. But most employers interviewed said they aren't as concerned about misdemeanor crimes as they are about felonies.

Nonetheless, [name deleted] decided to go through the restorative justice program in November to erase the charge from her record and to save money by not paying the fine. Instead, she did eight hours of community service.

This way future employers will see an unblemished record.

Doesn't this person know that this article will be on the internet for all time? Now, the employer doesn't even have to do a background check; googling this person's name will turn up this misdemeanor she thought she was getting rid of. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal for future employment, but by allowing herself to be quoted, she basically negated whatever benefit she got from the "restorative justice program."

Oh wait. I don't get cable, nor am I planning on getting it. At least I can still watch it on DVD. Which reminds me: still gotta get through the rest of Season 2 and all of the current season, if those ever make it to DVD.

Also, if I get the chance, I will be making a comic about one of Becky Lourey's infamous stories. So check back!

Ingenious idea, yes. But apparently there is no privacy notice on the CD, which poses frightening risks to data privacy. From ThinkProgress:

The problem – the CD sends your answers back to headquarters, filed by name, address, and political views. No mention of that in the terms of use. No privacy policy at all. The story concludes: “So if you run the CD in your personal computer, by the end of it, the Minnesota GOP will not only know what you think on particular issues, but also who you are.�

These practices fall way below the standard for today’s polling firms and web sites. The norm for polling firms is to anonymize the data and report only statistical totals. The norm for commercial web sites is to have a privacy policy, with Federal Trade Commission enforcement if the web site breaks its privacy promise.

Without a privacy policy, the state party can tell your views to anyone at all. If you give the “wrong� answers on abortion or other issues, they can tell your boss, members of your church, or anyone else. In fact, these answers could get distributed to campaigns in your town during get-out-the-vote efforts – precisely the place where “wrong� answers can be most damaging.

Worse still, something apparently went wrong with the programming, and some people have figured out how to access the GOP's data on an unsecure server:

What's worse, the information is on an unsecured Web site. I'm not going to tell you what site we found it on (until it's been secured), just to let you know that the data is there. And it can be found by anyone who can decompile the program on the CD. [...]

We could -- if we were malicious (and we're not ) -- change the questions that are "on the CD" because they're really not on the CD. The program connects to a database and provides the questions.

Imagine if thousands of CDs arrived in homes with the question "do you like Siegried and Roy?"

We could steal the data. In fact, the mailing list of more than [...] 25,000 names is also on the site, and is easily downloaded into a spreadsheet. Cool. Twenty-five-thousand names and addresses. Free.

This is a significant security flaw. And it's coming to a mailbox near you in a few days.

Ridiculous. They don't tell you that the CD uploads your personal information to the internet, and they can't even be bothered to secure that information?

Props to North Star Politics for the catch.

The issue is among those likely to be debated on Tuesday, when the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration meets to draft changes to the lobbying law. Senator Mark Dayton, Democrat of Minnesota and a member of the rules committee, is furious with Mr. [John] Thune [(R-SD)] over the rail project, and intends to propose language imposing a two-year ban on lawmakers' getting "personally and substantially" involved in matters affecting former clients.

"This makes some of the Jack Abramoff deals look like penny ante," said Mr. Dayton, who has a prominent constituent, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that is fighting the rail expansion. "It's the most despicable special-interest deal I've ever seen in all my 30 years in government."

What's he angry about?

As a lobbyist in 2003 and 2004, Mr. Thune earned $220,000 from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, a small but ambitious company in South Dakota. The railroad hopes to rebuild and rehabilitate 1,300 miles of track, the nation's largest proposed railroad expansion in more than a century.

Now, as a junior senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune is working to make that happen [...]

Last year, his first in the Senate, Mr. Thune wrote language into a transportation bill expanding the pot of federal loan money for small railroads, enabling his former client to apply for $2.5 billion in government financing for its project. The loan has yet to be approved; Mr. Thune said he was trying to promote economic development in his home state.

Sounds pretty bad. I mean, it's par for the course for the GOP, but this seems especially blatant. Personally, I think a two-year ban is far too little, but it's a start, at least.

The Dems need to hammer the Repubs on ethics, and keep up the pressure. Since he's not running for re-election, Mark Dayton's got nothing to lose by going after this type of thing hard. I say they shut down the Senate until America gets a real debate on ethics reform.

P.S.: What has Normie been doing all this time? Grandstanding (with hilarious crony-on-crony results!) ... abusing the public trust ... and the public in general ... but let's not forget, he's great at leading prayer breakfasts.

2 more years, buddy.