Minnesota

I've been very excited about how the MoveOn/PPP polls show all those Republican committee chairs who Steve Israel tries to give free reelection passes to are vulnerable because of their support for shutting down the government. Israel only knows how to go up against hapless backbenchers and leaves the evil-doers alone. Opponents to Republican policymakers like Buck McKeon, Paul Ryan, Darrell Issa, Fred Upton, Mike Rogers, etc get no support from the DCCC.

Kline hates everyone-- young and old!Steve Israel was never a businessman-- nor a farmer. He's always worked in politics. He doesn't know how to make long term plans or how to initiative and follow through on long term goals. He can't see beyond the quarter or, off on his furthest horizon, the cycle. And the DCCC chair isn't the only near-sighted Democrat in power. The whole party is blinkered by strategists who never see the value of long-term planning.

Hard to imagine, but MN-06 is likely to wind up with someone WORSE than Bachmann!Drowning in scandal and extremism-- and facing a rematch with Jim Graves, the Democrat who nearly beat her last year-- Bachmann was uncharacteristically wise to announce her retirement from Congress.

If you want to know how "Minnesota nice" sounds, call Jim Graves. He picked up the phone yesterday morning with the warmest, friendliest of greetings... and immediately said he isn't talking to the press until July first and suggested we talk about my upcoming trip to Tuscany instead. He suggested I spend time in Siena, long one of my favorite small European cities. As for questions around his dropping out of the congressional race in MN-06...

After watching him as a freshman senator, I never believed Obama would be a vehicle for Hope and Change. I voted for him in 2008 anyway. I couldn't force myself to do it again last November. Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, is someone who I have actually bought into right from the start. I donated to her campaign and helped promote her cause. This week, her first proposed legislation has made me-- and thousands of others across the country who backed her-- proud.