It's only Jan. 9, 2013. Voters are still catching their breath from a divisive 2012 election. But if you're a political junkie like myself, you know there is no rest for the wicked.
Former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman
On Wednesday, former Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman told the Star Tribune he would not challenge Democratic Sen. Al Franken in 2014. However, he also didn't rule out pursuing other opportunities, including a run for governor.
"I haven't ruled out other things," he said.
Coleman, 63, lost his bid to Franken in 2008 in a bitter and costly election by 312 votes, with a recount and court case that lasted seven months. Currently, he is serving as the chairman and CEO of the American Action Network, a Washington-based think tank promoting center right policies.
The Star Tribune noted that Coleman may not bode well with conservative activists in the Republican Party due to his moderate stances. But with Coleman's name recognition and fundraising abilities, he could become competitive if he were to engage in a primary battle - something Republican activists avoid.
Other candidates being mentioned as possible candidates for governor include Republican state Sen. David Hann of Eden Prairie, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, and former Republican state Rep. John Kriesel of Cottage Grove.
Dayton spent the first two years in his first term battling Republican majorities in the Legislature over taxes, social policy, and a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. He is not expected to field any primary challengers.
I haven't watched ESPN's "First Take" in months since moving to Minneapolis. I don't have cable and I don't have the desire to watch a program and network who's host is obsessed with New York Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow.
But I guess that discussing Tebow is embracing debate. At least that's the schtick of ESPN's "First Take", where Skip Bayless and another co-host meet on a set, debate a series of topics happening the world of sports, and then turn it into a shouting match in order to attract ratings.
Rob Parker, former ESPN commentator
One of the co-hosts was Rob Parker, who was a baseball analyst for the network, but also provided lively commentary on happenings around the NBA, NCAA, and NFL. And one topic he was never shy about discussing was race.
Parker, who is black, has complained about the NBA's off-court dress policy, along with the lack of African-American coaches around the NFL.
But his recent comments questioning the "blackness" of Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III not only rubbed sports fans the wrong way. It led to a 30-day suspension and eventual termination at ESPN.
Parker set himself up for the negative reaction and regretted putting ESPN in the spotlight for something negative. However, Parker shouldn't be the only person who goes unscathed.
According to Parker, ESPN producers knew what he was going to say prior to the show's taping on Dec. 13. What's worse is that ESPN aired the original episode a second time and then again in a "Best Of" series before finally apologizing for continuing to air the segment.
Now if what Parker said about producers being in on this is accurate, they should also be punished. Perhaps they have and we just don't know it yet. But I also hope that producers come up with better topics and have better analysts for the show to contribute so they're not having to clean up their own mess again and again.
I love politics. Heck, I even enjoy a political debate or two with friends and family. But there comes a point when enough is enough and it's time for election season to end already.
And with the light at the end of the tunnel, Americans will finally head to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes on President of the United States, Congress, U.S. Senate, state legislators, and possible amendments to add to their state's constitution.
Here in Minnesota, we are voting on the above mentioned offices, along with district court judges, justices for the Minnesota Supreme Court, county soil and water commissions, and local school boards. For the sake of being concise, I'll stick to the presidential and congressional races in this final musing.
Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is a shoe-in for reelection, as are most members of Minnesota's congressional delegation that include Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson, and Tim Walz, as well as Republican Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen. I also expect the most vulnerable member, Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack to win despite a strong challenge from former Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan. And (sadly), Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann will win another term - even though she has done little work during her four terms in Congress.
Prior to this post, I predicted that Obama would win reelection despite a bad economy and that Republicans would gain control of the U.S. Senate. However, I am not as convinced that these results will prevail tomorrow.
For Obama, it was the first presidential debate he had with Mitt Romney that was a true game-changer. I liken it to a quarterback fumbling the ball on their opponents 48-yard line and then allowing the other team to score a field goal to tighten the score of a low-scoring game. Obama and Biden, in particular, had to work a lot harder not only to keep their base excited. They had to convince independent and undecided voters that Obama was up to the task of showing competency and toughness against half-truths or lies from Romney and Ryan.
But it's not to say that Obama and Biden were exactly truthful in this campaign either, as one of my favorite fact checkers pointed out on Sunday. Unlike 2008, there's not as much love and admiration from younger voters and independents. And there's certainly no love from Republicans and conservatives because Obama hasn't been as transparent with them and the public as we had hoped.
Then again, Romney and Ryan haven't done the best explaining their domestic programs to get the economy going and how to cut the federal deficit. What I especially thought was telling was when Romney said on Meet the Press in September that he wouldn't be able to balance the budget in one term. In fact, he said it would do more harm to the economy and that small steps would need to be taken in order to balance the budget over 10 years - something he would do in his second term (yes, he told NBC's David Gregory that on the program). It was that interview, along with the fact that Romney has been evasive when discussing his plans, that make me feel confident in my support for Obama's reelection.
As for the U.S. Senate, you can always count on someone who was favored to win to say something stupid about abortion and rape that dramatically changes the U.S. Senate elections in Indiana and Missouri.
And on that note, I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind on who to vote for. Whether you're voting for Obama, Romney, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, or Green candidate Jill Stein, just get out and vote. This will all be over soon.
DANVILLE, Ky - If you were done watching Major League Baseball and bored watching the Tennessee Titans, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Vice Presidential pick Paul Ryan didn't disappoint.
During their only 90-minute debate a Centre College Thursday, each candidate hurled insults, smirks, and smiles while debating foreign policy and domestic spending. But perhaps the bigger story of the night was how aggressive Biden was when answering Ryan's criticism of the Obama Administration.
Vice President Joe Biden (left), ABC's Martha Radditz, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Photo: AP
Biden labeled Ryan's version of the events in Libya as "a bunch of malarkey." He also smiled and frequently interrupted Ryan throughout most of the debate - leaving conservatives fuming, liberals cheering, and pundits wondering whether it would help or hurt their re-election campaign.
But perhaps the biggest thing Biden pulled off was that he would not allow anything charge from Ryan to left unchallenged - something that was lacking during the first debate between President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.
"Facts matter," he said.
At the same time, Ryan kept his cool responding to Biden and answering questions from ABC's Martha Radditz, the debate's moderator. Later, Ryan told Biden that he was not only "under duress to make up for lost ground" from last week's debate performance from Obama. He lectured Biden that people would become better informed from the issues without interrupting each other and then zinged him.
"Sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way," Ryan said.
On Twitter, Facebook, and television, pundits called this a tie for both candidates heading into next presidential debate on Tuesday.
Other observations:
- Biden is 69 while Ryan is 42. It's the largest age gap between vice presidential candidates in an election year, according to NBC's Brian Williams.
- Like Obama, Biden wore a blue tie while Ryan sported a red tie like Romney.
- Biden sat on the right side of the debate table while Ryan sat on the left. Romney sat on the right side during the first debate and showed passion and energy against Obama, who lacked passion and attempted to play it safe like Ryan.
As I was driving to and from work today, I reflected on President Barack Obama's performance (or lack thereof) against Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger for the White House.
Specifically, it was Obama's facial expressions and overall tone not only with Romney, but with PBS' Jim Lehrer, the debate's moderator. Obama looked annoyed, perturbed, and snippy - which took away that cool, crisp, poised person we've grown accustomed to since he took that national stage at the 2004 Democractic National Convention. And a big thing that's helped Obama is the use of teleprompters on the campaign trail and his time in the White House.
Mitt Romney and President Obama in the first debate Wednesday.
But then I remembered another president who faced similar challenges in his first debate with a challenger. It was none other than George W. Bush, who ran for re-election in 2004 against John Kerry, his Democratic rival.
Like Obama, Bush was ahead in the polls and had enough support heading into the first debate that would coast him to another term. And like Romney, Kerry's biggest campaign flaw is that he flip-flopped the issues.
But during their first debate on September 30, 2004, Kerry successfully hit Bush on economic and foreign policy measures. Instead of offering tactful responses, Bush stumbled with his responses and occasionally flashed a scowled toward his opponent.
Let's face it. It's tough running for re-election when you're President of the United States and the economy is in the tank. It's worse when your supporters and members of the press are expecting you to mop the floor with your challenger during the debate - only it sets you up for failure.
John Kerry and President Bush at their first debate Sept. 30, 2004
And if Obama didn't seem with it or too cautious, it's because he was. While listening to National Public Radio on the drive home Wednesday, national correspondent Mara Liasson touched on the high expectations of both candidates - with Romney needing a strong performance and Obama having a lot of debate ammo with Bain Capital and "the 47 percent."
But then she played an interesting soundbite of Obama sounding less charismatic while downplaying the upcoming debate. It then got me thinking if Obama would just take it easy instead of forcefully going after his opponent and Republicans in Congress.
It turns out Obama struggled against Romney's attacks on national television and allowed himself to get zinged not once, but twice.
As I said Wednesday, this isn't the end of the election and Obama still has time to rebound from this. Only now he has to prove that Romney's performance was not only a fluke, but that Romney presented half-truths and lies about his policies - something fact checkers pointed out Thursday morning.
Whatever happens, I just hope Big Bird doesn't become the trending topic on Twitter.
DENVER -Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney came out swinging like a challenger taking on a boxing champion Wednesday night.
And a lot of his hits against President Barack Obama stung - knocking the incumbent off his game and leaving him to struggle with explanations and defenses on Obamacare, the economy, and Medicare, among other topics.
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama
After enduring weeks of negative headlines and doubts from Republican and conservative activists, Romney may have given them some hope about defeating Obama Nov. 3. NBC Political Director Chuck Todd opined that Romney came off as someone who knew details of his plan. Romney even zinged Obama by saying, "Mr. President, you're entitled to your own airplane and your own house, but not your own facts."
Obama, meanwhile, struggled to reiterate why his health care plan was beneficial to Americans. He also did a poor job playing to the camera while addressing viewers and rarely addressed Romney while responding - unless it was to give him a look of annoyance.
But the biggest surprise was that Obama didn't address Romney's comment about 47 percent of Americans who are victims dependent on government - the very comment that led to the negative headlines.
Overall, this debate was interesting - although both candidates were a bit long-winded at times with truths, half-truths, and lies. It didn't help that Big Bird and the debate's moderator, Jim Lehrer, are sure to become popular headlines than the candidates' plans for the country.
Romney said he would cut funding to programs such as Public Broadcasting Service despite his love for Big Bird and Lehrer himself.
Lehrer, meanwhile, lost control of the debate and struggled to keep the candidates on topic and to wait their turn to speak. Most notably, Romney wouldn't allow Lehrer to interject when his time was up or while Obama was responding to a question. Heck, even Obama got a little snippy with Lehrer, at one point saying, "I had five seconds until you interrupted me."
The good news for Obama and Democrats is that they have time to rebound
before their next debate Oct. 16 at Hofstra University in New York. And
as gaffe-prone as Vice President Joe Biden is, he knows how to debate
and will be able to debate effectively against Paul Ryan, Romney's VP pick on Oct. 11.
I'll be writing thoughts and analysis about these debates and other news topics from now until Nov. 4. All arguments and opinions are encouraged.
It has been a little more than two months since my last blog entry, and a few of things have happened.
First, the Vikings are finally getting a new stadium. All it took was a visit from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Steelers president Art Rooney to (finally) motivate Minnesota legislators to do something or risk the franchise relocating to another state. It was a bitter battle and I am not sure what kind of impact this will have on legislators in the November general elections. At this point, my guess is the DFL will take back of the Minnesota Senate, while the Republican Party holds on to the Minnesota House.
Second, as predicted, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney secured enough delegates to become the Republican nominee for the presidential election against President Barack Obama. It's going to be a close race and things seem to be stacked up against Obama at the moment. However, anything is possible between now and then. So brace yourself for a long four-and-a-half months of negative campaign attacks from both candidates and other political action committees.
Third, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is still making an impact on American politics - especially in Minnesota - even though he will not be the Republican nominee in November. Paul's supporters outnumbered traditional Republicans at the Republican State Convention in May. It was there that Minnesota Rep. Kurt Bills of Rosemount secured the nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the general election in November. Polls have shown Klobuchar leading Bills by double digits.
Fourth, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker survived a recall election against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, his 2010 gubernatorial opponent. Democrats and labor groups collected enough signatures for a recall after Walker and a Republican-controlled Legislature stripped away collective bargaining rights for public unions (except for public safety). Democrats and labor groups, however, did a poor job executing their message and even caused some Democratic-leaning voters to vote for Walker out of protest for the recall election. Walker won the recall with 53 percent of the vote to Barrett's 46 percent. Walker will finish his first term as governor and will be up for re-election again in 2014.
My apologies for taking some time away from this post. I will try to get back to the daily grind of writing and analysis on top news stories in politics, sports, and entertainment. Thank you for your continued interest in this blog.
