Archive for September 2008
Upper Midwestern House Delegation Split in Support of Financial Industry Bailout Bill
The rejection by the U.S. House today of the $700 billion financial industry bailout package was the result of a stranglely-cobbled coalition of conservative Republicans, blue-dog Democrats, and liberal Democrats. The bill, backed by President George W. Bush, eventually won…
Read MoreWeekend Upper Midwestern Presidential Poll Roundup
The nearly uniform surge enjoyed by Barack Obama in the national polls over John McCain this past week has so far only translated into a bump in the polls in the Upper Midwest in the state of Wisconsin, with his…
Read MoreEconomic Concerns Nothing New to Upper Midwesterners
While sometimes it is difficult to get Democrats and Republicans to agree on anything, the economic concerns facing the nation are at the forefront of the minds of the electorate for both major political parties in the Upper Midwest and…
Read MoreCommentary: Race and the 2008 Presidential Election
‘Entitlement politics’ appears to be the theme of the 2008 presidential campaign on the Democratic side of the ballot. It began when Hillary Clinton got pegged with the label, running for President out of the gate with a swagger…
Read MoreDean Barkley Trying to Make History in MN U.S. Senate Race
A new Rasmussen poll of the high profile U.S.Senate race in Minnesota was released today with some surprising resuts, as Norm Coleman (48 percent) and Al Franken (47 percent) amassed 95 percent of the support of the 500 likely voters…
Read MoreUpper Midwestern Presidential Poll Roundup
A deluge of public opinion polls has surfaced during the past week gauging voter preferences in the presidential race, particularly in the Upper Midwest – home to three of the nation’s classic battleground states. In Minnesota, the three latest polls…
Read MoreMN U.S. Senate Elections Historically Uncompetitive in Presidential Election Years
A Smart Politics study of the 22 U.S. Senate races held in the Gopher State since the union of the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties in 1944 finds Senate contests held during presidential election years to be less competitive than those…
Read MoreWhy Isn’t Dean Barkley Derailing Al Franken’s Candidacy?
The first two polls released since Dean Barkley won the Independence Party primary last week still show a very close race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, with Barkley receiving 13 percent (Minnesota Poll) and 14 percent (SurveyUSA) support among…
Read MoreMcCain in 2008 Well Ahead of Bush’s 2004 Pace in Minnesota
The new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll of the presidential race finds John McCain performing markedly better than George W. Bush did in the Gopher State in nearly identical surveys conducted four years apart. In the new Strib survey, conducted September…
Read MoreMcCain Makes Big Gains in South Dakota
Continuing the bounce polls indicate he is experiencing in most states West of the Mississippi, John McCain now holds a 17-point advantage in South Dakota, 54 to 37 percent, according to a September 9th Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters….
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