Archive for November 2008
Minnesota Is Not Massachusetts: How Norm Coleman (Probably) Survived the Democratic Wave
As we approach a month since Election Day, many DFLers continue to lament that if Norm Coleman should hold onto his US Senate seat after the statewide recount, it is not because Coleman won the race, but because the DFL…
Read MoreSmart Politics to Live Blog Conference on MN Redistricting
On Monday morning Smart Politics will live blog a conference on redistricting reform in Minnesota at the Humphrey Institute. Toward More Open Government: A Conference on Reforming the Redistricting Process Monday, December 1, 2008 8:30am – 12:00pm Humphrey Forum Hubert…
Read MoreColeman Victory Would Be the Greatest GOP Senate Triumph in Minnesota History
Earlier this month Smart Politics examined how a victory by Norm Coleman would mark the first time since 1940 that a Republican has been elected Senator from the Gopher State in a presidential election year in which a Democrat was…
Read MoreMN Senate Recount: Challenges in Franken Territory On the Rise
While the number of challenged ballots has been increasing in the Minnesota U.S. recount during the past week, the rise has not been uniform across the state’s partisan geographic divide. Smart Politics studied the change in challenged ballots in counties…
Read MoreMinnesota Unemployment Trend Worst In 22 Years
The October 2008 unemployment numbers released late last week by Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, reveals the Gopher State is enduring its worst jobless trend in more than two decades. October’s 6.0 percent…
Read MoreCSPG Report: Potential for Change in the Senate Recount
The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance released a report this week which puts into perspective what seemed like large changes in the vote count for Al Franken between the end of Election Day to just before the…
Read MoreMN Senate Recount: Challenged Ballot Rate Identical in Coleman and Franken Counties
The U.S. Senate ballot recount has been completed in 36 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, according to the Secretary of State’s website as of 8:00 pm Thursday evening. A Smart Politics study of those counties in which 100% of the ballots…
Read MoreColeman Victory Would Renew Minnesota Tradition of Split-Ticket Voting
If Norm Coleman is able to hold onto his narrow lead against Al Franken in the 2008 U.S. Senate recount that began on Wednesday, he would accomplish a feat that has not been seen in Minnesota since before World War…
Read MoreSmart Politics On WCCO-TV’s “Good Question”: Obama and His Blackberry
Smart Politics’ Eric Ostermeier was interviewed by the always-affable Jason DeRusha for his “Good Question” segment on WCCO-TV Tuesday evening. The “Good Question” at issue was, “Why Can’t the President Use E-Mail” – in light of Barack Obama’s recent announcement…
Read MoreMN Senate Election Analysis, Part 2: Norm Coleman’s Metro Slide
On Monday, Smart Politics examined the margin of victory and loss in each county between the DFL candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial and 2008 U.S. Senate races, and found Al Franken most severely underperformed in the Northern counties of the…
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