Archive for 2009
Minneapolis Index Crime Rate Falls 18 Percent from April 2008
The Minneapolis Police Department’s official Uniform Crime Report data for April 2009 finds crime in Minnesota’s largest city down 18 percent from one year ago. The 18 percent 12-month drop is the largest in the city dating back more than…
Read MoreMinnesota, Western States Lead Nation in Male Population; Vote for GOP Governors
In one of the quirkier statistical findings reported by this blog, a new Smart Politics analysis of Census Bureau data finds that all twelve states in the country in which the male population is equal to or greater than that…
Read MoreFact Check: Is Stephanie Herseth Sandlin a “Radical Liberal?”
Last Thursday the South Dakota Republican Party launched a new website called “Stop Stephanie,” designed to attack 4-term At-large Democrat U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Herseth Sandlin – a virtual lock for a 5th term should she decide to…
Read MoreHow Do We Judge Governor Pawlenty’s Political Legacy?
As Tim Pawlenty completes the remaining 18+ months of his second term, before venturing into (politically or financially) greener pastures, he has vowed to “Continue to spend every day doing what’s right for them. Minnesota will get my very best…
Read MoreHow High Does the U.S. Rank in World Muslim Population?
During the past week, President Barack Obama has made a determined effort to emphasize both the importance of Islam to American culture and history, as well as suggesting Muslims comprise a substantial percentage of the U.S. population. Obama first got…
Read MoreDoes Marty Seifert Represent a ‘Swing District?’
GOPer Marty Seifert (21A-Marshall) announced yesterday that he would be stepping down as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives on June 24th, explaining he did not think it was appropriate to represent his caucus while contemplating a new position…
Read MoreFrom T-Paw to J-Ram: Is Jim Ramstad the GOP’s Answer in 2010?
Tim Pawlenty’s decision Tuesday not to seek an unprecedented third 4-year term as Governor of the Gopher State not only emboldened the candidacies of the long list of DFLers already on the campaign trail, but also raised the issue as…
Read MoreAre Supreme Court Justices Living Longer?
Yesterday Smart Politics challenged the popular notion that Presidents have been eying younger Supreme Court nominees in recent years, presumably to deepen their impact and legacy on the Supreme Court as the judicial branch has become seen as more partisan….
Read MoreAre Supreme Court Nominees Getting Younger?
Many commentators and political analysts have speculated that Barack Obama’s nomination of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court was based not only on his agreement with her judicial philosophy, but also her gender, ethnicity (Hispanic),…
Read MoreMinnesota and Upper Midwest Being Spared the Worst of US Job Loss Crisis
While Minnesota and the rest of the Upper Midwestern states are still in the midst of enduring some of the largest unemployment rates each has endured for many years, most of the region is historically doing quite well on the…
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