Posts by Dr. Eric Ostermeier
The Secret to Klobuchar’s Popularity: Enduring Republican Support
The latest round of SurveyUSA monthly polling data again shows Minnesota DFL U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar holding on to her statewide support more than any of the 25 Senators tracked by the polling organization. With a 62 percent approval rating,…
Read MoreBachmann on the State of the GOP: “Republicans are for all practical purposes irrelevant”
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is seemingly a fixture in the state and national media these days, and in particular on WWTC 1280 AM’s Northern Alliance Radio Network. The Minnesota U.S. Representative appeared once again on Brian Ward and John Hinderaker’s “The…
Read MorePawlenty Disapproval Rating Rises For 5th Straight Month in SurveyUSA Polling
A few days ago, Smart Politics went into great detail to explain why the latest Star Tribune poll results did not provide persuasive evidence that Governor Tim Pawlenty was flirting with danger in terms of his statewide approval rating. That…
Read MoreWhy Governor Pawlenty Is Not in the ‘Danger Zone’
The headline from the latest Star Tribune Minnesota Poll results released on Thursday morning reads: “Pawlenty’s popularity loses some luster, edging toward ‘danger zone'” The new poll measured Pawlenty’s approval rating at 48 percent in the Gopher State, which the…
Read MoreWill Arlen Specter Win in 2010?
When Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Arlen Specter switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party on Tuesday morning, the first question asked was not why he bolted from the GOP, but how his change in party affiliation will impact the Democratic…
Read MoreObama Approval Rating Holding Steady in Minnesota and Blue States, Still Dropping in Red States
Barack Obama’s latest approval rating in Minnesota remains in the low 60s – holding essentially, and impressively, flat for the third consecutive month, according to the latest round of polling by SurveyUSA. For the month of April, in a survey…
Read MoreNew Yorker’s Jane Mayer to Speak on Terrorism at Humphrey Institute
Author and New Yorker contributor Jane Mayer will be giving a talk on terrorism and the politics of the Barack Obama administration at the Humphrey Institute on Tuesday afternoon. “Can Obama Avoid the Dark Side? Learning from how the War…
Read More‘Darfur 5’ in Little Jeopardy of Losing Congressional Seats
The arrest of Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and four other members of Congress Monday morning for crossing a police line at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. brought front-page attention to the humanitarian crisis and atrocities occurring in the Darfur…
Read MoreKeith Ellison Campaign Funding Data Revisited: A Response to the Congressman’s Complaint
Last Friday, Congressman Keith Ellison’s communications director Rick Jauert responded to recent data unearthed and analzyed by Smart Politics that Ellison was receiving an unusual amount of itemized individual contributions from out-of-state, both in Q1 2009 (when he had the…
Read MoreMinnesota’s ‘McCain 14’ Split on House Tax Increase
Although House DFLers were able to push through a tax bill on Saturday to raise approximately $1.5 billion in revenue for the State of Minnesota, 20 percent of its caucus peeled off to join the Republicans in voting against the…
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