Posts by Dr. Eric Ostermeier
Will the DFL Get a Second Chance at a Veto-Proof Majority in 2010?
The DFL’s failure to secure a veto-proof majority in the State House in the 2008 elections means, among other things, that they are required to take more heed of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s proposals in this session’s battle over how to…
Read MoreLive Blog: House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher
8:05 a.m. Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher is giving a talk at the Humphrey Institute this morning entitled, “Leading for Minnesota’s Future.” 8:08 a.m. Speaker Kelliher compares the time of her childhood in the 1970s and early 1980s to…
Read MoreHouse Speaker Warns New Budget Forecast Will Make Minnesotans’ Stomach Sick
Although the new budget forecast for the state of Minnesota will not be released until Tuesday, state lawmakers are already confirming the doom and gloom that many Gopher State residents fear they will soon be facing. At the end of…
Read MoreBreaking News Analysis: Minnesota’s January Unemployment Numbers Set State Records
Every month Smart Politics writes a new analysis on the latest dire unemployment numbers released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), and each month our analysis unearths new trends behind the numbers that document why the…
Read MoreThe Unsinkable Michele Bachmann
The Rothenberg Political Report came out with its first U.S. House rankings for the 2010 election cycle on Wednesday, and both of Minnesota’s competitive Republican-held Congressional districts made the list. Erik Paulsen’s 3rd CD and Michele Bachmann’s 6th CD are…
Read MoreObama’s Economic and Fiscal Crises Address: An End, Or a Means to an End?
Although President Barack Obama’s first Address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening was pitched by the White House as a “plan to confront our nation’s economic and fiscal crises,” more than 70 percent of his speech focused on…
Read MoreDespite Democratic Shift, Minnesotans Are No More Liberal Than Four Years Ago
Smart Politics recently documented a notable shift in Party ID in Minnesota favoring the Democrats in recent years, and found that this shift is more of a result of Democrats attracting independents to their corner than the Republican Party losing…
Read MoreDemocrats Lure Independents to Make Gains in Party ID In Minnesota and Upper Midwest; GOP Base Solid
Although President George W. Bush lost Minnesota in the 2004 presidential election and Republicans lost 14 seats in the Minnesota House from the 2002 election cycle, the GOP still held a slim advantage in Party ID in Minnesota that year,…
Read MoreEric Holder Fallout: How Do Minnesotans Feel About Race Relations in America?
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s provocative commentary and characterization about the state of race relations in America on Wednesday night before his Department of Justice employees has drawn both great fire and praise from across the political spectrum. Holder’s comments,…
Read MoreMinnesota: Where Is Your Outrage Towards Harry Reid?
As the Minnesota U.S. Senate election trial ends its fourth week on Friday, partisan criticisms against Norm Coleman continue to mount from the left. Coleman has been accused of belaboring an election process which has left the Gopher State now…
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