2006: Who should it be?

[Dickie Flatt]

Mike Ciresi?
Bill Luther?
Mike Hatch?
Alan Page?
Amy Klobuchar?
Al Franken?
Patty Wetterling?
Betty McCollum?
Judi Dutcher?
Jerry Janezich?

Ciresi I don't know much about. Luther is tainted by the 2002 campaign scandal (that was him, right?). Hatch is someone the Republicans are obviously worried about; they are launching attacks on him on a weekly basis. I don't know if Page would even be interested. I don't know much about Klobuchar. Franken is the worst choice here. Wetterling should make a run for Kennedy's House seat; she's probably the only chance we have to grab CD-6 away from the GOP. McCollum would be good, but she has just received a recruiting position in the DCCC and is rising quickly in the House; she may not want to give that up. Dutcher and Janezich I don't know much about.

Thoughts?

[no name no slogan]

1. Klobuchar is very good

She's the Hennepin County prosecutor (Hennepin has 22% of MN's population and is county where Minneapolis, the state's largest city, is located). She also has good name recognition on her own, and also because her dad was a longtime columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

She's a solid progressive, very friendly, and a great candidate for Senate IMHO. She may face a problem w/ recognition outside the metro, though...

[stackhouse]

11. Klobuchar...NO F'IN WAY...

Klobuchar TO YOUNG AND COULD'NT LEGISLATE HER WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG.....

[goodhue]

15. too young?

She is Yale class of 1982, so that puts her in her mid-40s.
Sen Blanche Lincoln was born in 1960.
Sen Maria Cantwell was born in 1958.
Sen Maria Landrieu was born in 1955.

[no name no slogan]

30. Um, you DO know she's a prosecutor, right?

She's a prosecutor, NOT a legislator. You don't need to hold political office to run for US Senate.

Paul Wellstone never held office, and he was a fine senator. Bobby Kennedy never held office before he became a senator. Mark Dayton was never a legislator, either, and he's done a great job as senator, too.

Sorry, your claim doesn't make any sense.

[jean]

2. MN Senate majority leader Dean Johnson said he might run but

was not commencing fund raising by discussing the possibility. AAR Mn played a short sound bite of his comments.

[Eric J in MN]

3. Betty McCollum

She represents our values. She stands for something. She'll win (I hope).

[latteromden]

4. I like McCollum... then again, maybe we should stick with candidates that

I HAVEN'T promised to work for...

Oh, god, I'm really bitter about this. This is ridiculous. I just need to let it go. *deep breath*

[lojasmo]

5. Hatch is a SAKAL I'd back him.

Klobuchar has promised to fulfill her term
Dutcher is a former republican, don't trust her.
Page has no experience


I've heard Ventura might run.

[wellstone dem]

6. Alan Page

He ran for his supreme court seat, he was not appointed initially so he has campaign experience. Does not have bad votes to taint him. Any decisions were by majority of the court. He has name recognition. He is a good guy. He was a Minnesota Viking, when they actually won a whole lot of games.

[dflprincess]

10. Page would be good

but I'd hate to lose him on the Supreme Court. I believe he'd have to resign to run and Timmy No Tool would get to appoint his replacement.

[DFLforever]

7. I like McCollum too.

And in the 4th District her seat would be filled by another Dem.

On the other hand Ciresi could raise a lot of cash.

I don't think Hatch wants to go to Washington. He'd rather be Gov.

I'm one of the few people on DU who likes Judi Dutcher for Governor. She was the kind of liberal/mod Republican there used to be so many of in this state and left them because they'd been taken over by the right wing, specifically on choice.

lojasmo, she's a Dean supporter too. I saw her at one of his fundraisers here.

[CatholicEdHead]

9. Hatch for Gov

is not my top choice. He seems too Roger Moe-ish to me (solid with a boring reputation). Pawlenty is a slick politician. Will he be too "Boring"?

[stackhouse]

8. DRAFT BETTY McCULLUM FOR US SENATE

BETTY AND BARBABRA TOGETHER IN THE SENATE 2006!!!!!

BETTY AND BARBABRA TOGETHER IN THE SENATE 2006!!!!!

BETTY AND BARBABRA TOGETHER IN THE SENATE 2006!!!!!

BETTY AND BARBABRA TOGETHER IN THE SENATE 2006!!!!!

[stackhouse]

12. BETTY McCULLUM!!

[goodhue]

13. more names

Steve Miles?
Becky Lourey?
Steve Kelley?

[young_dfler]

14. Franken

Franken in my opinion would be the best. He's known nationally( fundraising ability)and is actually a Jew who grew up in Minnesota.

[tokenlib]

16. Franken the "junior" senator to annoy Coleman..

Politics could be fun--with substance. I just hope Al is not toying with everyone..

[dpbrown]

18. If Franken runs it'll be against Coleman

There are plenty of people to run for Dayton's seat.

[dpbrown]

17. It'll be between Ciresi, Klobuchar, and Janezich

It'll be interesting to see if Ciresi "unites" if he doesn't get the nomination.

Hatch is probably going to run against Pawlenty, and isn't interested in running for Senate.

My favorite dark horse candidate would be Becky Lourey.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[goodhue]

20. Lourey would be great!

At Saturday's state central committee meeting I managed to score a "Lourey '06" button. I assumed it related to possible governor candidacy.

Ciresi is clearly in race for senate.

I'm not certain Janezich will run. But if he did I doubt that Lourey would run against him, as they have same northern populist base.

Klobuchar is clearly running for something, but I think it is AG.

Also, Steve Kelley is likely a statewide candidate for something, based on his appearance speaking before the central committee.

[dflprincess]

33. I'd love to see Becky Lourey run

Janezich is a good guy and was the endorsed candidate in 2000, but he really didn't run any kind of a campaign before the primary. I know he didn't have enough money to really fight off Dayton or Ciresi, but he just dropped off the face of the earth between the endorsing convention and the primary. I never got a call from any volunteer committe or anything.

I think a lot of people who would normally support the endorsed candidate "jumped ship" and went laregely for Dayton because they became concerned about what kind of campaign Janezich would run in the general election. (And then there were those of us who jumped ship for Dayton because we perceived him as being more liberal.)

[lojasmo]

19. Franken's IN! WOOT! NT

[no name no slogan]

21. No kidding?

Is he really? DAMMIT. We already had a celebrity governor, do we need a celebrity Senator?

[lojasmo]

22. We need to hold this seat.

Franken's a good progressive, and can help shake things up. He's got name recognition, and he's sharp.

It'll be fine.

Rumor has it, Jesse's thinking about a senate run too.

[no name no slogan]

24. I wouldn't call Franken progressive

He's an unabashed DLC liberal. He supported the PATRIOT act. He made appearances at ClearChannel's pre-war rallies. He was a supporter of the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush/Greenspan monitorist economic policies that widened the gap between rich and poor.

Al Franken has very limited appeal, IMHO. He'd carry the twin cities, but he'd get his ass kicked in Greater MN, for the same reason Garrison Keillor would: people out there don't care much for fancy actor/radio show types who're always spouting off about something.

[lojasmo]

27. You're right. I should have said "he's viewed as progressive' D'OH! EOM

[dodger501]

23. Franken's NOT in

Just announced at the end of his show today.

[lojasmo]

26. Fuck. N/T

[dflprincess]

34. I was relieved that he decided not to run

I think Al would be a much better candidate against Coleman. I think he may do us more good where he is this year.

Waiting until 2008 also gives him time to move back here. He also said at the end of the show that if he were going to run he'd move the show back to Minnesota. Though I assume once he declared he was running he'd have to give up the show.

[stackhouse]

25. BETTY McCULLUM FOR US SENATE

franken's out let go betty

[Dickie Flatt]

31. Betty is a candidate I can get excited about

I hope she goes for it

[LittleWoman]

28. What do you know about Tom Rukavina?

The Duluth paper mentioned him today, but I don't know that much about him. Most of the names you have mentioned seemed to be from the Twin Cities. While the Range does not seem to have the clout it used to it still looks pretty blue to me. Is he for real?

[no name no slogan]

29. Rukavina's okay IMHO

I think we need to run a non-Twin Citian for the Senate, IMHO. There's too much of a sense that the DFL is currently controlled by the Mpls/St Paul folk, and consequently a lot of the outstate area is being ignored.

Tom is okay in my book. Becky Lourey is looking better all the time.

[Viking12]

38. Rukavina is not a very good friend of the environment

See for example the ATV legislation he has sponsored. However, Rukavina does have a good record on labor and would be better than any repig. An outstate candidate is attractive.

[trotsky]

43. Rukavina also has that DUI charge, does he not?

Those kinds of things don't matter when you're a Repuke, of course. But you just know they'd make hay over it when a Democrat is guilty.

[CatholicEdHead]

32. How about Oberstar and Peterson?

Go the moderate canidiate direction?

I know these two are in 7 and 8, some of the most rural parts of the state. Would it be a good idea? 8 might be safe for a Democrat to be reelected, but not as much in 7.

[dflprincess]

35. Peterson is way too conservative

we'd have our own little Lieberman with him.

[Sorwen]

36. Peterson's not interested

He says he thinks he could do more in his position in the House than he could starting over in the Senate (for example, he's the ranking Dem on the House Ag committee).

[no name no slogan]

40. I like Oberstar, but he wouldn't give up the House

He's got seniority up the wazoo over there. It would be a BIG demotion if he went to the Senate.

I don't think any current sitting DFL congresscritter will go for it, simply because most of them have been in their seats for too long. They'd give up all their seniority and priviledges if they were to go to the Senate.

Plus, they'd have to give up their 'safe' congressional seats for an uncertain Senate campaign. I just don't see that happenning in 2006.

[Shananigans]

37. Jerry Janezich is GREAT!

He is Minnesota to the core! Not only is he an excellent, bleeding heart liberal speaker, but he has that Wellstone-ish quality that we are all missing these days. Although I am not sure what his interests are in running again, I would support him 110%!

[goodhue]

39. According to today's strib, he is interested . . .

But would the DFL endorse him again?

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5234596.html

Joining the list of "interested in running" Thursday were . . . former state Sen. Jerry Janezich of Chisholm, who won the DFL endorsement for the seat in 2000 but lost to Dayton in the primary

. . . .

Janezich, an Iron Range bar owner who was badly outspent in the 2000 DFL primary by both Dayton and attorney Ciresi, told the Mesaba Daily News that he was interested in another run and "will be having discussions with family and friends for sure to see what they think." Alluding to 2000, he said: "Per dollar spent, we won the election."

Janezich could count on some support in the DFL stronghold in northeastern Minnesota, but he might have to compete with Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, . . .

[loveable liberal]

41. JESSE, JESSE JESSE JESSE!!

Who hates the war? jesse
who speaks his mind? jesse
I wish Dayton would run again, stinken dnc wont support him. Dean should stand behind Dayton because they both have integrity.
I wont vote for a game player. I want a rep with some brass ones. Stir the pot! call a lie a lie and a liar a liar. Minnesota doesnt need another stooge like coleman. Someone that will represent people not corporate profits. Nick Colemans column was right on. This cant be about getting re-elected, this has to be about doing whats right.

[CatholicEdHead]

42. Reieved my first Hatch envelope today

asking for funds so he can decide if he will run for governor or not.

He does not mention it explicity but refers to Pawlenty's pledge and former govs of both parties enough times you would be blind not to see where it is going.

I guess it is completly refundable until March 1.