National Politics
U.S. Senate Race Ends Up 12 Votes Shy of ’62 Gubernatorial Margin of Victory Record
With the final results (court challenge pending) certified by the State Canvassing Board on Monday finding Al Franken with a 225-vote victory over Norm Coleman, the 2008 U.S. Senate race nearly eclipsed the 1962 gubernatorial election as the closest high-profile…
Read MoreWill Al Franken Be the Favorite in 2014?
Presuming Al Franken is eventually seated as the junior Senator from Minnesota sometime this year, the Republican Party will no doubt soon be gearing up to plan his political demise in 2014 – whether with Norm Coleman in a rematch…
Read MoreFranken’s (Apparent) Victory Is 4th Weakest U.S. Senate Performance in DFL History
Throughout his U.S. Senate campaign, Al Franken was dogged by criticisms, even peppered from within his own party, that he was a ‘weak candidate’ for the DFL. These criticisms took many forms, such as stern words regarding Franken’s writings…
Read MoreFranken Has Big Edge in County Distribution of Absentee Ballots
Al Franken’s 49-vote lead is expected by nearly all analysts to increase after the tabulation of wrongly excluded absentee ballots by the Canvassing Board this weekend. The final, hard data is now in to confirm these suspicions. Of the 953…
Read MoreMinnesota ’08 U.S. House Contests More Competitive Than National Average by Double-Digits
As Minnesota gears up for congressional and legislative redistricting in the next few years, as well as the possible loss of a U.S. House seat, the Gopher State can take some pride in the fact that its U.S. House contests…
Read MoreUpper Midwestern Reapportionment, Part II: A Historical Overview
In a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion of the 2012 projected reapportionment, Smart Politics presents two tables to illustrate the diminishing political influence of Minnesota and the Upper Midwestern battleground states in the U.S. House as a result of population shifts…
Read MoreHow Much Will 2012 Reapportionment Reduce Minnesota’s Political Influence?
About a year ago Smart Politics examined the political impact of Iowa losing a seat in the U.S. House, as it is projected to do after the 2012 reapportionment. State Demographer Tom Gillaspy recently projected Minnesota is also on track…
Read MoreBigger D.C. Power Broker: Jim Oberstar or David Obey?
The Upper Midwest is home to a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to its Representatives in the U.S. House. Three of the twenty-one House Committee chairs hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, with two of those, DFL Congressmen…
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 MoreInside Obama’s Landslide: The Young Man Went West
Barack Obama’s near landslide victory over John McCain last week was impressive on a number of dimensions. Most obviously, Obama picked up 9 states that went Republican in the 2004 election: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada,…
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