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jesse ventura writes a book here's summary Former Minnesota governor, professional wrestler, and Navy SEAL Jesse Ventura visits with his latest book, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! Ventura pulls no punches in discussing our corrupt two-party system, the disastrous war in Iraq, and what he suspects really happened on September 11. He provides personal insights into the Clinton and Bush presidencies, and elaborates on the ways in which third parties are rendered impotent by the country's two dominant parties. He reveals the illegal role of the CIA in states like Minnesota, sensitive and up-to-date information on the Blackwater security...

Tim Pawlenty to be Republican VP Nominee in 2008 Over 80% is considered a lock.

Being on John McCain's short list for vice president makes Tim Pawlenty a busy guy. One day last week began with a meeting on security for the upcoming Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., where Gov. Pawlenty will play host. Then it was off to Farmfest, the state's biggest agricultural fair. Following that, a side trip to Iowa where, as national co-chair for Sen. McCain's presidential campaign, he passed out tire gauges as a way of poking fun at Barack Obama's suggestion the energy crisis be addressed by having Americans better inflate their cars. The next day it was off...

Since McCain has already made his veep choice, it doesn't make any sense to say he is leaning more and more in this or that direction. But from the calls I've made and the conversations I've had, I would say the person to watch is Pawlenty. No Romney, no Lieberman — although the people I talk to still think (worry?) that there is a chance McCain has a surprise up his sleeve.

WASHINGTON — Freshman Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison has become a de facto American emissary, meeting with foreign policy makers both here and abroad to preach peace and democracy. Ellison, a Democrat, had already developed an international reputation when he took his oath of office on the Quran last year. In his first term in office, he's built on that with congressional trips, State Department functions and internationally themed town hall meetings in his district. "Peace is a key component of what I'm here to do," he said in a recent interview.

All eyes at Denver's Pepsi Center will be on New York Sen. Hillary Clinton tonight when she delivers her speech to the Democratic National Convention. Democrats have been hoping to leave the convention united behind the presumptive nominee, Barack Obama. But the sting from a bruising primary battle and questions about Obama's experience have left some delegates, and some voters back home in Minnesota, wondering if they'll support Obama at all. Denver — Delegates who pledged their support to Hillary Clinton during the primary season are conflicted on how they'll vote during the roll call of the states Wednesday night....

DENVER—As Sen. John McCain comes to an end in his search for a running mate, there are new indications today that he is looking at Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and not foe-turned-pal Mitt Romney. Sources close to Romney tell us that his camp has not had vice presidential talks and dealings for a while, leading them to believe that the other running mate topping McCain's list has edged him out. Of concern is the likelihood that the Democrats would dub a McCain-Romney ticket the richest ever. In fact, at a breakfast today, when I asked Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow if...

DENVER — As Sen. John McCain comes to an end in his search for a running mate, there are new indications today that he is looking at Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and not foe-turned-pal Mitt Romney. Sources close to Romney tell us that his camp has not had vice presidential talks and dealings for a while, leading them to believe that the other running mate topping McCain's list has edged him out. Of concern is the likelihood that the Democrats would dub a McCain-Romney ticket the richest ever. In fact, at a breakfast today, when I asked Michigan Sen. Debbie...

Senate candidate Al Franken is spending just a "couple of days" at the Democratic National Convention, but by the time he dropped in on the Minnesota delegation breakfast Monday, he sounded a little homesick. "I've got to get back ..." he said, catching himself. "I want to get back to the fair." Franken is keeping a low profile at the convention, passing up a chance to appear on stage Wednesday night with other Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate. The Wednesday time slot was selected after Franken had already made his travel plans, according to an aide.

Summer is entering its final weeks, but the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota is hotter than ever. A poll released today by Minnesota Public Radio and the Humphrey Institute has Democrat Al Franken and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in a statistical dead heat. Respondents gave 41 percent support to Franken and 40 percent for Coleman. Another 8 percent said they are backing Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. Eleven percent said they are undecided.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose name has been said to be on the short list for the GOP vice presidential nomination, made a swing through Pennsylvania this weekend, including a stop at Westgate Mall in Bethlehem. Meanwhile, speculation swirled about how Democrat Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his vice presidential pick might influence the choice made by John McCain. Pennsylvania Avenue got to ask him a few questions in a phone interview...Q: You're here, in part to promote Sen. McCain's sportsmen group. How important an issue will gun rights be in PA? A: In Minnesota and Pennsylvania our...

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's lead in Minnesota appears to be narrowing. The latest Rasmussen poll, released late last week, showed the Illinois senator with a 49 percent to 45 percent lead over U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The poll suggests that McCain is closing the gap on Obama, who in an earlier Rasmussen poll was up by 12 points. That makes Minnesota, which was once rated as leaning for Obama, a toss-up, according to RealClearPolitics, a political Web site. All three major polls taken over the last three months -- from Rasmussen, Quinnipiac, and SurveyUSA -- all show Obama...

John McCain has picked up a little ground on Barack Obama, now trailing by only two points in a recent SurveyUSA poll in MN, and by seven in WA. However, McCain has gained significantly in WA: Obama was down four, McCain up five from the last poll. Both are of LIKELY voters.

According to a KSTP exclusive new SurveyUSA poll, Barack Obama leads John McCain by two points, 47 to 45 percent in Minnesota. That's well within the three-point-eight percent margin of error. Four percent prefer another candidate. Only four percent are undecided. The poll not only shows a close race, but also points again to Minnesota voters becoming increasingly polarized. In the poll of 682 "likely voters," McCain has the support of 89 percent of republicans. Obama garners support from 86 percent of democrats. McCain has a narrow two-point lead among independents. McCain does have a bit of a gender-gap to...

<p>MADISON, Wis. - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, often mentioned as a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain, promoted McCain's energy policy and critiqued his rival's as he campaigned across Wisconsin on Monday.</p> <p>Pawlenty said Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would "slam the door shut" on additional nuclear power and offshore drilling if elected president because of his conditional support for those options.</p>

What if a politician held a campaign event and nobody came? That’s what almost happened to comedian-turned-Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken last week. In what sounds like a sketch he might have written for Saturday Night Live, only one voter showed up for Franken’s roundtable on veterans issues in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It marked a particular low point in Franken’s quixotic, controversial 18-month campaign to unseat unpopular Republican Senator Norm Coleman. The race should have been the Democrats’ to lose, but a recent poll gives Colman a 15-point lead. Some party members are now questioning the wisdom of choosing Al...

Much of Barack Obama’s 12-point lead over John McCain has disappeared in Minnesota. He is now ahead of his Republican rival by only four percentage points 46% to 42%, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Minnesota voters. With “leaners” factored in, Obama leads 49% to 45% (Demographic Crosstabs available for Premium Members.)

At his first public appearance for Barack Obama, former Vice President Walter Mondale today told a group of campaign volunteers they will confront "trash ads" and subtle racism aimed at the Democratic presidential candidate. During an event with about 50 seniors at Obama's state campaign headquarters in St. Paul, an audience member asked Mondale why the race between the Obama and Republican John McCain was so close when polls show a large majority of Americans are dissatisfied with GOP policies.

Much of Barack Obama’s 12-point lead over John McCain has disappeared in Minnesota. He is now ahead of his Republican rival by only four percentage points 46% to 42%, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Minnesota voters. With “leaners” factored in, Obama leads 49% to 45% (Demographic Crosstabs available for Premium Members.) Last month the Democrat had a 49% to 37% lead on McCain. In June he was ahead 52% to 39%. McCain is now supported by 91% of Republicans, up from 79% a month ago. Obama earns the vote from 89% of Democrats, down two points...

When Democrats this spring sized up Al Franken's bid to win a Senate seat in his native Minnesota, they saw plenty of promising signs: an engaging and famously funny candidate familiar to voters, a stockpile of campaign cash, and a vulnerable incumbent Republican. Less than three months before Election Day, however, the Republican seat held by a former New Yorker, Norm Coleman, looks safer than ever, and Mr. Franken's hopes could be doomed by his own New York past. The former "Saturday Night Live" star, best-selling author, and talk show host is lagging far behind in the polls amid a...

There’s an old saying in politics that elections are won or lost one vote at a time. On Friday, DFL-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken demonstrated how true that saying can be, when a roundtable on veterans issues at Brigitte’s Cafe his campaign scheduled drew only one participant. Josh John, a St. Cloud resident who said he served in the Navy from 2000-04, had Franken to himself for an hour as he described difficulties he faced returning from his tour of duty and the help he received from his Veterans Services Office and the St. Cloud VA Medical Center.

This St. Cloud Times story about only one person attended a public event for Al Franken yesterday hit the Drudge Report. “ONE Person Shows Up At Franken Event..” This story is turning into a national embarrassment for Team Franken.

Fresh off a big-buck fundraiser in Minneapolis, Democrat Barack Obama dropped in on a humble St. Paul pancake house Thursday to chat with diners about their concerns. The presidential contender spent more than 40 minutes making his way from table to table at the Copper Dome Restaurant, shaking hands and even picking up a baby as photographers, videographers and reporters crammed between diners to follow his every move. "This seems like a pretty good spot. This is where the happening people meet," Obama said shortly after walking into the restaurant, a neighborhood fixture. Word of Obama's visit spread quickly and...

Gov. Tim Pawlenty rolled out his "Sam's Club Republican" brand to a national audience Wednesday, making two well-covered speeches calling for a more hopeful message to check recent Democratic electoral gains. Pawlenty, billed by the National Press Club as a top contender to run for vice president with GOP candidate John McCain, said Republicans must broaden their appeal to a new generation of "Reagan Democrats" -- the same young and working-class voters being targeted by presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Sketching a profile that in many ways describes himself, the 47-year-old governor said a new generation of Republican leadership is...

Sen. Barack Obama was across the street, inside the Hilton Hotel, breaking bread with DFLers who anted up $1,000 or more -- much more, for some -- to eat with the man they hope will be the next president. But from where Clifford Dodd sat, across Marquette Avenue, trying to sell Obama T-shirts for $12 a pop, money was tight. "You'd think that people who spend $1,000 on dinner might have a couple bucks more," said Dodd, 52, of St. Paul. He had not sold a single shirt in an hour of trying. "Well, you know what? It's the everyday...

The Other Michele by: Rachel Paulk, July 25, 2008 Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said, “Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.” U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, might be in that put-upon tenth. A freshman congresswoman representing the 6th district of Minnesota, Representative Bachmann is committed to a political transparency rarely seen in Washington—perhaps that is why she is a Republican elected for the first time in a Democratic year from a blue state. Moreover, contrary to popular wisdom, that dynamic did not lead her to shift left. A frequent blogger, Representative...

Republican John McCain is tightening the presidential race against Democratic rival Barack Obama in four key states, according to polls released Thursday.

John McCain has gained ground on Barack Obama in Minnesota, while Sen. Norm Coleman is widening his lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken, according to a new poll. A Quinnipiac University poll released today found that Obama leads McCain 46 percent to 44 percent among the state's likely voters, a statistical tie. That tossup result is at odds with other recent polls showing Obama with an average lead of more than 5 percentage points. A Quinnipiac poll last month found a whopping 17 percentage-point Obama lead.

If John McCain and his loyalists were hoping for something to brighten their day amid the blizzard of coverage of Barack Obama's foreign tour, they've gotten it with new poll results from four key states -- Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The survey by the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, conducted between July 14 and Tuesday, contains especially good news for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in Colorado and Minnesota. In Colorado, the one state among the four that President Bush carried in 2004, the poll showed McCain ahead by 2 percentage points. That lead is within the poll's margin...

Republican John McCain has quickly closed the gap between himself and Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama in several key battleground states even as the Arizona senator struggles to break through the wall-to-wall coverage of Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East this week. McCain and Obama are in a statistical dead heat in Colorado, Michigan and Minnesota while the Illinois senator has a more comfortable double-digit edge in Wisconsin, according to polling conducted by Quinnipiac University for washingtonpost.com and the Wall Street Journal during the past week. Only in Colorado, however, does McCain hold a greater percentage of the...

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) – It's VP tea leaf reading season, and a Republican source who attended a small private meeting with John McCain Tuesday in New Hampshire tells CNN that the GOP candidate dropped a serious hint about Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. The Republican source said "out of the blue" McCain told the gathering that he thinks they are "really going to like" Pawlenty. This GOP source noted that McCain also said nice things about Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani, but those appeared to be standard lines he says about former rivals. This source said McCain may...

In one of Senate candidate Al Franken’s literary efforts titled “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot,” he reveals his personal feelings about a topic important to many Minnesotans. In Chapter 12 of his book, I learned that candidate Franken is against private ownership of guns due to his belief that firearms in the home are “too dangerous.” I believe these views are more consistent with California or New York, where Mr. Franken still maintains corporate interests. His problem is Minnesota has always been a pro-gun state. Remember, a bipartisan majority passed “conceal and carry.” I called the National Rifle...

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) announced Monday night that he would not launch a third-party bid for Senate. The former professional wrestler, who served one term as governor beginning a decade ago, said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that he “isn’t going to run, at this moment,” and that it would take an act of God to get him to file by Tuesday’s filing deadline. He said God has never spoken to him before. “If between now and five o’clock, maybe God comes and speaks to me like he did the president, and tells me I should run like...

Jesse "The Body" or "The Governor" Ventura is making his announcement tonight on Larry King Live if he will be running for Senate from Minnesota against Norm Coleman (R) and Al Franken (D).

The spectacle of the coming Republican National Convention will be brought to you by Minnesota's major corporations, even more than planned. Virtually every major Twin Cities company has given money to the convention's local host committee, donated free services or both. The surprise has been the ratio of local donors to national money. "They originally thought it would be a 50-50 split, and it's looking more like 60 percent local and 40 percent national," said Teresa McFarland, spokeswoman for the host committee, which is charged with raising $58 million.

Amongst similar anecdotes: Franken Pretends To Kill New Born Daughter At Baby Shower. "AL FRANKEN: My wife came with her sister first and I was going to bring the baby. My other sister-in-law came with me. So I got a doll the exact size of the baby and swaddled it - I told Franny I was going to do this - and there's like thirty women, and I walk in and they're all going like, 'Ohhh . . . ahhhh,' and I was walking in and I hit the baby's head on this piece of furniture and I go up...

In an interview with NPR's David Welna that ran today former Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ind-Minn., says he will run for Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whom Ventura defeated for governor in 1998, as well as Democratic nominee and former Saturday Night Live humorist Al Franken. Ventura, born Jim Janos... Ventura had a stormy tenure as governor and horrible relations with the Minnesota press corps. Thus, it was the June issue of a local wine magazine where he chose to drop hints about his pending campaign. Ventura called Franken an opportunist and a carpetbagger. "He hasn't lived...

In an interview with NPR's David Welna that ran today former Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ind-Minn., says he will run for Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whom Ventura defeated for governor in 1998, as well as Democratic nominee and former Saturday Night Live humorist Al Franken. Ventura, born Jim Janos, tells Welna that the main reason he's running is because of Coleman's support for the war in Iraq. "That's the reason I run," he says. "I run because it angers me...All you Minnesotans take a good hard look at all three of us. And you decide: if...

Is Barack Obama's website conducting an outlawed-in-Minnesota raffle? The Minnesota Gambling Control Board thinks giving new donors a chance to meet Obama backstage in Denver is worth investigating. The Strib's Randy Furst says only nonprofits, not campaigns, can conduct raffles in Minnesota. The raffle standard: it costs money to participate, it's based on luck of the draw, and something of value is at stake. Obama's campaign sounds like it will argue the winners won't be random.

Appearing before Mexico's drug-fighting Federal Police, John McCain promised Thursday that as president, he would quickly implement a U.S. aid package to give the officers more helicopters, technology and training. Mr. McCain, visiting the federal force's new command center as he concluded a three-day trip to Colombia and Mexico, paid his condolences to the hundreds of officers who have died in the drug fight since President Felipe Calderón took office 19 months ago. Those deaths, Mr. McCain said, "will not be in vain." "I want to thank President Calderón and the people of Mexico for their efforts in making our...

Bad news for McCain all over the map. http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x4141.xml?ReleaseID=1188 Four surveys conducted by Quinnipiac University for the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, fielded June 17-24 Colorado: Obama 49 - McCain 44, n=1,351 likely voters, margin of sampling error of +/- 2.7 percent Michigan: Obama 48 - McCain 42, n=1,411 likely voters, margin of sampling error of +/- 2.6 percent Minnesota: Obama 54 - McCain 37, n=1,572 likely voters, margin of sampling error of +/- 2.5 percent Wisconsin: Obama 52 - McCain 39, n=1,537 likely voters, margin of sampling error of +/- 2.5 percent It is time, McCain!

Comedian Al Franken, who is looking to unseat incumbent senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), has a problem with porn. Not ribald humor created by someone else that he downloaded to his computer in the privacy of his home, but material he created for public consumption. A former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, Franken wrote a 1,478-word article titled “Porn-O-Rama!” for the Y2K issue Playboy. Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson gives a pithy summary: [H]e enthuses that it is an "exciting time for pornographers and for us, the consumers of pornography." The Internet, he explains, is a "terrific learning tool. For example,...

Warning: The following contains extreme vulgarity by a candidate for the U.S. Senate. In the razor-close and nationally important Senate race in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is presented with a unique political problem. Should he raise in his ads the issue of comedian Al Franken's offensive vulgarity? Or would this risk a backlash against Coleman for coarsening the public conversation? Remember that when Ken Starr detailed Bill Clinton's most repulsive antics -- stained dresses and such -- it was Starr who was accused of sexual obsessiveness. Franken's defenders explain that his edginess is the result of being a "satirist"...

New poll numbers show Barack Obama’s lead over Johon McCain slipping among Minnesota voters. The exclusive 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS/SURVEY USA Poll shows Obama holding a one-point lead over McCain, with the margin of error at a statistical dead heat Tuesday. Just two weeks ago, Obama held a five-point lead in Minnesota. Nationally, it’s a slightly different story: A new ABC News poll has Obama ahead of McCain 48 to 42-percent. Obama’s lead is down a percentage point from one month ago.

If there were an election for President of the United States today, would you vote for Republican John McCain? Or Democrat Barack Obama?Obama: 47% McCain: 46%

<p>Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found.</p>

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found. The poll of 700 Minnesota adults, taken last week, showed Coleman winning a three-way match over Franken and Ventura. Forty-one percent of poll respondents said they would support Coleman, compared with 31 percent for Franken and 23 percent for Ventura. The margin of error on that question was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. If Ventura doesn't enter the race, 52 percent said they support Coleman and...

Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in the North Star State, according to a poll by SurveyUSA. 47 per cent of respondents in Minnesota would back the Illinois senator in this year’s United States presidential election, while 42 per cent would vote for the Arizona senator. 12 per cent of respondents are undecided.

Noting that there were only 148 days left until the election, newly endorsed DFL Senate candidate Al Franken led a kickoff rally Monday on the steps of the State Capitol with a bluntly worded assessment of his rival, Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. Coleman, he said, "hasn't brought people together to get things done. He's sold people out to get ahead." Minnesotans, he said, "need a senator who has their back. Norm Coleman isn't even on their side." In what is expected to be a common refrain, Franken, who received his party's endorsement over the weekend, linked Coleman to President...

Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken opened the next phase of his campaign to unseat Republican Norm Coleman by hammering the senator on his past allegiance to President Bush. Franken appeared at a state Capitol rally Monday with several top Democrats and congressional candidates, exchanging handshakes and pleasantries with some who hadn't been behind him until after he won his party's endorsement last weekend. Franken is staging a week-long tour of Minnesota. The humorist who made it big on "Saturday Night Live" said he expects Republicans to use his past off-color material against him. But Franken said he'll be reminding voters...