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President Obama has established a substantial lead against Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Minnesota but remains under the critical 50 percent mark and trails Romney among independent voters... The poll shows Obama drawing 48 percent of likely voters to Romney's 40 percent. Part of Obama's advantage comes from a yawning gender gap in his favor. Romney has a slight edge among men, but the president leads among women voters by more than 20 percentage points.... Janet Schneider, a St. Paul Democrat, is one of those worried about jobs and health care. She's 69 and is looking for a part-time job...

The increasingly costly and bitter fight over a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is a statistical dead heat, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll. Six weeks before Election Day, slightly more Minnesotans favor the amendment than oppose it, but that support also falls just short of the 50 percent needed to pass the measure. Among likely voters, 49 percent would approve constitutional language that defines marriage as only the union of a man and woman. Another 47 percent oppose the measure, while 4 percent are undecided. Minnesota law requires any change to the Constitution to capture a...

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura is speaking out against a gay marriage ban on the Minnesota ballot. The former Independence Party governor and longtime gay rights supporter appears in a video posted online Friday by Minnesotans United for All Families, the main group working to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment. Voters will decide in November whether to add the ban to the state's constitution. In the video, Ventura says, “Love is by far bigger than government can ever be.”

There are serious discussions underway among Republican legislators to take up a motion to expel Rep. Kerry Gauthier, DFL-Duluth during today's special session. GOP House Majority Leader Matt Dean said removing Gauthier is "a possibility" when asked about discussions to expel the first-term member. Dean said any member can make a motion when the Legislature convenes for the Special Session at 2 p.m. The House would need 90 votes to take up the resolution, meaning a block of DFLers would have to agree that Gauthier's conduct was severe enough that he needs to be removed from office. It would also...

***Those who oppose the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage are organizing, putting them at odds with bishops.*** [BIG SNIP] ......Groups of lay Catholics and former priests have spoken out against the bishops' campaign. Some parents and students also have criticized the church's move to talk about marriage in [archdiocesan] high schools. Active Catholics have met in Protestant churches to talk about how to defeat the amendment. Catholics and other faith groups have held meetings in their homes, like the one at Burg's house, where representatives for the anti-amendment Minnesotans United for All Families encourage them to hold conversations...

Anti-gay marriage protester (accidentally) sets fire to General Mills’ lawn with bowl of flaming Cheerios A protester angry about food giant Generals Mills’ taking a stand against a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage accidentally set fire to the lawn at the company’s headquarters after torching a bowl of Cheerios. “One in every eight boxes of cereal in this country is Cheerios,” the man says in a video posted to YouTube. “This is really the treat for . . . homosexuals,” he adds, box of Cheerios in one hand, and a hand torch in the other. The protest...

States that traditionally have been considered Democrat strongholds are now moving toward Mitt Romney, Bay Buchanan, a senior adviser to Romney, tells Newsmax. “When we came into this general election, it was assumed that the battleground states would be the same ones that they were in the past,” says Buchanan, who was treasurer of the U.S. under President Reagan. “Well what’s happened is a lot of the Democratic states are now looking like Mitt Romney could win them. They are now swing states.” That means that Democrats have to focus on an additional five states: New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and...

MINNEAPOLIS, July 30, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nothing so calls to mind the spirit of innocence than a child’s summertime lemonade stand. However, at one church in Minneapolis, young Sunday school children donated the proceeds of their childhood business venture to a group dedicated to redefining marriage in the November election. On July 15, children in grades 1-5 at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis charged a quarter a glass during their church-sponsored fundraiser to support same-sex “marriage.” The church dubbed the event, which took place in the church social hall, “Lemonade Stand-ing on the Side of Love,” to match the title...

CARY, NC -- Fresh from lunch at Chick-Fil-A, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that officials' public objections to the Christian-owned fast food chain are "chilling." "Now you have the police power of government intimidating and threatening people, being used to intimidate and threaten people, based on their free speech rights and their religious views," Pawlenty said Saturday of city officials' objections to president Dan Cathy's public disavowal of gay marriage. "I mean it’s chilling. I mean it’s stunning, it is jaw-dropping. And so I think strong people who see this need to stand up and say no we don’t...

A new poll of likely Minnesota voters showed a 15 percent lead in favor of the constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman, according to a SurveyUSA and KSTP-TV poll released Sunday, July 22. The poll by SurveyUSA, a public polling firm that partners with local TV stations, had 52 percent of voters saying they would vote for the ammendment to 37 percent against it. Six percent were unsure; 5 percent would not vote. A previous SurveyUSA poll in February showed 47 percent would vote for the amendment to 39 percent against it. Other recent polls display...

This thread is directed primarily at Minnesota Freepers - but obviously your support (at any level) is encouraged. This is a GOP primary taking place in state Senate District 33 in Minnesota. Geographically, it includes a number of the western and northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. This is a good GOP district. The incumbent state senator is retiring. David Osmek, a member of the Mound City Council won the GOP endorsement with 81% of the vote - but he's being challenged by state rep Connie Doepke. As I'll point out to you, Doepke's record is decidedly a un-conservative one. Click on...

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has never been afraid to speak his mind. . . Kluwe's preferred avenue for speaking against injustices has been on Twitter, where he'd post white board drawings and messages to get his point across. The 30-year-old punter now is taking a more direct approach, standing up for marriage equality in Minnesota, which has a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages on the ballot this November. "Someone (from Minnesotans for Equality) contacted me on Twitter and asked if I’d be interested," Kluwe recently told Outsports.com. "I said yes. I’ve always believed that people are inherently the...

Remember when Big Business was conservative and was protested by hippies and leftists? Well now, socially speaking, corporate titans are siding with the Left against historic Judeo-Christian values – and God-fearing Christians and Jews are chiding the soulless, capitalist sellouts. The latest Behemoth to kick the Creator to the curb is General Mills — seemingly right up there with apple pie and motherhood as a symbol of American wholesomeness, but no more. General Mills is maker of these iconic breakfast cereals: Cheerios Chex Cinnamon Toast Crunch Fiber One Kix Lucky Charms Monsters Total Trix Wheaties In bowing to the revolutionary,...

Don't look now, but Ron Paul has just secured 30 of 36 delegates in Minnesota. Although he won only four counties and finished 18% behind Rick Santorum, the February 7 caucus winner, superior organization has enabled him to stuff the delegate rolls with committed Paulistas.This follows his February 4 narrow caucus loss in Maine, where Paul's delegates still managed to secure 21 of 22 committed delegates.

The author of a proposed constitutional amendment to require a photo ID when voting is offering an olive branch to the bill’s most vocal opponent. “When this passes… I would expect the League of Women Voters to work with us,” said state Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, Republican from Big Lake. The League is not accepting. “If it passes the Legislature, we will continue to educate voters. If it passes [in November], we will have to take a look at both options -- try to make it work or go to court,” says Laura Wang, executive director of the League of Women...

DENVER — Rick Santorum had a breakthrough night on Tuesday by winning the Missouri primary and the Minnesota caucuses, breathing life into his struggling campaign and slowing Mitt Romney’s march to the Republican presidential nomination. Early returns had Santorum running two-to-one over Romney in Missouri, and the Associated Press projected he would win the state’s “beauty contest” primary, which awards no delegates but provides fresh momentum to the former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign. Romney was hoping to extend his winning streak as he tried to strengthen his claim to the mantle of the presumptive nominee, but he was bracing for a...

Open for discussion.

LUVERNE, Minn. (AP) — As political watchers fixated on Florida, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum delivered a message to Minnesotans: The race is still on, no matter the outcome of Tuesday’s primary. Santorum, speaking Monday to a crowd of about 300 people at the Palace Theatre in the southwest town of Luverne, seemed determined to regain the Midwest momentum he’d enjoyed in Iowa — even on the eve of Florida’s primary, in which the senator hasn’t polled well. “I believe we’re going to be in it until the end, and I believe we’re going to win this race,” Santorum told...