RAMSEY - Anoka County has jurisdiction over Ramsey Blvd., a county road, and will be doing a major road improvement. Work has begun.

It appears the road bed itself is being re-done. Not a resurface, but a rebuild.

This is a good decision. That road was in need, something the pothole season proved beyond anybody's reasonable doubt.

While critical things were written here earlier, now that it appears County action is happening, it is proper to recognize it here and to be glad to see it as a County priority when the road dollars are scarce and needs are everywhere.

We have not reached Brunhilde's final aria.

Not quite how Yogi said it, but will the robot be programmed by handlers to simulate an actual into-issues human face-to-face debate with Abeler? Or will the robot be clammed up for the primary with TV mud slinging against Franken being all the handlers allow?

This Strib link, Abeler is going to a primary; this screen capture from the Abeler for Senate website, here:



____________UPDATE____________
Palin's choice, Ortman, got the Tea Party Express endorsement, not Abeler. This was reported per a press release online here, published May 30, 2014, i.e., going into the GOP convention.

Can any reader in a commment indicate whether Ortman has or has not officially used the grace period to withdraw her candidacy? Is she still straddling a fence, with Tea Bags being thrown her way saying in cramped hand lettering, STAY IN, STAY IN, STAY IN? She has that option up until she formally withdraws, and if missing that deadline, she is on the primary ballot regardless. Brunhilde is backstage now, still practicing, warming her voice.

1:55 PM Wednesday, June 04, 2014 -- Ortman's name has been stricken from the official SoS site, as is the case with Krinkie, in CD6. Quietly withdrawn, as she was reported to be contemplating in past days' news.

Mike McFadden. He is not Mitt Romney. There is evidence. NOT MITT!

Different hand. Different flag. Different camera angle. Different lighting. Checkered shirt - white shirt. Suit coat swap for tie. Mounted mic, not hand mic. What more proof do you want?

________________UPDATE_________________
SEE:

not

mitt

Not the same cold-as-ice, hard-as-a-stone, uber-capitalist, take-no-prisoners, dance-on-your-mother's-grave eyes. No.

Moreover, as HuffPo explains:

The Democratic-aligned Alliance for a Better Minnesota already branded McFadden "Minnesota's Mitt Romney" in a bid to lump him with the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who was pounded by President Barack Obama's team over private equity deals that led to job losses.

McFadden distinguishes his activities at Lazard from what Romney did at Bain Capital. McFadden describes his role as a middle-man, helping companies looking to sell find a buyer or vice versa. He maintains his firm had no operational control over employment decisions made before or after the transactions. Democrats argue some companies McFadden assisted subsequently engaged in layoffs.

So far, Franken hasn't personally mentioned McFadden or Lazard in public settings. If he does, Herold said the Republican's campaign will highlight the senator's investment.

In 2006, Franken added the Neuberger Berman Socially Responsive Fund to a vast personal portfolio. A Senate disclosure form lists the value of his holding in the fund between $100,001 and $250,000, a small fraction of his total investments.

Fund managers first put Lazard in the mix in 2012 and as of this February that component amounted to about 2.3 percent of the overall value.

"If Mike McFadden survives the Republican primary battle, he's not going to be able to use one-tenth of one percent of Sen. Franken's assets to prevent voters from hearing about 100 percent of his own record as an investment banker," said Franken campaign spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff.

Herold said the extent of Franken's Lazard connection doesn't change things.

Got that? What? Unconvinced? You doubt?

Once more with feeling, main theme - from Strib this time, not HuffPo:

McFadden’s handlers said Wednesday that investment banking differs from private equity in that there is scant operational control beyond simply helping others buy and sell companies. A struggling company will hire an investment banker, for example, to find a buyer and once a suitable buyer is found, the investment banker is usually done with the deal, campaign officials said.

Whatever happens next is now in the new buyer’s — not the investment banker’s — control, campaign officials say.

Still Unconvinced? That alone proves something.

You must be a squalid 47-percenter is all. An Occupy- something/somebody.


...............................

So, Mike, you tell 'em, you're not just a lower net worth smaller pond Romney clone, are you?

______________FURTHER UPDATE____________
One of the knocks against Romney was his declining to release tax returns and having money stashed in offshore tax havens. That being so, the questions naturally arise concerning The McFadden, now that the robot's the endorsed GOP US Senate candidate. How has he, if he has, exploited tax code loopholes [including offshore opportunity] and how do his taxes as a percent of income compare to Joe Mainstreet's, union laborers', indeed, all middle-income people in general in Minnesota and nationwide? As a sharp banker's banker, what's the expectation, and how should voters regard any robotic reticence in such matters?

The Children's Crusade. AND -- How can you not like a man who can smile, hold no grudge, and move on from a contentious convention? [with UPDATING re The McFadden; re Seifert-related keening, whining, and knashing of teeth]

photo from here

Let's see if I understand things. The robot with the ton of money was going to spend the ton in a primary, if needed, so the children behaved, and gave the robot what the robot wanted.

Love.

Then, two against one - a gang-up, and the one guy said, "It sucks, go home."

But - that smile.

So engaging and sincere.

And yet now how the children whine. But the vision will persist ...

Children convene, children crusade. photo credit

_____________UPDATE________________
Omitted link. The second sentence of the first paragraph should read, "The robot with the ton of money was going to spend the ton in a primary, if needed, so the children behaved, and gave the robot what the robot wanted."

__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
How does this Strib stuff grab you?

Brad Herold

McFadden, a politically untested politician and former Lazard Middle Market executive, began Friday's state convention as an underdog [...]

"The organization is something you don’t talk about until it’s over," Brad Herold, McFadden's campaign manager, said Monday morning as his boss took off on a small plane to barnstorm the state with the party's other picks.

McFadden spent much of the first months of his campaign raising money.

“People think raising money is easy, it's not easy,” McFadden said Monday. [It isn't? Just DC your effort, presumably swap something, and cash flow flows, e.g., here, and here; so there.]

But he did it, tapping in to Republican DC power players, business contacts and others. So far he has raised about $2.85 million [... without making major league promises to people avoiding sunshine, you think?]

So, after coming in distant but respectable second place in two Republican straw polls, the team had added a convention strategy to their goals.

“We are going to pursue the endorsement but we are not going to do anything that may potentially jeopardize our general election strategy,” Herold said they decided. “Every decision we made was viewed through that prism.”

The decision was made but the campaign realized it had no expertise in vying for party endorsement. [...] So they studied Minnesota’s recent history and opted to look at Republican gubernatorial convention winner Tom Emmer’s team.

Picking up key staffers and volunteers from that 2010 convention win – including now McFadden political director Kevin Poindexter, and power volunteers Jen Niska and [...]

In recent months, the campaign made more than 50,000 phone calls to the universe of under 7,000 Republican activists who could have ended up in the convention hall. While those calls helped to woo delegates -- and make them realize McFadden was serious about working for their votes -- they also aided in the tricky task of figuring out the delegates plans.

[...] "There were a lot of undecided and soft support and quite frankly unknown support," said Niska.

[...] After that first ballot, [...] McFadden had organization on his side.

It [the campaign staff not the robot alone] had pre-printed a hoard of fliers to distribute to delegates at key moments but also prepared to print fliers on the fly. They figured, with all their printers going, they could print out the needed 2,200 fliers in 20 minutes, said Tom Erickson, McFadden spokesman. Once printed, they could get them to the floor in 43 seconds – when delivered at a sprint.

[...] Picking up more legislators’ support, the campaign was able to quickly distribute a signed letter from the new lawmakers and the existing ones, endorsing McFadden.

Often delegates will pay heed to lawmakers’ endorsements. [...]

After nearly nine hours of voting, with just Dahlberg and McFadden left in the running, the delegates decided to retire for the night. Dahlberg had 54 percent of the vote and McFadden had 44 percent.

[...] The next day, the delegate ranks were refilled with about 700 people who had not come for Friday night’s fun. They hadn’t seen Dahlberg’s presentation and were fresh to the scene. They were greeted by McFadden himself, who shook the hand of every arriving delegate [... with overnight robot "press the flesh" programming code installed and working]

Then came another welcome surprise. Niska, a 6th District activist, had secured a statement from retiring Rep. Michele Bachmann.

“I think we can all agree that Sen. Franken must go. The question is, who had the conservative principles, resources, and organization to accomplish that goal?” Bachmann said in the statement. “It is my belief that Mike McFadden is the candidate that can best bring the fight to Sen. Franken.”

Printed in 20 minutes, rushed to the floor in 43 seconds, the statement was spread throughout the convention hall.

So powerful were the words from Bachmann, long a GOP icon, that a delegate took to a mic to doubt its veracity.

Niska stood up in front of the thousands to declare that she personally had talked to the representative's office. The statement, delivered around the 8th ballot, was real.

On the 9th ballot, McFadden surged to 53 percent.

After the 10th ballot, he was declared the victor.

[linking, bracketed commentary, and emphasis added]

With that GOP inner-inner party peccadillo, dear Ms. Bachmann likely drove out her demons, and can likely rest comfortably assured the ethics inquiry cloud over her head miraculously will go away and she can comfortably keep MichelePAC money and do whatever.

Players in the band. The Florida guy recruits the Emmerites, but Emmer lost, always recall that.

Now, who are the people running the robotics programming besides Norm/Vin/Rove and the DC crowd? In particular, the Florida guy, Ms. Niska? (She lives in Ramsey. Spouse Harry is on Ramsey's Charter Commission and responsible for the Niska Amendment.)

Brad Herold is yet another money-bag's outside agitator. Only difference, a different bag of cash - not Honour's - and The McFadden, unlike Honour, is not, himself, largely an outside agitator too.

First, why call the robot's political consultant/sandbur, Brad Herold, "the Florida guy" if he's here doing robotic-politicking in Minnesota? For starters he lacks a Wikipedia page [i.e., lacks that sunshine].

So, in lieu of Wikipedia serving for a "Who is this guy" bio, LinkedIn says:

click to read, or LinkedIn, here

With that, who's to doubt his Florida bona fides, with all that politicking in the land of palms and Minnesota snow birds?

Next, his last gig before robot programming in the land of 10,000 lakes, is one standing wholly akin to his forging ties to the Emmerites -- his guy lost; see, dead-heat too-close-to-call pre-election poll reporting, here, and then his guy's Wikipedia page, here, indicating a loss (percentagewise) that likely translates to a loss margin greater than Dayton's 7000 vote margin, ahead of Emmer.

Now back to Jen Niska, and her spouse Harry who is on Ramsey's Charter Commission (that civic body that sandbured itself onto the council's franchise fee effort). While much of the regressive-taxation nature of imposing franchise fees bothers me, what bothers me more is that the Charter Commission is overloaded with Republican people who got there during the prior (voted out) council headed by Mayor Bob Ramsey; and their maneuvering is why I anticipate seeing a franchise fee thing on the November ballot.

And I anticipate it being there as much to serve as a GOP GOTV magnet, insinuated that way, as to seek local governmental constraints.

Politicizing alteration of the town charter is something that should be ONLY town related, such as Terry Hendriksen's sewer/water amendment effort history which was nonpartisan; and not something having any appearance of GOP/DFL jockeying for election advantage.

Some may see things differently, but that's why everyone has a vote, (and only one vote - despite the false whining we heard last cycle about voter fraud which is nonexistent in Minnesota and hardly cause to disenfranchise large numbers of people simply because they more likely than not would vote DFL).

As a wrap-up of how McFadden got the Children's Crusaders bundled to trundle his way, who but children could be hoodwinked into loving this approach to gaining loyal and obedient affection:

again, image link, from here

____________FURTHER UPDATE____________
Segue to Seifert. Sorensen, at Bluestem Prairie, here, dissects Marty's win-or-go-home antics; no excerpt, so follow the link. Sorensen links here.

___________FURTHER UPDATE_____________

Bless those tiny crusaders, the Bible their Facebook favorite text.

DFL conventioneering as reported by Pi Press.

This link. This opening excerpt.

"This is a great time to be a Democrat in Minnesota," Gov. Mark Dayton said in his speech at the party's convention accepting the endorsement to run for re-election as governor. "It's a great time to stand up proudly for all we have accomplished."

DFLers cheered their accomplishments while in total control of state government. In the past two years, they've legalized gay marriage and medical marijuana, raised the minimum wage and increased taxes to balance the state budget only to cut taxes when there was a surplus. They also put a half-billion dollars of new money into education by funding things such as all-day kindergarten and scholarships for preschool.

"These last legislative sessions were one of the most remarkable in a generation," Ken Martin, chair of the DFL, told party members Saturday at the start of the event at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

State Rep. Steve Simon of Hopkins won the only competitive race of the day by beating out state Rep. Debra Hilstrom of Brooklyn Center to get the party endorsement for secretary of state. Mark Ritchie holds that office and decided not to run again, but he told delegates he didn't plan to end his career in public service.

Simon won the endorsement before the results of the first ballot were revealed after Hilstrom bowed out. Both Simon and Hilstrom said they would fight against what they characterized as Republicans' anticipated efforts to limit voting rights.

"What the name of the game here for all Minnesotans is ballot access," Simon said in his acceptance speech.

Pi Press reported more, and was source of the opening photo. Again, for the full report, this link.

How about that final line in the quote: "What the name of the game here for all Minnesotans is ballot access," Simon said in his acceptance speech.

So really, what kind of low-life knave would be against ballot access? It takes a special kind to want to shrink the voter pool and then ask that pool for votes. But, some are special ...

Like Kiffmeyer. Like ALEC. Like Kiff-ALEC fellow travelers; whoever, wherever ...

Caption this.

Photo from MinnPost, here, my own caption idea is included below the photo:

"They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis"

Readers are urged to submit better captioning via comments.

Simon.

Reporting, Marshall Independent, here; and MinnPost here. Eric Ferguson's live blogging report at MPP is a must read. Anybody, regardless of party, who live blogs a convention or similar event takes on a daunting task and is doing a public service which should be commended.

The Independent reported:

Several speakers stressed the importance of bringing out Democratic voters for the off-year general election in November, when Republicans are expected to make gains across the country. Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, of Cook, warned that the party will be in "big trouble" if turnout falls below 50 percent.

"We cannot allow ourselves to take our foot off the pedal," St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said.

In the only competitive race of the convention, delegates endorsed state Rep. Steve Simon over state Rep. Debra Hilstrom for secretary of state. Simon was declared the winner by acclamation after Hilstrom conceded before the first-ballot vote total was announced. Both said they would not challenge the endorsed candidate in the primary.

Simon, of St. Louis Park, touted his work to defeat a constitutional amendment that would have required Minnesota voters to present identification at the polls.

Well, a GOTV litany, vote to win being a simple enough concept.

Then, a "by acclimation" concession, and none of that messy multi-ballot political intrigue that Tweedle Dum indulged in, these folks were polite and correct.

Now, Simon stressed his work to upend that awful voter disenfranchisement attempt.

And about that, a look back at legislation sponsorship is due soon. Who when trusted with legislative responsibility was a big time booster of voter disenfranchisement?

Worth a look, in a later post; and DFL stalwarts in CD6 can cross over and vote the GOP primary, and should.

NEXT: What did MinnPost report? This excerpt:

Despite its down-ticket status, Simon’s race — against Rep. Debra Hilstrom — was of far more interest than at most conventions because it was the only competitive race at an otherwise ho-hum convention.

And because it was the only competitive race, it was surrounded by all sorts of political scuttlebutt and rumor-mongering.

Brooklyn Center’s Hilstrom apparently was receiving campaign advice from former DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch.

She was expected to get strong support from Iron Range delegates because Simon has taken positions on mining that Rangers see as unfriendly.

Hilstrom indirectly attacked Simon on his refusal to push forward a bill that would have given access to voting to 50,000 Minnesota felons who have served their sentences. (Simon, who supports expanding access, had not pushed the legislation forward because it did not have bipartisan support and Gov. Mark Dayton said he would veto voting legislation that does not have support of members of both parties.)

Turns out Simon had a pretty powerful trump card for every turn Hilstrom could make.

[...] Simon talked about his own future campaign.

“The name of the game is ballot access for all Minnesotans," Simon said. “That’s what we have to do going forward.’’

He said it would be “a cold day in hell or a warm day in Duluth’’ before Minnesotans allow “chipping away’’ at limiting opportunities to vote.

[emphasis added] Simon said, just as in the game.

And that cold day in hell statement; who in the hell in Minnesota's CD6 would ever have wanted voter disenfranchisement? To have championed it?

A parallel question, who lost a recount-tainted election to Mark Dayton?

More on such questions in a later post.

LAST: Any reader here who did not read the MPP live blogging should do that now. It is excellent reporting.