The decision by Burris, 71, is an acknowledgment that prospects of mounting a multimillion-dollar fundraising effort for a high-profile statewide race are low in the face of widespread public criticism over how he got the job. Almost two months after his appointment, a Tribune poll found only 37 percent of voters wanted Burris to run. As of the spring, he raised $845 with more than $111,000 in debt, a campaign filing showed.

Gotta’ give a guy credit for seeing political reality and doing the right thing, though with such dismal fundraising I have to believe this is a decision made quite a while ago.

$845? That’s ALL? I can only imagine our beloved former state Rep. Mark Olson raises more money at his old fashioned family picnics.

It was evident that he is solidly “senator” and no longer “celebrity.”  Not resembling anything close to the “Angry Al” the right portrayed him as during the campaign (and I guess still to this day), he appeared at the front desk exactly as the humble guy we got to know on the trail:

Sen. Franken: “Franken…I’m here for my first vote.”

Desk Clerk (quickly, before muting her microphone): “I know.”

Congratulations, Senator, on your first day in the Senate and your first vote.  May there be a few thousand more votes to come!

So easy I almost feel sorry for her, but not as sorry as I feel for the reporters who have to file stories about her.  After all, if a story seems the least bit critical of her, regardless of how factual, Glenn Beck and the rest of the attack dogs will chalk it up to the evil liberal media conspiracy and the reporter may have to fear a lawsuit from Palin herself.

Take this story from ABC for instance.

If she were in the White House, she said, the “department of law” would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

“I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we’ve been charged with and automatically throw them out,” she said.

There is no “Department of Law” at the White House.

“Department of Law” eh? You hang in there, Sarah, and be sure to thank this reporter for burying your error at the bottom of page one of the story. Reality may be tough, but we will do our best to remind you of it however long you continue to stay in politics.

RNC Chair Michael Steele, From the Huffington Post:

“Not having talked to the governor, I take 2012 off the table right now simply because given everything she’s going through personally, dealing with the financial mess that all these ludicrous investigations have put her and Todd in, at the moment, I think she’s trying to focus on getting her house in order, her personal house in order,” Steele told FOX News.

And House Minority Leader John Boehner:

“I like her a lot. But I think it will be very difficult for her to run in 2012 given everything’s that’s gone on the last nine months,” he said(…)

Two of the top three figures in the GOP are already kicking dirt on Sarah Palin’s political ambitions! I can’t wait for the “grassroots” Republicans to call for their heads after this assessment, however brutally honest it may have been.

In light of this departure, I am left with a couple of simple questions:

Mike, why was it no problem for you to continue blogging at MDE after you began accepting paychecks from the taxpayers upon starting your position at the Minnesota Senate, yet now that you are Deputy Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota (a gig from which you proclaimed you will draw no salary at all), why do you all of a sudden now feel that you are prevented from blogging?

Is there something you feel you owe the rank and file of the Minnesota GOP in preventing a conflict of interest that you didn’t also owe the taxpayers?

Inquiring minds want to know.  Thanks.

Your pal,

DJ D

http://www.mncourts.gov/opinions/sc/current/OPA090697-6030.pdf

Kurt Zellers is politically vulnerable.

Their post looked at results from Zellers’s previous elections and found him to win each of his races by competitive margins, including a squeaker in 2006 when he won by only 356 votes.  This strongly contrasts with those who have been in GOP leadership positions over the past 15 years (Steve Sviggum, Tim Pawlenty, Erik Paulsen, and Marty Seifert) who all routinely won elections by margins greater than 20 points.

Smart Politics draws from these data that yes, Zellers is vulnerable. We conclude that not only do they think he’s vulnerable; in 2008 the Republican Party and ally groups thought he was as well.

Campaign finance reports show the House Republican Campaign Committee (a group which Zellers now leads) spending a whopping $41,305.50 on independent expenditures in favor of Rep. Zellers in 2008.  It doesn’t end there:  the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fund spent $18,296.88 and the Republican Party of Minnesota dropped $11,772.01.  The Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life PAC threw in $716.47 for good measure.

But as Ron Popeil would say on an infomercial:

“BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!”

In the 2008 campaign, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fund spent $11,558.16 against Zellers’s DFL opponent Lee Carlson.

This adds up to a very significant figure of $83,648.52 spent by outside groups either in support of Zellers’s campaign or against his opponent’s.  For context, the House DFL Caucus, Conservation Minnesota, and Education Minnesota combined to spend $6,856.61 for Carlson and against Zellers.

Zellers would go on to win the 2008 race by 6.29 percent.

Throughout the campaign for minority leader, Marty Seifert often put emphasis on the fundraising effort for the caucus his successor would have to commit to.   While Zellers is telling Politics in Minnesota which brand of shoes is the best for doorknocking, the question now has to be asked: to what extent will Zellers have to raise massive amounts of money in order for the caucus, of which he is the leader, to sustain efforts in his own district?

I hope the Argentina trip was worth it.  I hope we can continue to hear more from his Republican colleagues about family values in the next 17 months.

Thanks for playing, Mark.  Enjoy this lovely totebag as a parting gift:

You can have it for just $9.99!

Following an inquiry from Flay, Obama revealed he likes his steak medium-well.  While Obama has previously dealt with controversy stemming from his decision to order a hamburger at such an unreasonable doneness, this revelation on the White House lawn raises some new questions:

1. Is our president scared of mad-cow disease or some other food borne illness?

2. Were the Founding Fathers, who fought for our freedom, “scared” of mad-cow or other food borne illnesses?

3. Are the troops fighting for democracy in Iraq “scared” of any such illness?

Considering Obama’s cowardice as to order a delicious ribeye steak at a doneness greater than medium-rare, in addition to prior questions about his citizenship status, he should step away from the grill and do the honorable thing: resign.  Ordering a steak medium-well not only shows a lack of patriotism, but is considerably disrespectful to the animal.

If he doesn’t resign, Obama at the very least should commit to not continuing the practice of ruining perfectly good pieces of beef by having them cooked to the consistency of shoe leather.

The governor went missing four days ago and his state is in a tizzy.

Sanford ditched his security detail on Thursday, missed Father’s Day weekend with his family, and didn’t show up at work Monday.

Neither his wife, nor the state’s lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.

But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn’t worried.

“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” she said while vacationing with the couple’s four sons.

Cute.  Nothing says “family values” like getting away from the kids on Father’s Day!

Earlier today, when the S.C. legislature overrode ten of his vetoes (ouch!), it was discovered he was somewhere off on the Appalachian Trail.  Hopefully on the trail for the GOP presidential nomination, likely candidate Sanford will eventually give likely candidate Pawlenty advice on how to take a hike. 

Ha Ha! I’ll be here all week.  Be sure to tip your bartender!