Shot in the Dark

News Flash?

From Blois Olson’s “Morning Take“: word has it that the Duluth News Tribune is doing to do the unthinkable:

Sources close to the CD8 campaign of Republican Chip Cravaack are telling people that on Sunday the Duluth News Tribune will endorse his candidacy to replace Democrat Rep. Jim Oberstar.

I’m not going to write “Developing…” at the end of this post – good lord, what kind of hapless dork do you think I am? – but I’ll be following this very, very closely.

I’m starting to feel really optimistic about Cravaack’s shot, here.

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Mitch Berg

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25 responses to “News Flash?”

  1. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    Good Lord, Mitch!

    If this happens, watch out for flying pigs and a quick cooling of the earth as hell freezes over!

  2. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    Curious.

    Is blogger Berg taking direction from Eva Young?

    Redicioulus!

    Rede my blug…and link to me.

  3. Gordon Avatar
    Gordon

    Real Clear Politics just moved the race from Likely Dem to Leans Dem.

  4. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    We all need a little Eva from time to time. It’s like smelling salts.

  5. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Gordon, I think you’ll see a lot of pollsters start to hedge; I suspect their likely voter models are based on experience in the past couple of elections. I think they’re getting less confident over time with those outputs.

  6. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    Mitch – apologies for going off topic here – but you should do some fact checking as it appears your story from Hugh Hewitt had some errors of fact in it (as he does, from time to time).

    There were NOT three school buses of kids taken to get ice cream and look at democratic voting names on a sample ballot. There was one, count them, one, van provided by a local church. It appears there may have been other people on the church van besides the few students.

    It is not clear how many studens precisely were involved but it appears to be a very small number. It is also not clear if they were registered voters BEFORE this event, or if the actual purpose for the trip was in part TO REGISTER to vote. If it turns out this was primarily an occasion where eligible students were registering to vote then… I have a problem but a much much smaller problem with the whole thing about the sample ballot or ice cream. It isn’t GOOD, but it may be far less bad than originally reported.

    Perhaps most significant, it is not clear if this is something these few students simply chose to do on their own time – like lunch or study hall – not class time. Nor is it in any way clear that this was initiated by any member of the faculty, although a teacher is alleged to have approved the transportation by church van. Transportation by an approprite private vehicle or a non-school vehicle for a few students is not unusual or illegal.

    Findlaw.com is more reliable than Hewitt, and posted something today, on the alleged event.

    While I don’t like any aspect of school to be associated with partisan politics, the differing details do put the events in a different light than you – and Hewitt – originally indicated.

  7. jpmn Avatar
    jpmn

    http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101022/EDIT01/10220369/1192/EDIT/Voting+outing+an+outrage

    DG according to the cincinnati enquirer the students were taken out of school to vote.

    The problem isn’t who transported the students. The problem is that school officials are promoting the Democratic party on school time.

  8. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    So, dear Mitch — here is what my fact checking has turned up (so far).

    There were three church vans, only one of which had students on it – approximately three of them. Those students were being taken – along with the other people riding the church vans – to a local polling place, not a party headquarters. The students who were old enough were encouraged to go register to vote, as part of their government course, as is the case every year in this school district.

    Because the trip was later in the day, when the other people on the church vans were taken for free ice cream as part of some sort of outing, the students were also provided free ice cream on the trip home. Nothing whatsoever to do with bribery by anyone from any political group or party; they were just in the right place at the right time for the afternoon snack.

    The law suit being filed? Yeah— that appears to be by a Republican candidate who is attempting to get attention for his campaign at the last minute.

    The entire claim about the whole democratic candidate only ballot? No. That appears to be entirely based on the claim of one of the van drivers (who is not necessarily the driver of the actual van the students rode in) who is a major supporter of that Republican candidate filing the suit, and HIS claim is based NOT on his having actually seen the sample ballot in question, but on his belief that the teacher who arranged the buses MIGHT have had a sticker on her clothing for a democratic party candidate.

    NO ONE else is supporting the democratic-candidate-only-ballot version of events. Which would be consistent with what you would expect to find at a public polling place.

    I have no hope in hell that either Hugh Hewitt or Faux News will correct their splashy trashy factually inaccurate version of this event, but I still have hopes Mitch that you will do so.

    If you want to check MY fact checking, here is a hint – start with the local Cincinnati media coverage. Or, you can read about it on penigma.blogspot.com where I am happily tackling another Tea Party style crackpot Tempest story.

    I’m happy to provide the fact checking for you on these silly things.

  9. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    jpmn, there is no indication that the students voted, that I could confirm. It IS and has been the policy of the school to encourage students who are old enough to do so to register to vote as part of their government course.

    I don’t have a problem with that as part of a government course.

    As to the other claims – the democratic only sample ballot etc.? Not true.

    Look further into multiple accounts of this story – or you could save time and follow the update over on penigma.blogspot.com.

  10. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    Mitch dear, my comments are being moderated – I won’t ask why, and assume it is random again. But it is annoying.

    jpmn – if students are old enough to vote – or register to vote – they are 18 years old, not minors any longer, but adults. I’m not sure the school could stop adult students from leaving to vote, it might very well have been a violation of their rights as adult voters to do that. I’m not familiar with Ohio voter law.

    If a legal adult wishes to leave to school to vote or register to vote – and especially if this is encouraged as part of course work – more power to the students, and a big round of applause for the school and the teacher for promoting that!

    I had a huge problem with any party promoting only their candidates on a sample ballot – but that does NOT appear to be the case. That removes my only objection. Well, that and the misrepresentation of the whole ice cream ‘bribe’. I don’t believe anyone is bribed with ice cream to vote differently than they planned to vote – especially after instead of before voting. It’s stupid on the face of it.

    This was NOT on the public dime. Appropriate adult supervision was available. There appears to be no confirmation that any such democratic candidate only ballot existed.

    Voting as part of a government or civics class is a good thing, and the school district should be commended – not bloody sued by some crackpot looking for attention without any proof.

    More than that however, this goes to the whole premise of some of you being uncritical of these stories, and being far far too willing to believe stupid, untrue things about anyone you perceive to be liberal, ‘lefty’ or democratic.

    Please – try to be more fair and a helluva lot more skeptical. And for god’s sake fact check anything that is so obviously provocative. Sheesh!

    Sorry again Mitch for the thread hijack, but I was too lazy to go back through all the other posts to look for your original. Nor did I think people would see it — and they needed to.

  11. flash Avatar
    flash

    I newspaper that endorsed Anderson for Auditor LOL . . yeah, lotta credibility there Hahahaha

  12. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    Why does DG constantly thread jack?

  13. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    It isn’t GOOD, but it may be far less bad than originally reported.

    Ah, all right then.

    Pffft.

    Deegee, why are leftists so frickin’ scummy?

  14. swiftee Avatar
    swiftee

    I suppose we should be glad they weren’t handing out smokes and beers.

  15. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    Wow, this is unbelievable. Go CHIP!

  16. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Appropriate adult supervision was available.
    Along with free condoms and counseling on homosexuality and it’s perfectly normalness.

  17. Chuck Avatar
    Chuck

    When an organization that is normally not friendly to the cause decides to buck the establishment elite….this is big news. Perhaps the DNT “gets it”.

    I rewatched the debate highlights and it took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on. Jim Oberstar, living in Marlyand, surrounded by Big Government yes men (and ladies, and shemales), doesn’t know what is going on in the country. He seems shocked and angry that we don’t want DC to control every aspect of our lives. He can’t comprehend why even liberal Duluth/St Louis/Carlton county are saying “enough”.

  18. Chuck Avatar
    Chuck

    One more point……Oberstar has been a resident of Maryland/DC/ Beltway for decades. The last time he was out in the real world….a Jimmy Carter was just elected to the White House. Republicans were insignificant due to Watergate. Jane Fonda convinced us that nuclear power was bad.

    It’s like a science fiction movie. Suddenly he was transported from 1977 to 2010 and he can’t figure out why people are not happy with the gov’t. Don’t you know how I provide for you? What’s going on here, you flat earthers (with that line, he thinks he won). We have a Saturday Night Fever congressman in a Facebook generation.

    Jim, stop going through the motions of paying rent on your dead mothers apartment, and just retire to your home on the east coast. You are a 1977 person that can’t handle a 2011 world.

  19. Terry Avatar
    Terry

    Wouldn’t it be great to take a look at Oberstar’s tax returns? A congressional salary should see him in an upper-middle-class bracket. I bet that he went to congress middle-class and that he is now a multimillionaire.

  20. kel Avatar
    kel

    Terry

    if this 6.29.2010 source/story is to be trusted
    http://minnesotaindependent.com/60570/ellison-poorest-oberstar-richest-among-minnesota-congress-members

    Rep Oberstar is the richest member of the MN delegation.

    Rep. Oberstar (pdf) has the most wealth of any member of the delegation, somewhere between $4.773 and $8.222 million, an average of around $6.5 million. He owns stock in numerous corporations including Apple, Exxon Mobil, Disney, General Electric, Home Depot, and Microsoft. He accepted two trips to the Aspen Institute in 2009.

    this appears to be the source document for the story: http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2010/8147370.pdf

  21. Mr. D Avatar
    Mr. D

    Sorry again Mitch for the thread hijack, but I was too lazy to go back through all the other posts to look for your original. Nor did I think people would see it — and they needed to.

    The fierce moral urgency of blather.

  22. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    This post and thread started with a touchstone reference to a blogger who’s style and idiosyncracies have made her an automatic punch-line (and I’m not even sure if she’s still blogging because despite all of her requests I’ve never read her blog). I believe DG is rapidly approaching similar status.

  23. Yossarian Avatar
    Yossarian

    The fierce moral urgency of blather.

    That little gem will help ensure a happy spring to my step for the rest of the weekend. Well done.

  24. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Rediculas!

  25. jpmn Avatar
    jpmn

    DG you continually say I have said things that I Haven’t. For instance

    “jpmn – if students are old enough to vote – or register to vote – they are 18 years old, not minors any longer, but adults. I’m not sure the school could stop adult students from leaving to vote, it might very well have been a violation of their rights as adult voters to do that. I’m not familiar with Ohio voter law.”

    I believe I called them students and I believe that they probably are old enough to vote. That the students were taken to “VOTE” as the cincinnati enquirer reported should probably be an indication that they voted. Or maybe thay went to the polls and just mooned the officials.

    I would not be at all concerned if they left on thier own to go to the polls. The school however, seems to be openly promoting one particular party. Also the students reportedly were given something of value for voting (ice cream) and that is against the law.

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