Almanac: At the Capitol

New development, Monday Assistant Minority Leader Tarryl Clark will endorse Hillary Clinton. Leaders Pogemiller and Senjem have not made up their minds yet. Today House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher endorsed Hillary Clinton for president saying, "Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to deliver the change this country needs." Yesterday, Minority Leader Marty Seifert was named honorary chairman for the Fred Thompson campaign in Minnesota. Seifert said, "Thompson is the only true conservative in the race." Seifert is really excited about this and begged me to blog about it. Majority Leader Tony Sertich is backing John Edwards. It seems the House leadership reflects much of the country still making up their minds. Speaking of Sertich, he's the subject of my report tonight on Almanac. A couple of week's ago we caught up with former Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum teaching in the classroom. Tonight we get to see "Anthony the Actor" that is Sertich embracing his theater major. We get to see him in make up and tights (just a peak) as a thespian. Sertich also shares come exciting personal news with us. He was a great sport and I think it'll be fun for viewers to see the majority leader's comedic timing and wit in action. Tune in to Sertich in an Oscar award-winning movie!

I'm not sure I've ever gotten more reaction on a blog post than yesterday's comments about Terri Bonoff and the 3rd Congressional District race. Last night I got a call on my cell from Sen. Bonoff concerned about what I had to say. I pointed out that while I mentioned some tough stuff, I also said some nice things. I try to criticize and reward equally. I gave Bonoff credit on WCCO-AM in my weekly segment Thursdays with Mondale and Jones for having the guts to call me and have a professional, productive conversation. Sometimes it's easier for people to digress to name-calling, like what's going on in the comments on MDE right now. It amazes me the vicious things people will say with anonymity online. Would they ever say these cruel things out loud to someone's face? After more than a decade working in commercial and public television I know viewers can say some nasty things, it seems they forget we are real people with real feelings. I know I have crazy hair, but I love public television for actually allowing me to embrace my naturally curly Norwegian fro. When I worked in commercial television I was not allowed to have my naturally curly hair, I had to cut and straighten it because news anchors don't have curly hair. I want it to be about my journalism, not my hair. Also, it seems common fodder for web writers to try to call me a Democrat or a Republican. For the record: I'm neither. I'm nothing. I'm a journalist. I see good and bad ideas from both sides and all around the middle. I was raised by a fair and brilliant journalist who taught me to see the validity of many opinions and make my quest educating people from a non-partisan point of view.

So much for the race to replace Congressman Jim Ramstad being a two-person race. The DFL field has gotten complicated. State Senator Terri Bonoff was the frontrunner or the only DFL candidate for a while, but that's no longer true. Dems have had a history of slugging it out to primaries while Republicans clear the field for one annointed candidate. Dems had been doing better at that in recent years realizing how it put them at a competitive disadvantage. I'm hearing other DFLers are getting into the race because there's a bit of uneasiness about Bonoff. She has great credentials and a solid resume. But in this new media world, one has to wonder if Minnesota Democrats Exposed video of her missteps at her campaign announcement have hurt her. I know a lot of MSM don't want to give bloggers that credit and power, but they're not to be overlooked. I've got to say to me Bonoff has been professional and pretty impressive, but this video does not look good. She is the only candidate for major office to personally call me to invite me to her kick off. That's a personal touch. But now that Edina Mayor Jim Hovland and Iraq war veteran Ashwin Madia are in the race it's gotten messy. Speaking of new media, Minnesota Campaign Report and Eric Black's new site have some interesting posts on this.