Almanac: At the Capitol

It will be a rare display today when Gov. Tim Pawlenty holds a press conference with his cheif rivals Sen. Larry Pogemiller and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher along with Minority Leaders Seifert and Senjem. These five people rarely stand together on anything. I hear there may not be a lot of news, other than the fact all the state's "big dogs" are getting together to weigh in on NWA merger. They want to and need to look like they're out front on what would be the world's largest airline. The concern is the money NWA owes the state and the jobs politicians want to retain. Sen. Metzen made big news last week when he announced hearings. I hear some of the higher ups didn't want Metzen to take the lead on this and want to get it "under control."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle just held a press conference to "pledge to make the Midwest a renewable energy leader." Not a lot of new news here, Pawlenty is chair of the National Governors Association and Doyle is chair of the Midwestern Governors Association. They said it makes sense for the two states to work together because our people, geography, agriculture are so similar. I was wondering if Minnesota is still positioned well on biofuels with so much talk about moving away from corn-based ethanol and more talk about things like switchgrass. Pawlenty said, "we have a lot of stuff to make fuel out of, but we also have an innovative spirit." Where the two states do differ is a statewide smoking ban. Doyle wants one and hasn't gotten it from his legislature. Pawlenty got one from his legislature last year. Gov. Doyle said he's "glad the Packers took care of the Vikings, but on the smoking ban you guys won."

Reporters also wanted to talk presidential politics, which Pawlenty won't do from the podium in the governor's office. So he motioned to reporters to walk into the hallway so he could serve as McCain's co-chair outside his office. There he expressed delight that McCain won New Hampshire "for a person who was written off for dead." Pawlenty said he'll continue to serve as a surrogate speaker for McCain and may go to Michigan later this week. When asked if McCain will be adding offices here like Obama did today or any paid staffers for Minnesota he paused a while and said, "Ahhhh, no." Finally, Pawlenty continued to deny that he'd be McCain's running mate, saying he's focused on being governor of Minnesota and they've never discussed it and this new quote that he's supporting McCain for president "not because I need or want something out of it."