Defeated legislative leader contemplates run for U.S. Senate (Minnesota '08 elections

Minneapolis StarTribune (aka The Red Star) ^ | 11/17/06 | AP News Story

[MplsSteve]

After losing his Minnesota Senate seat, DFL Majority Leader Dean Johnson said today that he might shoot for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Johnson said on Minnesota Public Radio that running against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is "a possibility."

"I'm not making an announcement, I'm not forming an exploratory committee," Johnson said. "But 23 months from now there's another election. I still care deeply about this state and nation and the direction we want to take it."

When pressed on his plans, Johnson said he's not "actively considering" a U.S. Senate run.

"I think about it during my drive time and as I'm trying to sharpen up my golf game," he said.

[MplsSteve]

Interesting. We're not even two weeks past Election Day and the Democrats are starting to put out feelers for 2008.

Personally and politically, I can't stand Dean Johnson. Apparently, his district felt the same way too. He was 1 of only 2 DFL legislative incumbents defeated earlier this month.

In order for a Dem to lose in Minnesota in this election year, he must have made quite a few enemies.

Comments or opinions - anyone?

[MplsSteve]

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[paudio]

SO, it's not true that there's no Republican winning Dim's seat this year...

[Brad from Tennessee]

Is this the seat Al Franken is aiming at?

[MplsSteve]

Yes it is.

Norm Coleman currently holds it.

[NormsRevenge]

What part of the atate or district is he in?

[blueminnesota]

I understand the MCCL poured A LOT of money into defeating Dean Johnson. This might have accounted for his loss. Of course, they also poured a lot of money into defeating Don Betzold in the 51st and that didn't go over as well.

Larry Pogemiller has replaced Dean Johnson as Majority Leader, and, from what I know, he is much more partisan and hard-edged. Johnson was a former Republican, pro-lifer and relatively moderate. Religious and career military and all. Pogemiller is a Minneapolis liberal and he has made people cry in his committees, other Senators. I don't know if I like this change.

I am still waiting to see where the other Committee Chairs go. Like, who gets Judiciary, Health, Crime and so on.

Forced to choose, I would rather have Dean Johnson than Al Franken. Ugh.

[NeoCaveman]

SO, it's not true that there's no Republican winning Dim's seat this year...

It's true at the U.S. House level, although 2 came close in Georgia.

At the statewide level 2 Dem incumbents lost in MN, and one lost in Ohio. You had to be pretty pathetic to lose as a Dem incumbent this year.

[MplsSteve]

West central Minnesota.

Specifically the city of Willmar and the area surrounding there.

[MplsSteve]

What you said about Pogemiller is true.

But Dean Johnson was so incredibly disingenuous and back-stabbing that I'm not sorry to see him go.

He single-handedly stopped Minnesota residents from getting to vote on a Defense of Marriage amendment this November.

Pogemiller is pure inner-city, far-Left DFL scum. Ideologically, Johnson is closer to Republicans than Pogemiller will be.

But with Pogemiller, you know exactly what you're getting. And I'd rather have that than a former Republican (Johnson) who viewed his last couple of years of legislative service as a way to "get back" on his former GOP colleagues.

[blueminnesota]

Well, if you put it that way..:)

Still, the MN Senate floor sessions are not going to be pretty for the next two years.

[ER Doc]

It was true nationally, (House/Senate.) Johnson got shot down by a determined coalition.

[DManA]

Johnson got shot down because Minnesotans don't like liars.

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks, I know the area..

I'm out of the Lakes country myself, we used to play Willmar a lot in all kinds of HS sports for championships.. Moorhead and Litchfield were our other biggies opponent-wise.

My old county went R this election. :-)

[MNMom]

The MCCL did NOT put a lot of money into the Senate District 51 race(Betzold). Pam Wolf's campaign was financed primarily from friends, family and local Republicans with help from the State Senate Republican Caucus. Late in the campaign the Freedom club helped out. MCCL did put out a piece late in the campaign and I think they may have been one of the organizations making phone calls to their members in the district. They did endorse Pam but the gave no money to the campaign. Pam received no lobby money and only one PAC donation - that was from The Freedom Club.

The DFL spent $120,000 on TV adds against Pam in the last two weeks of the campaign, and put out targeted hit pieces throughout the district. Pam got a cease and desist order and the first set of ads were stopped. She didn't have the funds to compete with the DFL. Pam was ahead in the polls before the TV ads started. She lost by 10 points in the end.

Why do campaigns run sleazy nasty lying tv ads? It works.

[blueminnesota]

I don't know much about where Pam Wolf got her money from but I did see that one flyer from the MCCL so I know they put some into her race. Beyond that it's just guesswork on my part. I live just inside the District and get most of the stuff in the mail and, in fairness sake, I have to say I got more "hit pieces" against Don Betzold than against Pam Wolf. The only one I saw against her was something about unpaid taxes and a lien on her house. Both sides do it. I don't watch TV so didn't see any of the ads there.

Just before the election Don Betzold's people were ALL OVER the neighborhood, they had some get-out-the-vote flyer with a cute little girl on it. I didn't see Pam Wolf's people. There were just the hit pieces from MCCL and other groups. I think this was a mistake on the Republican side. The last week of a campaign is not a time for negative ads, especialliy the one about sex offenders, which I found in my newspaper box. They should have countered with their own cute pieces.

But if what you say is true, maybe Pam Wolf didn't have the money at that point and had to rely on the flyers from outside groups. It's important to remember that most voters don't decide on issues, they decide on feelings. On their feelings, so in the last week of the election you have to STAY POSITIVE. Tim Pawlenty is a master at this and look what it did for him. He's still in.

[MNMom]

MCCL did one third party piece in favor of Pam. Pam did no hit pieces against Don Betzold. The Senate Caucus did several pieces against Don but by law her campaign can not stop them from doing what ever they want. She begged them to stay positive but they clearly didn't listen.

The TV ads were about the tax issue. It seems it has become standard practice for the DFL to get into people's divorce records and pick bits and pieces out to smear a Republican opponent. Pam owes no taxes, there were no liens on her house and when Comcast realized that the DFL had used her divorce records and pinned her ex-husbands business on her they immediately stopped the ads. The DFL did not even try to argue that the ad was true or fair.

The sex offenders lit piece was dropped by the Senate Caucus. Pam was livid. Please tell the Caucus if you hated it as much as she did. They just told her she didn't understand politics and this lit drop was the kind of thing they must do. The Candidates do not get to approve or disapprove these things. Only things put out directly by her campaign are hers. Her campaign was completely positive.

We had several volunteers who were union members and they were telling us that they were receiving heavy pressure to do a big DFL lit drop for Don Betzold in the last days of the campaign. They enjoyed the irony that they were with our campaign for Pam instead, but I know they hoped the union wouldn't see them. We were out in neighborhoods too in bright yellow shirts passing out Pam's lit. We saw the DFL/Union folks and in some cases talked to them. The ones we talked to were not from the area and knew nothing about the candidates involved.
I really wish the outside organizations could have talked to the candidate, but they can not and their pieces were not the kind of pieces we like to use.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Johnson is a liar. Long before his recently publicized lying debacle, I watched him lie through his teeth on the floor of the MN Senate during the passage of the concealed carry law. As far as I am concerned, his lies and his liberalism undermine any merit in his vaunted military service and underscore his lying and apostate (cough) ministry.

Of course, Al Franken is much more a socialist than the mush bag Johnson. Perhaps it is better to face an open enemy rather than more of the same watered down socialist drivel we've come to expect from Minnesota DFL'ers.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Johnson is a liar. Long before his recently publicized lying debacle, I watched him lie through his teeth on the floor of the MN Senate during the passage of the concealed carry law. As far as I am concerned, his lies and his liberalism undermine any merit in his vaunted military service and underscore his lying and apostate (cough) ministry.

Of course, Al Franken is much more a socialist than the mush bag Johnson. Perhaps it is better to face an open enemy rather than more of the same watered down socialist drivel we've come to expect from Minnesota DFL'ers.