At Slate, David Weigel applies the word “faux” to the notion of Romney momentum in Minnesota: “Is Romney massaging that narrative. Sure. Is it bogus? Not really. In swing states, Romney is polling only slightly behind George W. Bush's 2004 numbers, and Bush won. Barack Obama's debate performances in Long Island and Boca Raton saved him from total collapse, but they didn't reverse his numbers. But Romney's Great Minnesota Feint is at least as much about the Great God Momentum as it is about the candidate's shot in Minnesota. The campaign claims the state is tied. Public polling gives Obama a narrow lead. The Romney campaign is on the air in Minneapolis. So is the Obama campaign. Bill Clinton will hit Minneapolis and Duluth today. The Romney campaign is holding... one rally, with Paul Ryan, at Signature Flight Support in Minneapolis. It starts at 4:15, when Ryan arrives after a flight from nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin. It can't be very long, because Ryan's supposed to be at the GOP's victory center in Hudson, Wisconsin, at 5:05. Ryan touches down, competes with the Clinton headlines, and skedaddles.”
The AP story on Bill Clinton’s U of M appearance today says: “Former President Bill Clinton is trying to stir Minnesota Democrats into action by telling them "in the real world, Barack Obama's policies work better." Clinton offered his testimonial Tuesday to Obama during at a rally on the University of Minnesota campus. It comes as Republican Mitt Romney and his allies give new attention to a state considered critical to Obama's fortunes. About 1,800 people heard Clinton vouch for Obama's policies for health care, foreign affairs and college affordability.”
The AP also reports: “Bill Clinton's trip to North Dakota's largest city included two rousing endorsements: U.S. Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp and the movie ‘Fargo.’ The former president told a packed house at the Fargo Civic Center Monday, Oct. 29, that the Coen brothers flick was a favorite cult film on Air Force One during his second term in office. … Clinton noted that the iconic wood chipper prop from the movie is displayed at a Fargo tourist center and Heitkamp promised to take him there if he gave a good speech at Monday's event. Clinton joked that he would like to have the wood chipper ‘a few days before the election.' "
Forty-six of Bullwinkle’s cousins have bitten the dust. The Alexandria Echo Press story says: “State-licensed hunters registered 46 bulls during the 16-day bull moose season, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). In the 2012 lottery, 76 once-in-a-lifetime bull moose licenses were issued in 30 zones, down from 105 bull moose licenses in 2011. A total of 3,436 applicants consisting of 1,669 parties of two to four hunters applied for the 76 available tags. The 60 percent success rate was slightly higher than 2011 success rate of 58 percent. The northeast moose population is estimated at 4,230 animals."
A couple of more voices opposing the marriage amendment. In the PiPress, former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer writes: “My own thinking on this issue has evolved over the years. To defend fundamental gay rights, as we have in St. Paul, was not a difficult decision, having lived through a period in which people could deprive citizens of work, a place to eat or a place to live on the grounds of sexual orientation. That, thank goodness, is now behind all of us. Now comes the more challenging issue of marriage. Over the years, marriage has had a sacramental meaning for many faiths. Today, people of deep faith have come to the view that it would violate their own deepest principles to deprive a person of the right to make a public vow of love, commitment and responsibility.”
In the Strib, Sarah Janecek says: “My late bachelor farmer uncle really did live on the edge of the prairie, on the farm where he was born, for almost all of his eight decades-plus of life. He grew grain — although I'm pretty sure none of it became Powdermilk Biscuits. He did not, however, hang out in bars. I bet my late uncle bachelor farmer never touched a drop of alcohol. Well, maybe during the years he served our country in World War II. … My late uncle bachelor farmer had a bachelor farmer pal, whom I'll call Bob. My uncle and Bob were the best of friends for more than 50 years. Every winter, when no work could be done on their farms, the two took long road trips and saw America. When they got too old to farm, they traveled more. When they got too old to travel and live alone on their farms, they acquired adjacent rooms at the nursing home in town. They died within months of each other at that home. My late bachelor farmer uncle and his friend Bob were a beautiful gay love story.”
Related … Baird Helgeson of the Strib says: “With just one week before the election, the fight over an amendment to ban same-sex marriage continues its breakaway fundraising pace. Minnesotans United for All Families, the group trying to defeat the measure, has raised more than $11.2 million in cash and in-kind giving this year, according to campaign finance filings released Tuesday. The group has raised more than $2.75 million since September, along with another $279,265 in in-kind contributions. … Minnesota for Marriage, the lead group pushing the measure, has not released its fundraising numbers, due Tuesday.”
Bob Shaw at the PiPress reports that “Vote Yes”marriage amendments signs are still disappearing: “The first time Larry Putnam's lawn sign was stolen, he replaced it. The second time, he did the same. The third time, his wife made a sign aimed solely at the thief: "Please don't steal my 'yes' sign." It hasn't been stolen — yet. "The theft of signs is really widespread this year," said Putnam, who distributes the "Vote Yes" signs in the Woodbury area, in support of an amendment defining marriage as a man-woman arrangement. Putnam is caught in a kind of guerrilla war being waged on the lawns of Minnesota over one of the most emotionally charged electoral issues in generations. Both sides of the issue make their case to the public with passion, money and — inadvertently — continual theft and vandalism of signs. There is no statewide tally, but police, citizens and advocacy groups say sign thefts are soaring. Incidents are common on both sides.”
A “real estate mega-franchise” is Stribber Janet Moore’s description of a deal involving Edina Realty: “The parent company of Edina Realty is joining forces with Brookfield Asset Management to form a new real estate mega-franchise. Home Services of America Inc., the Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and owner of Edina Realty, is partnering with Brookfield to form Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. The new franchise, which will launch in 2013, joins together all of the existing brands and affiliate networks of Prudential Real Estate and Real Living Real Estate. The new company will be based in Irvine, Calif.” Efficiencies of scale to follow, I assume?