6/16/2005 12:58:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Wetterling Seems Intent On Making Senate Bid
If it was not clear before, the entrance of Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg into Minnesota's 6th district race this week appears to definitively signal that 2004 nominee Patty Wetterling will not seek the open seat.
Although Wetterling has aggressively been campaigning for the Gopher State's open Senate seat, quiet efforts to change her mind and rumors that she would eventually back out persisted.
Now that Democrats have Tinklenberg, a conservative former mayor and state official running in the Republican-leaning district, speculation about Wetterling's intentions has finally ceased.
"We certainly wish Patty Wetterling the best in her Senate race. She ran a great campaign last time and I'm sure she will again with her Senate race," said Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Elwyn Tinklenberg makes a great candidate who fits the profile of the district and who's independent like the voters are there."
Wetterling did not join Minnesota Reps. James Oberstar and Collin Peterson on Tuesday in endorsing Tinklenberg but the two are old friends, and many political observers are convinced she will eventually back him.
"I think El is a great candidate for the 6th district and wish him all best," she said in a statement.
Then, to drive home the point that the Senate is her sole focus, she added: "In a short period of time we've been able to attract 10,000 donors to my Senate campaign that follows on the footsteps of our poll showing us leading [likely Republican nominee Rep.] Mark Kennedy in a general election match up by 9 points."
Wetterling commissioned a poll in February that showed her beating Kennedy statewide 47 percent to 38 percent.
And for good measure, Wetterling is also closing her Congressional campaign account.
That decision puts EMILY's List in a bind.
The women's group supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Last year it endorsed and raised money for Wetterling against Kennedy in the 6th district, but this time Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, another Democrat who supports abortion rights, is running for the Senate too.
"The quarter is not over yet, we're going to wait and see how that it all turns out," EMILY's List spokeswoman Ramona Oliver said, referring to the approaching June 30 deadline for Federal Election Commission reports. "We're watching the race, waiting to see how it develops; there's no definitive timeline [for the group to endorse a candidate] yet."
Both Wetterling and Klobuchar posted impressive fundraising numbers in the first quarter, but if one significantly outraises the other this quarter, it could influence who EMILY's List and some other liberal organizations ultimately decide to support.
Real estate developer Kelly Doran, a wealthy political neophyte, and philanthropist Ford Bell are also seeking the Democratic Senate nod.
Wealthy trial attorney Mike Ciresi, who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate nomination in 2000, is reportedly interviewing staff for a possible second attempt, the newsletter Politics in Minnesota reported last week.
Newly installed state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Melendez said Wetterling's denials - and even an endorsement of Tinklenberg - "probably won't end the speculation" about her changing her mind and running for the House. But clearly he and the DCCC are not expecting her to change course.
"The party will not try to be getting Patty Wetterlingout of the Senate race, " Melendez said. Source: Roll Call, June 16, 2005|W|P|111895253946985936|W|P|DCCC WANTS WETTERLING TO RUN FOR THE U.S. SENATE|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/16/2005 08:42:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|From: Tom Matzzie, MoveOn PAC
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 10:07 AM
Subject: Friday in St. Paul: Rally To Defeat Bush's Privatization Scam
This Friday, President Bush speaks in Maple Grove, Minnesota and we're going to be ready. Help us show the media and your neighbors the strong momentum we have against Bush's Social Security privatization scam. Join our rally at 9:30am this Friday at the Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul.
Sign up today!
Dear MoveOn member,
You can help save Social Security from President Bush in St. Paul this Friday.
This Friday, President Bush will visit Maple Grove to discuss retirement issues and push his risky Social Security privatization scam that would slash benefits for middle-class families.
The president's trip to the Congressional District of Republican Jim Ramstad shows that he needs to buck up support for his unpopular Social Security scam among his own base. But we can't yield an inch now, especially since the U.S. Congress is now drafting a Social Security bill. Any shift in momentum in favor of the president's privatization plan would be bad for Social Security.
MoveOn is working with the coalition fighting to protect Social Security, Americans United to Protect Social Security, to organize a Friday rally to voice opposition to the president's privatization scheme. You are invited to attend and join with local Members of Congress, senior citizens, students, union members, people of faith and others concerned about the future of Social Security.
WHAT: Rally to Protect Social Security from Privatization in St. Paul
WHEN: Friday, June 17, 2005, 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Capitol Rotunda, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Saint Paul
RSVP ONLINE: www.americansforsocialsecurity.com/events
SIGNS: Signs will be provided.
DOWNLOAD A FLYER: http://inthistogethercampaign.org/bushflyernew.pdf
Thanks for all you do.
Tom Matzzie and the MoveOn PAC Team Thursday, June 16, 2005
P.S. You can check out the amazing momentum these Social Security rallies show by viewing the video on the front page of http://www.americansforsocialsecurity.com/ . Here are some key points to talk about if a reporter asks you why you're at the rally.
George Bush's privatization plan would make massive cuts in Social Security benefits for future retirees and add trillions of dollars to the national debt.
By replacing our Social Security system with new private accounts, Social Security benefits will inevitably be cut—up to 46 percent for future retirees.
In addition to privatization, Bush has proposed even more benefit cuts that will slash benefits for every middle-class family that makes over $20,000. Benefit cuts are the problem, not the solution.
George Bush has admitted that privatization does not solve Social Security's solvency issues, so privatization is a sham meant to replace a guaranteed benefit with a guaranteed gamble.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.|W|P|111893679346852368|W|P|MOVE ON PROTEST TOMORROW|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/15/2005 01:52:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Al Fraken is a prick and I hope he runs in 2008
"On Saturday the crowd of about 500 Minnesotans was hungry for Grade A red meat with a side of invective, and Mr. Franken did not disappoint. He pointed out that he had been married for 30 years and said, 'If I get in a debate with Norm Coleman, I plan on asking
him, 'Don't you want two people to have what you and your wife have?' He paused as the roar grew in acknowledgement of the fact that Senator Coleman and his wife, Laurie, spend significant amounts of time apart because of her acting career." Source: New York Times, June 15, 2005
Below is the complete article.
Comedian for Senator? Don't Laugh
MINNEAPOLIS, June 13 - The swells who showed up before Al Franken's speech at a Democratic fund-raiser to down finger food and punch were thrilled to see him, all the more so because he continues to make threatening noises about running for the Senate herein 2008.
A former writer and performer for "Saturday Night Live" and more recently a radio host on Air America, Mr. Franken has used his outsider status to hurl humor-based invective and indignation at the powers that be, but he is considering becoming part of what he so frequently assails.
On Saturday evening he worked the crowd as if being accosted by strangers in a sweltering tent redolent of meatballs was his idea of a good time.
It can get mighty personal mighty fast for a native son whom everyone seems to know.
"I jumped ya twice in Thief River Falls," said a middle-age woman in greeting at the pre-speech party in a tent next to the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota here. The seeming inference of long-ago sexual congress would cause deep blushing elsewhere, but it actually meant that Faith Rud and Mr. Franken had bonded in a far more profoundly Minnesotan way: she had used jumper cables to revive his Volkswagen bus on a cold night long ago after a college gig.
Mr. Franken, who left Minnesota at age 22 but has made a habit of coming back frequently, has suggested he may move his radio show to the state sometime next year. His delivery manages to be caustic and laconic, an unhurried savaging of all that is conservative and Republican, all wrapped up to a trumpeted call to arms.
"In this country, we are going through a very dark period," he told his audience, "and someday your grandchildren are going to ask what you did, and you are going to tell them, 'I worked my butt off,' " he said, exhorting the audience to work to turn out the current administration. He is a public person who likes his public and enjoys a microphone. (He was heckled last week for going on too long while accepting an award from Talkers magazine.)
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura have already demonstrated that star power can create its own legitimacy in politics, but given Mr. Franken's penchant for going over the top and staying there, he may serve as a test of just how far a celeb-pol can go and still have a valid shot at being elected. A ferocious, unreconstructed liberal, he may show up for the troops as part of U.S.O. tours, but he believes that the war they are fighting is little more than a criminal conspiracy at the highest reaches of government. Mr. Franken can give a speech. He knows the issues. But could he be too partisan for politics?
"There is an intersection between humor and truth," said Sandra Yue, who attended the speech. "He has a sincerity and commitment that I think people will respond to." Before and after the speech at the University of Minnesota here, many people thanked him
for rushing back to Minnesota after Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash to campaign for Walter F. Mondale as the senator's successor. The effort failed, and Norman Coleman, a Republican, ended up in the Senate. Mr. Franken and others believe the seat rightfully belongs to the Democrats.
"Aren't you sick of Republican lectures about family values?" he said, mentioning Rush Limbaugh's battles with prescription drugs and Bill O'Reilly's alleged penchant for using the phone to titillating ends. (A sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Mr. O'Reilly was settled last year.)
The prospect of a comedian running for the office sparks belly laughs in some and genuine interest in others.
"Al is no better or no worse, no more or less qualified, that anyone else who has expressed interest in running in 2008, although that is a long way away," said John Van Hecke, campaign manager for the Minnesota House Democratic caucus. "Al says what a lot of people are thinking, but says it in a way that is a lot funnier than almost anyone."
A spokesman for Senator Coleman said that his office would not comment on a potential opponent in a race that is a few years away.
Mr. Franken continues to hedge his bets, partly because Air America seems to be gaining some traction.
"I am not sure that I am running yet," he said, sitting in the concert hall's green room before his appearance. "Part of the calculus is where the radio show goes. I don't want to leave them in the lurch."
There would not seem to be much of a fit between Mr. Franken and his re-adopted home state. Minnesota Nice, as it is called, means that when the woman serving coffee at Caribou, the local doppelgänger of Starbucks, asks how you are doing, she really wants to know. Although Mr. Franken is affable and sports a backpack jammed with wonky articles and books, he is not exactly Minnesota Nice. His last book was titled "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," and he spends enormous amounts of time on his three-hour radio show truth-squading and savaging various people on the right.
Then again, Minnesota is a place of enormous, and not easily explained, contradictions. A place where lions of the Democratic party - Hubert H. Humphrey and Eugene J. McCarthy - once strode the earth, it takes voting very seriously, with a 79 percent turnout in the 2004 general election. Yet in 1998 it elected a professional wrestler to run the state. Minnesotans, who show up in droves at the state fair to marvel at seed art and butter sculptures but also show up en masse at the legitimate theater, are their own darn thing. So frequently cast as droll practitioners of the art of common sense, they have displayed some fairly atavistic tendencies, electing Mr. Ventura out of nowhere as both a slap and a jolt to the system. In their own quiet way, they remain mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore.
On Saturday the crowd of about 500 Minnesotans was hungry for Grade A red meat with a side of invective, and Mr. Franken did not disappoint. He pointed out that he had been married for 30 years and said, "If I get in a debate with Norm Coleman, I plan on asking him, 'Don't you want two people to have what you and your wife have?' " He paused as the roar grew in acknowledgement of the fact that Senator Coleman and his wife, Laurie, spend significant amounts of time apart because of her acting career.
The laughter filled Mr. Franken with glee, but in the next moment, he choked up while talking about touring with the U.S.O. He is surprisingly raw, breaking down when he mentions his father and, minutes later, screaming with indignation when he talks about money that has gone missing that was intended for redevelopment in Iraq. In that sense he is not remarkably different from Senator Wellstone, known to rattle a lectern with his sheer volume.
"I'd like to think that somebody like me, who says what he thinks and gets his facts right, has a place in politics," Mr. Franken said much later on Saturday, sitting in the Brave New Workshop comedy club on the south side of Minneapolis, where he started performing while in high school. Mr. Franken grew up in St. Louis Park, a Minneapolis suburb, and was admitted to Blake, a competitive and expensive prep school, because, he said, "they needed some Jews to get their SAT scores up."
Minnesotans, as Garrison Keillor has pointed out, are plenty smart in general, just not too fond of showing it off. They are more than willing to invite a prodigal back to the potluck supper that is life here, and to lampoon their own cartoonish dimensions at the same time. At the end of Mr. Franken's speech, he received a thunderous ovation - and a special gift from Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a Democratic state representative from Minneapolis.
She presented him with a Crock-Pot, along with some advice: "Nothing says 'I care' quite like wild-rice hot dish for the neighbors."|W|P|111886968529096232|W|P|FRANKEN TAKES A CHEAP SHOT AT COLEMAN|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/16/2005 08:08:00 AM|W|P| Hammer|W|P|Coleman flew Laurie in to do TV ads as a family in 2002. Don't blame Franken for pointing out that Coleman's a hypocrite.6/16/2005 12:24:00 PM|W|P| Hammer|W|P|He's still doing it. Here's Coleman and his wife from the official Senate page.6/15/2005 12:29:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|This is a new blog. I will add it to my daily read list.|W|P|111886393316348464|W|P|PAWLENTY v. THE DFL BLOG|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/15/2005 02:09:00 PM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|I am not. I found out about this blog when the author provided a link in a comment.6/15/2005 02:12:00 PM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|I just visited this blog and I am confused as to why the "Edit-Me" link would go to my blog.,=
Thanks for pointing this out.6/15/2005 04:57:00 PM|W|P| Jason|W|P|HAHAHA, nice try. This is obviously being done by either a pawlenty staffer, a republican staffer, or you. Which is it?6/15/2005 05:29:00 PM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|It's not me.6/15/2005 12:23:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|El Tinklenberg's campaign website is now active.|W|P|111886361704469136|W|P|EL FOR CONGRESS WEBSITE IS ACTIVE|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/14/2005 01:46:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Former state transportation chief jumps into race for Congress
Former state Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg kicked off a campaign for Congress on Tuesday, stressing his past work as a minister and staking out a strong position on issues of faith and moral values.
A former mayor of this suburb north of Minneapolis, Tinklenberg is against legalized abortion, supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage and opposes heightened restrictions on gun ownership. That puts him to the right of many of his fellow Democrats, but could be a boost in next year's race to fill the open seat in the 6th Congressional District, which has grown more solidly Republican.
Tinklenberg said he has been a lifelong Democrat, but he worked for third-party Gov. Jesse Ventura. He said that proves his willingness to put good policy ahead of politics.
Tinklenberg said while Republicans have been using social issues to divide voters, he would try to put a values emphasis back on issues such as more progressive taxation and affordable health care.
''There are people who are using scripture to build walls rather than tear them down,'' Tinklenberg said. ''They use religion to judge the lives of others while forgetting what is said about acceptance and forgiveness.''
While Tinklenberg is the first announced big-name Democrat seeking to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, who's running for Congress, the Republican side already has five candidates - many of whom are outspoken conservatives.
Those candidates are state Reps. Phil Krinkie and Jim Knoblach; state Sen. Michele Bachmann; former state Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke; and St. Cloud-area businessman Jay Esmay. The 6th District includes northern Twin Cities suburbs and extends northwest to the St. Cloud area.
As he espoused lofty rhetoric on values, Tinklenberg also pointed to a record of public service he said shows he can get things done. He announced his candidacy at the sprawling National Sports Center complex, which came to fruition when Tinklenberg was Blaine's mayor.
Another accomplishment, he said, was the light rail transit plan that started to head toward reality while Tinklenberg led the Department of Transportation despite strong opposition from those he labeled cynics.
''Today I invite those same cynics to ride the light rail with me to a Twins game and see who's on board,'' Tinklenberg said. ''Ridership has surpassed even my greatest hopes.''
On some major issues at the congressional level, Tinklenberg said he would have voted for the Bush plan for war in Iraq, but thinks there should have been better post-invasion planning. He said he thinks there should be a ''national discussion'' on the future of Social Security, but does not support the Bush administration's call for partial privatization.
Tinklenberg said he would abide by the endorsement of the 6th District DFL. Other Democrats mentioned as potential candidates include St. Cloud Mayor John Ellenbecker, and state Rep. Joe Opatz of St. Cloud. Another Democrat, Scott Mortensen of Woodbury, has announced he's in the race but appears to have little backing or financial resources.
Tarryl Clark, a DFL activist from St. Cloud, said she expected that any potential DFL candidates would abide by the party's endorsement. The hope among Democratic activists is that the fight on the Republican side will drive those candidates so far to the right that the Democratic candidate looks sensible in comparison.
''Given who's in the field right now, they really don't have centrists represented,'' Clark said. ''They have people who really are out of the mainstream.''
The Republican Party mostly held its fire on Tinklenberg on Tuesday, but promised a full vetting of his record as transportation commissioner and as a lobbyist. Republicans were at times critical of his financial stewardship when he led MnDOT. Source: Associated Press, June 14, 2005|W|P|111878237327371428|W|P|EL FOR CONGRESS|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/14/2005 09:07:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Today El Tinklenberg, former mayor of Blaine and former Minnesota transportation commissioner, announced his campaign for Congress in the 6th district.
Elwyn is now going by "El."
|W|P|111876581436623789|W|P|THE COMMISSIONOR FORMERLY KNOW AS ELWYN|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/13/2005 01:24:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Her website is potentially the worst congressional campaign website I have ever seen.
Welcome to the race Coleen.|W|P|111869470652548258|W|P|COLEEN ROWELY'S WEBSITE IS UP|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/13/2005 11:15:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Please check back later today.|W|P|111868674081026506|W|P|MDE WILL POST LATER TODAY|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/10/2005 02:18:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Hatch daughters found not guilty
CHICAGO - Elizabeth and Anne Hatch burst into tears, hugged their lawyers and were embraced by their father as a judge found them not guilty of the misdemeanor charges against them in an altercation with Chicago police.
Minnesota's Attorney General Mike Hatch had been sitting behind them in Cook County Misdemeanor Court when the judge found them not guilty of resisting a peace officer, simple battery and criminal damage to property or a vehicle.
The women had been celebrating Anne Hatch's birthday in March 2004 when they were ordered to leave the Crobar club on Chicago's Near North Side. Elizabeth Hatch, 23, had said that she was attempting to go back into the bar to get her coat and her sister when she ended up in a dispute with a police officer. Police alleged that she slapped officer Jeffrey Phillips, which she denied. Source: Star Tribune, June 10, 2005|W|P|111843857303033097|W|P|JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/10/2005 11:07:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|'It was a good kick,' Anne Hatch says of jolt she gave cop car's window
CHICAGO -- The defense in the trial of Anne and Elizabeth Hatch rested just before noon today after an hour of testimony from Anne Hatch.
During that time, the 22-year-old described how she argued with a Chicago police officer who was trying to get her to leave the area outside a Chicago night spot and kicked out the window of a squad car.
Her sister, Elizabeth, 23, testified Thursday. Their father, Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, had been a potential witness in the case, but did not testify.
The women are charged with misdemeanors after a wee-hours fracas outside the nightclub.
Prosecutors indicated they may call one rebuttal witness, and closing arguments could be heard this afternoon.
The women remained composed today, unlike on Thursday, when when both briefly broke down. Like her sister, Anne Hatch offered an account of what happened in the early morning hours of March 27, 2004, that differed from the one offered by six prosecution witnesses earlier this week.
She said she was the first sister arrested, which contradicts the account by the arresting officers. She said she confronted officer Jeffrey Phillips after he said over his police car's public address system ''Go home, little girls. Good night. You're done.''
She said she walked across the street, saying to Phillips, ''If you have something to say to me, speak to me like an adult.'' She said she was handcuffed within seconds and placed in the back seat of the squad car.
While she was in the squad car, she said, she noticed that officers outside appeared to be hurting her sister, and she said she kicked the passenger side window to divert their attention.
Asked by a prosecutor how hard she'd kicked the window, she said, ''I'm a soccer player. It was a good kick.''
The Hatch sisters opened their defense on Thursday, after almost two days of listening as their actions and reputations were shredded by prosecutors.
Most pointedly, Elizabeth Hatch said she never slapped Phillips, the alleged action that led to the arrests.
Elizabeth Hatch admitted to being "buzzed" after drinking at least five alcoholic drinks that night and said she engaged in what her attorney called "really foul language," but she vehemently disagreed with the prosecution's portrayal of two obnoxious, drunk women who arrogantly challenged everyone from bar bouncers to police officers.
The Hatches each face misdemeanor charges of resisting a peace officer, simple battery and criminal damage to property.
Such a case would hardly merit more than a line in a Chicago newspaper's police blotter were it not for the high profile of their father.
Chicago's news media seized on that from the first days of the case and prosecutors have repeatedly introduced testimony from witnesses who said the women invoked their father's name and title, saying "Don't you know who I am?"
No such thing occurred outside the trendy Crobar club on Chicago's Near North Side, Elizabeth Hatch said Thursday. Neither sister brought up her father's name and both later refused to give their real identities to arresting officers because "I knew this would happen and that the media would leap on it," Elizabeth Hatch said. "I've been raised in a political family and I know how politics and the media work."
For his part, Mike Hatch spent Thursday pacing the halls of the fifth floor of the Cook County Misdemeanor Court building.
Before Thursday morning's court session began, Hatch briefly broke his silence about the case, saying, "I believe in the system. I believe they'll be acquitted." Later, he added, "it's been a year from hell."
The centerpiece of Thursday's testimony focused on Elizabeth Hatch's forcible removal from the nightclub and her encounter with Phillips.
Phillips testified that he and a partner were returning to their patrol district after refueling their squad when they were hailed by a man who said he was the Crobar nightclub's security manager.
The manager told Phillips that two women were causing a disturbance "by pacing back and forth and screaming." When he used his loudspeaker to tell them to head home he said the woman he identified as Elizabeth Hatch replied "who the [expletive] are you talking to?" and bolted across the street toward his cruiser.
He said she reached back with her right hand as if to hit him and he tried to restrain her on the hood of the car. As he tried to handcuff her, "she spun around and slapped me in the face ... knocking my glasses off."
Crobar security officer Don Farrell, a retired Chicago cop, recalled the slap as the "way a wife would slap her husband if she found out he was cheating on her."
Elizabeth Hatch denied that that happened, saying a bouncer had carried her across the street and that she was knocked to the ground by an unknown assailant who tried to handcuff her.
She said she never touched Phillips and that "my knees were knocked out from under me and I fell to the ground. I didn't know who this person was. He grabbed my arms behind my back when my face was still smashed into the ground."
A cell phone call recorded on one of Hatch's friends' answering machines captured part of the encounter.
"Don't I have any rights?" she asked.
"Not now, bitch," Phillips replied.
"You can't call me bitch -- I didn't do anything," she said.
Asked why he had referred to Hatch that way, Phillips said, "I'm human -- I may be a police officer, but I'd just been struck in the face and I was insulted."
Later during his testimony, he said when he and his fellow officer "found out who they were, we knew this was going to be a headline issue."
It remains so to this day. Source: Assocaited Press, June 10, 2005|W|P|111842752872207199|W|P|ELIZABETH HATCH: "DON'T I HAVE ANY RIGHTS?" CHICAGO POLICE: "NOT NOW BITCH"|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/10/2005 09:54:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|If Mike Hatch would have kept his mouth shut about the legal problems of Morgan Grams, the son of then U.S. Senator Rod Grams, I wouldn't be discussing his daughters' legal problems.
###
"Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch said he found the incident 'clearly troubling' but said he lacked jurisdiction over local sheriffs offices." (Star Tribune, November 15, 1999)
"State Attorney General Mike Hatch said that should such an investigation be undertaken and preferential treatment be discovered, it would be possible that Morgan Grams could still be questioned and charged. Hatch said he found the incident 'clearly troubling' but said he lacked jurisdiction over local sheriffs offices." (Associated Press, November 15, 1999)
"State Attorney General Mike Hatch said that if there was preferential treatment, Morgan Grams could still be questioned and charged. (Associated Press, November 15, 1999)
"Hatch troubledAttorney General Mike Hatch said he found the Dakota report troubling because it 'appears to encompass many judgment errors undertaken or witnessed' by four officers at the scene. 'When four deputies are involved, you question the pattern of conduct and willingness of the officers to undertake questionable actions in front of each other and whether the errors are systemic in nature.'" (Star Tribune, December 11, 1999)|W|P|111842281476600592|W|P|MIKE HATCH AND MORGAN GRAMS|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/10/2005 01:27:00 PM|W|P| Tony Garcia|W|P|Even if the situations were the same, the GOP was p/o'ed at the tactics then while the DFL applauded and the same should be true now. The GOP should be against these stories running while the DFL ought to parade these stories.
Sadly, I have never found such intellectual honesty in the DFL and am re-realizing that it does not exist very much within the GOP.
*sigh*6/11/2005 03:38:00 PM|W|P| PK|W|P|Hi!
Mitch sent me ;-)
All I can say about Mike Hatch is that I tried to sell him database software for a Wang mini-computer when he was DFL chair.
If first impressions really mean anything, I will never forget what a smug, venal wiseass he struck me as.
And that was before knew much about politics.
Went to meet the little old lady volunteers at the South Minneapolis storefront DFL HQ.
They didn't want no computer. They had reams and reams of valuable paper that worked just fine.
Long story short, Hatch was looking for something for nothing. DFL, even or ESPECIALLY in those days needed a much bigger system.
So I told them that. And the Wang sales guys wouldn't talk to me for awhile because I effed a sale. Sorry Wangsters, you promised, I delivered. You profitted I went nuts.
Really and truly, I mean it when I say that Mike Hatch had vanished from the Planet the day after I met him I would still remember what a prick he was.
History now backs me up. Hell, his own Party hates his guts, but they are so frantic to have someone in high office that they will abandon their lofty principals in Hatch's case -- not always willingly -- some are scared to death of him because he "knows stuff."
Hi Mikey! Come and get the Wog!6/09/2005 08:21:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Hatch Sisters' Trial Begins
The Hatch sisters.. are they like the midwestern version of Paris & Nicole? Pulling shinanigans at nightclubs, demanding special treatment, getting into fights, attacking police? Or are they just some nice Minnesotan girls trying to have a good time on a birthday? The trial began yesterday and that's what the judge will be deciding.
Yesterday in opening statements, prosecutors said that Elizabeth and Anne Hatch, the daughters of MN's attorney general, were drunk and violent during an incident at Crobar last year. The occassion was Anne's 21st birthday and the whole thing is said to have started when a waitress refused to serve Elizabeth another Cosmo because she was too wasted. Elizabeth called her a bitch and was then escorted out of the bar by security. When the girls kept fighting with security, the bouncers called over a police car that was passing by. Source: The Chicagoist, June 9, 2005|W|P|111833070604047787|W|P|A CHICAGO BLOG COVERS THE HATCH DAUGHTER'S TRIAL|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/09/2005 10:34:00 PM|W|P| Tony Garcia|W|P|I was against this type of reporting when it was done relating to Rod Grams' son, I was against this type of reporting when it was done relating to G.W. Bush's daughters and I am against this type of reporting now.
What does this story REALLY have to do with Hatch? Are these girls adults and thus not the responsibility of Hatch?
I have to call a spade a spade and this is 100% mud-slinging.6/09/2005 07:30:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|"Daddy's little party girls" v. "The conservative look"|W|P|111832776704359743|W|P|KQRS POLL ON HATCH DAUGHTERS|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/09/2005 06:44:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|This is my favorate quote: "you don't know who I am -- my dad is the state's attorney of Minnesota."
A trial of 2 tales emerging in Hatch sisters' case
CHICAGO -- A tape recording of Elizabeth Hatch's reedy, clearly terrified voice echoed through a tiny courtroom Wednesday morning: "I didn't do anything! What did I do to you? I'm asking you why are you arresting me? WHY ARE YOU ARRESTING ME?"
The trial now underway in Cook County Misdemeanor Court will determine the answers to those questions, captured by a stranger on his cell phone about 3 a.m. on March 27, 2004, when Elizabeth Hatch and her sister, Anne, were arrested and charged with three misdemeanors each after scuffling with police outside a trendy nightclub on Chicago's Near North Side.
The Cook County prosecutor and the Hatches' defense attorneys painted contradictory, broad outlines of their approaches to the case Wednesday during the opening day of the trial, which is being held before a judge, rather than a jury.
Although the "Hatch girls," as they have been dubbed, have waived their right to a jury trial, the jury box was filled -- by a dozen journalists drawn by the novelty of a case in a court that almost never conducts full-blown trials.
Another reason for the intense media attention: The defendants' father is Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, one of the state's most prominent DFLers and a presumptive candidate for governor next year. Hatch was there, but stayed in the hall outside the courtroom all day Wednesday because he may be called as a witness.
Boiled to its essence, the trial appears likely to lay out these scenarios, based on the testimony of the first four prosecution witnesses, all employees of the Crobar Club, where the incident occurred:
The Hatches were loud, obnoxious, arrogant, obviously drunken patrons of a club that had just shown them the door. They then profanely and repeatedly attacked the police officers who politely told them to call it a night.
Or: They had been kicked out of a club on a cold winter night, without their coats or purses, manhandled by the police for no discernible reason and then, when their high media profiles were discovered, vilified from behind the thin blue line of officer solidarity erected when police are accused of misconduct.
Right after the arrests, the Hatches' mother filed a complaint against the arresting officers, alleging mistreatment, which she later dropped.
Anne Hatch, 22, and Elizabeth Hatch, 23, each face misdemeanor charges of resisting a peace officer, simple battery and criminal damage to property or a vehicle.
On Wednesday, they spent the day in court alternately scribbling on legal pads and tightly grasping each other's hand after enduring the gantlet of TV cameras that greeted them when they arrived at the courthouse.
Four prosecution witnesses, all employees of the Crobar Club, created a portrait of screaming, foul-mouthed, imperious young women who flaunted their relationship with their famous father.
"Do you know who I am?" security guard Steve Torres testified that Elizabeth Hatch demanded of him. "No, I don't," he said. "You don't know who I am -- my dad is the state's attorney of Minnesota."
He hustled her outside the club, where retired Chicago police officer and current Crobar guard Don Farrell watched as, he said, both Hatches lit into two passing Chicago officers he had waved over.
"These were two women who were obviously drunk and I knew they were getting out of hand," he said. "I called the squad over because if they were the attorney general's daughters, I figured they'd respect law enforcement."
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lindsay Malitz said the Hatch sisters were "celebrating by drinking, then drank some more. In the early morning hours, they lost control."
Defense attorney Tom Breen, who represents Elizabeth Hatch, said the allegations "were, quite simply, concocted to cover the backsides of certain people."
Lawyer Cynthia Giacchetti, representing Anne Hatch, said her client "got arrested for nothing at first. Were they scared? Yeah. We're they excited? Yeah. Did they yell? Yeah. No one was on their best behavior that morning, but crimes were not committed." Source: Star Tribune, June 9, 2005|W|P|111832494948236167|W|P|"YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM -- MY DAD IS THE STATE'S ATTORNEY OF MINNESOTA."|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/08/2005 07:41:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Hatch daughters' trial set to begin
Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch will be in court today as a parent rather than as an attorney when he attends the trial of his two daughters who were involved in a scuffle with police outside a Chicago nightclub.
Anne and Elizabeth Hatch face charges of battery, resisting arrest and damaging a police car in connection with an altercation on March 27, 2004, when they were celebrating Anne Hatch's 21st birthday. All of the charges are misdemeanors.
On Tuesday, Hatch was with his daughters when they appeared in a Chicago courtroom to waive their right to a jury trial. Cook County Judge Colleen Sheehan will decide their case in a bench trial that begins at 11 a.m. today and is expected to conclude on Thursday.
Tuesday's courtroom procedure lasted only a few minutes. Hatch and his daughters did not make any public comments.
Anne Hatch was a third-year undergraduate student at Chicago's DePaul University when her 21st birthday celebration was held at the Crobar, a trendy nightclub on the city's Near North Side. According to an account given later by Mike Hatch, his two daughters and his wife, Patricia Hatch, were with a group of celebrants at the nightclub, though Patricia Hatch departed several hours before the incident with police took place.
It happened after Elizabeth Hatch, then 22 and a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., was ejected from the club following an argument. One account said she argued with a man who had groped her, but the club's manager later told a reporter that she became "belligerent" after she was told she wouldn't be served any more drinks.
Outside the club, the two women became involved in a verbal confrontation with two Chicago police officers who had ordered them to leave the area. According to police, Elizabeth Hatch slapped one of the officers and knocked off his glasses and Anne Hatch scuffled with another officer and scratched him.
The attorney general later said his daughters were intoxicated, but that they denied assaulting the officers. He said Anne came to Elizabeth's aid after she saw her sister being forced to the sidewalk by an officer.
After being placed in the back of a squad car, the two women began kicking at the rear passenger window, eventually knocking it out, police said.
The two sisters were kept in jail overnight and were later treated at a hospital for cuts and black eyes. One of them also suffered a broken wrist, their father said.
Hatch said days after the incident that his daughters were devastated about their arrest and wanted to be held accountable for their "horrible, horrible mistake." However, he said his daughters did not assault the officers. Source: Pioneer Press, June 8, 2005
|W|P|111824388842564543|W|P|MORE NEWS ON THE HATCH DAUGHTERS #2|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/07/2005 01:18:00 PM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Hatch daughters go on trial Wednesday
CHICAGO -- As Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch got out of his car Tuesday morning, an eight-member media mob thundered toward him. "IT'S SHOWTIME!" one photographer crowed.
But Hatch wasn't the intended quarry. The journalists were stalking his daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, who were warily climbing out of the back seat of the white Buick.
Dressed almost identically in black power suits, wearing almost identical wide-eyed, closed-mouth expressions, they flanked their father as they entered the Cook County courthouse annex for the latest chapter in a legal tempest that has landed them off and on in the eye of a Chicago media frenzy for more than a year.
Ever since the Hatches were arrested in March 2004 in an altercation with Chicago police, they have remained tight-lipped about their cases. They continued to do so Tuesday and all their father would venture was "really, no comment."
Originally, they planned to begin a jury trial Tuesday, a highly unusual procedure in criminal misdemeanor cases, but opted instead for a trial before a judge by signing forms that waived their right to a jury trial.
"There's no need to present this to a jury," said Attorney Thomas Breen, who is representing Elizabeth Bell Hatch. "I think the issues are pretty cut and dried, and I think a judge can decide."
Cook County Judge Colleen Sheehan set the trial for 11 a.m. Wednesday. Breen said it's likely the trial will be wrapped up in about two days.
Anne Hatch, 22, and Elizabeth Hatch, 23, were arrested after an early-hours scuffle with police outside the Crobar, a trendy club on Chicago's near north side where they had been celebrating Anne Hatch's birthday in March 2004.
Police allege that after the two were removed from the club, Elizabeth Hatch slapped an officer with an open hand and knocked his glasses off. Police said Anne Hatch wrestled with another officer and scratched his face and later broke a police car window.
Each woman faces misdemeanor counts of resisting a peace officer, simple battery and criminal damage to property or a vehicle.
The women were treated at a Chicago hospital for injuries they received, which included black eyes, cuts and bruises and a fractured wrist, a Hatch spokesperson has said. Mike Hatch said after the incident that his daughters were devastated and wanted to be accountable for their mistakes but that they denied having assaulted the officers.
They briefly planned to pursue a complaint of excessive force by the arresting officers, but dropped it a few days after the incident.
"It's more important to have these kids taken care of," Mike Hatch said at the time, adding: "my daughters were having a bad day."
On Tuesday, the three Hatches had to clear security along with all other defendants and court personnel. Although they were allowed to keep their reading material -- a copy of the New York Times and a couple of novels -- Mike Hatch had to surrender a tape recorder boombox that he planned to bring into the fifth-floor courtroom.
Another kind of tape, a videotape recorded at the time of the scuffle, will be entered into evidence, Breen said. Mike Hatch initially hoped that tape would help exonerate his daughters, but it shows that most of their contact with officers occurred outside the range of the club's 16 security cameras.
In the courtroom, the "Hatch sisters," as they have been dubbed by Chicago's news media, waited, occasionally whispering with their father, as a total of 20 misdemeanor cases were heard by Sheehan. Most often, they dealt with child custody, bail jumping, bond forfeiture, arrest warrants and case continuances.
When it was the Hatches' turn, they stood before the judge for just four minutes, affirming their waiver of a trial by jury and being told to be back at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
After the Hatches left the courtroom, they huddled in a nearby hallway for 15 minutes with their lawyers. Reporters again approached them, some of them still unsure which sister was which.
"Come on, you know who's who," said Cynthia Giacchetti, who is representing Anne Hatch. "No one's going to comment about anything."
After one last running of the media gantlet, firmly saying nothing, the Hatches were back in the Buick, heading north to the Loop.
Clearly visible on the rear deck behind the back seat was a baseball cap bearing the logo, "Police and Peace Officers Association." Source: Star Tribune, June 7, 2005|W|P|111817587096983648|W|P|MORE NEWS ON THE HATCH DAUGHTERS|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/07/2005 07:17:00 PM|W|P| MC|W|P|I assume that you thought it was fair to talk about Rod Grams' screw-up son too, right?6/07/2005 10:46:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|On Wednesday, the daughters of Attorney General Mike Hatch will appear in a Chicago courtroom on charges stemming from a scuffle with police outside a Chicago nightclub last year.
When this story broke last year, Mike Hatch claimed a "speeding ticket" is all he knew about his daughter's legal problems.
"Except for a 'speeding ticket,' Mike Hatch said he didn't believe his daughters had been in trouble with the law." (Saint Paul Pioneer Press, March 29, 2004)
But in 2001, Anne Hatch was arrested by Mendota Heights police after she attempted to buy alcohol with her older sister's id. Anne Hatch then broke a neon sign in a scuffle with the owner of the liquor store.
"On Sunday, Mike Hatch told the Pioneer Press that, except for a speeding ticket, he didn't believe his daughters had been in trouble with the law. On Tuesday, he said he didn't know about the 2001 incident until reporters told him about it.
"I didn't intend to mislead anyone or lie to anyone," he said. (Saint Paul Pioneer Press, March 31, 2004)
But a well-know attorney and campaign contributor to Mike Hatch, Paul Rogosheske, represented his daughter, yet Hatch has the nerve to claim he didn’t know?
Check back for updates on the Hatch daughters.|W|P|111816834795535600|W|P|HATCH'S TANGLE OF LIES|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/08/2005 12:37:00 PM|W|P| |W|P|I happen to be pretty friendly with "Hi", the owner of Diamond Jim's Liquors where the infamous Ann Hatch was arrested.
He told me that she was "a very bad girl, very bad mouth, very bad temper".
She's actually pretty lucky that Hi's such a good natured guy; he's really not someone you want to P.O.6/07/2005 08:37:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Trial for Hatch daughters set for Wednesday
CHICAGO — The daughters of Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch will go on trial Wednesday on charges stemming from a scuffle with police outside a Chicago nightclub last year.
Hatch and his daughters appeared in court in Chicago Tuesday morning, and Judge Colleen Sheehan scheduled the bench trial for 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Anne and Elizabeth Hatch are accused of assaulting two police officers, resisting arrest and damaging police property outside a club called Crobar. Prosecutors contend they kicked out a squad car window while they were being taken to jail.
Their father has said the sisters were drunk and made a horrible mistake, but he also says they deny assaulting the officers.
The Hatch family members didn't comment going into or out of court Tuesday. Source: Assocaited Press, June 7, 2005|W|P|111815876019348892|W|P|HATCH DAUGHTERS IN COURT ON WEDNESDAY|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/07/2005 11:13:00 AM|W|P| Michael M|W|P|Again MDE is either getting his news from the future, or more can't get the simplest of facts correct. However, if you really do have access to the news from the year 2008, my hat is off to you.
Why even comment on something like this? 25 years of working in journalism has taught me that people who consistently make mistakes on the details are usually the ones who get the big things wrong as well.
This is the second post in a row MDE has messed up a simple fact. Draw your own conclusions about how accurate any of his other information may be.6/07/2005 11:30:00 AM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|6/07/2005 11:32:00 AM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Thanks for your general comments and your help pointing out a typo.
Your attention to detail helps me produce a more credible blog.
Keep up the great work!6/07/2005 11:36:00 AM|W|P| Michael M|W|P|At least MDE pays attention. He's fixed the date error. In case you doubt he's careless, here's a picture of the original post.6/07/2005 11:50:00 AM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Wow careless. You are tough. Rather than typing a 5, I typed an 8.
Your critique of my work has encouraged me to double my efforts to ensure I do not type the wrong number.
Thanks for reading!6/06/2005 09:30:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Ohhh, this is good.
##
MINNESOTA SENATE DFL seeks inquiry on campaign:
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party on Friday asked for an investigation in a state Senate race. A party attorney sent letters to Washington County and Hennepin County attorneys charging that a fund-raising letter on behalf of Pat Thomas, the Republican challenger to DFL state Sen. Len Price of Woodbury, violated state election laws.
At issue is a letter sent by Kelly Doran on behalf of Thomas. The DFL says that because the letter was sent on stationery from the Robert Muir Co., it violates state law prohibiting corporate expenditures on behalf of political candidates. Doran said he was not aware when he sent the letter that it violated any laws, but since has "personally reimbursed the company for the expense it incurred."
Doran said $300 or so spent on the letters will be officially recorded as a campaign contribution from himself to Thomas. Source: Associated Press, Septmber 22, 2000|W|P|111807581303792333|W|P|KELLY DORAN'S REPUBLICAN PAST|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com6/06/2005 10:38:00 AM|W|P| Michael M|W|P|Hmmm. Did you have a vision, a premonition, get your news from a psychic...or is the September 2005 date on your source wrong?
If so, should we really trust that anything else in here is correct?6/06/2005 10:49:00 AM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|???6/06/2005 12:12:00 PM|W|P| Michael M|W|P|Thank you for correcting the source date to 2000. But it's a little disingenuous to change your posting time so you can act like you didn't make a mistake.6/06/2005 12:42:00 PM|W|P| Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|I have no problem admitting I made a mistake. For one hour I had the wrong year up on my post. After you pointed it out I corrected it.
Nobody is trying to hid anything.6/06/2005 08:04:00 AM|W|P|Minnesota Democrats Exposed|W|P|Kelly Doran for U.S. Senate Announcement Speech
Kelly Doran for United States Senate
Announcement Speech
June 5, 2005
Thanks to Dick Anfang...for a long and successful partnership to create jobs and commerce in Minnesota and for your kind words.
Thanks to my friends, colleagues and supporters who have come out on a Sunday because they love our country and are willing to work to improve it.
Thanks to my family...I am so grateful and honored to have Maria as my wife and partner, not only in marriage, but also in our business together. Maria and I work together every day, as Maria is the General Counsel of the Robert Muir Company.
To my sons Evan and Kramer; I am so proud to be your Dad. You are wonderful young men and I love you both very much. I am also currently Kramer's soccer coach and sometimes I have to motivate him and his teammates to hustle on the field. But I guess they do ok, because we are currently undefeated.
When I married Maria, I also received an extra bonus of having Ali, Maria's daughter, come into my life. For nearly ten years, I have watched as she has grown to become a beautiful young women. Ali, I love you. I saved the littlest for last. A little over four years ago, Maria and I brought our precious little Sydney home from the hospital. She was a miracle baby and has brought endless joy to our entire family.
I also want to recognize some of Maria's family that traveled here from a foreign place, Wisconsin. First, Maria's parent's Ralph and Margaret Tenuta and Maria's sister Anne Tenuta and her daughters Lydia and Eleanor. Thank you for coming.
For most of my 47 years, I have lived in Minnesota.
Minnesota, and its people, have been good to me.
When I grew up in Duluth, and later in the Twin Cities, my mother--who raised me and my three older sisters-- taught me that if I studied hard, worked hard, and was fair and honest, I would be a success.
And, indeed, I have not only been successful, but I've been blessed.
Blessed with family...
A wonderful public education at Southwest High School in Minneapolis.
A college degree from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the Carlson School of Business.
During my college years I was fortunate to meet good, hardworking Minnesota entrepreneurs who hired me so that I could support myself and pay for college.
I took my mother's advice and I studied hard, I worked hard and I have been fair and honest with those with whom I did business and I have enjoyed success. Along the way I have met and worked with many wonderful people. One of those wonderful people is Cheryl Gilbert.
Cheryl, who is in the audience today, owned for years a wonderful day care center that both of my sons attended. Cheryl, like most day care operators, did not make much money, but that didn't matter to her because she did it out of love for the children.
When Cheryl heard I was running for the United States Senate she sent me the nicest note. In it she said this:
"Good for you! I admire people who dare to make a difference."
She then went on to say that one of her favorite quotes is a quote from President Kennedy that goes "One man can make a difference and every man should try." Cheryl also went on to say that:
"Having known you for 16 years, I know you can make things happen. I also know that you are knowledgeable, decent and fair."
Thank you, Cheryl, for those very kind, but humbling words.
Knowledgeable, decent and fair is what I have tried to be in my business and my life.
Today, I am announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate.
And you may ask, why? So I will tell you why.
[Please click here to read Doran's complete speech.]|W|P|111807075445101724|W|P|DORAN'S ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH|W|P|minnesotademocratsexposed@hotmail.com
John Jordan|W|P|It's all the damn minority DFL's fault.
|W|P|BTW, I don't see any signs that say "Peace".