Having defined and refined the RINO concept, the hour has come to sort out the RINO’s, if any, in the Republican fold of Presidential aspirants viz. New Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Each seems to have carved out a niche or label, like Santorum being the Social Conservative and Ron Paul the Libertarian. We could debate whether Santorum is fiscally conservative given his many earmarks while in Congress, but relatively few are characterizing him as a RINO. Ron Paul certainly is not a RINO! And neither seems at all likely to win the Republican nomination this August.
Last Night's Late Debate: WIIFM
First, Congressman Phil Gingrey from Georgia tells us why he's supporting Newt Gingrich. Second, Chris Fields explains why he's running to take on Rep. Keith Ellison in the Fifth Congressional District. Also, another Bachmann departure, mining the Moon, betting on candidates, and predictions about Minnesota's caucuses.
You can hear the Late Debate every Sunday to Thursday from 10pm to Midnight on 95.9FM in the North Metro. You can also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes.
Vikings to Amorphous Parcel of Land Somewhere East of the Metrodome?
There really hasn't been a lot of news on the Vikings stadium front these days, despite the kabuki going on in various locales:
Appealing for City Council support for a new Vikings stadium, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak surrounded himself with construction workers on Monday and said the project would create more jobs than any "single action that you can take."
Rybak and Barb Johnson, the City Council president, did little to disguise that the press briefing was an overt attempt to apply political pressure for the project, which does not appear to have the backing of a council majority. Rybak did not directly answer when asked whether he had majority support for a city subsidy package and chose instead to remain optimistic about the project's political chances.
In defense of the president
Bush Derangement Syndrome was (and still is) the tendency of those who dislike President Bush to blame everything on him, regardless of logic. That's how some liberals came by the notion that not only did Bush cause hurricane Katrina, but he delayed help to the affected because he hates black people.
Today some conservative pundits are coming close to Obama derangement syndrome by attacking President Obama for 'cutting hazard pay for soldiers'. This is flat out wrong, and here's why.
Anderson v. Rosen
During Gov. Dayton’s ill-tempered diatribe, he said that Republicans were “unfit to govern” because they didn’t confirm the appointment of Ellen Anderson, a longtime DFL/environmental activist, to be the Commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission. The reality is that Gov. Dayton isn’t fit to govern.
His bombastic diatribe sounded more like a spoiled 3-year-old brat who didn’t get his way than it sounded like something a governor of a state.
Despite Gov. Dayton’s childish accusations, Sen. Julie Rosen’s explanation of why she voted against Sen. Anderson’s confirmation as PUC Commissioner is perfectly reasonable:


Last night when discussing the trends in the three non-binding Republican contests, I tweeted that Rick Santorum’s win in Missouri was only surprising in gaining a majority, but that a win in Minnesota would be surprising — and a win in Colorado would be shocking. As it happens,