DFLer Gaertner says she'll run in primary, endorsement or not

After more than two years of wooing potential DFL delegates, gubernatorial candidate Susan Gaertner says she will run in a Democratic primary whether she is endorsed or not.

In a news release Tuesday, Gaertner said her original plan to abide by her party's endorsement was "too politically limiting." The Ramsey County attorney said that "an effort to expand our reach to a much larger universe of Minnesotans is the right direction -- especially since some in the field have been in that mode all along."

At least two other gubernatorial candidates in the crowded DFL field have said they are primary-bound: former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and one-time House Minority Leader Matt Entenza. Gaertner's change has already cost her one bit of support -- the communications director who sent the e-mail, Kate Monson, says she is leaving Gaertner's campaign.

PATRICIA LOPEZ

More Medicaid could cost state more money

The health care bill passed by the U.S. Senate could add 180,000 people to the state's Medicaid rolls at a cost of $2.1 billion to the general fund over six years, said Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman.

But Ludeman said that Minnesota also will receive federal funding increases that could offset much or most of the increased Medicaid cost. "We don't know if it could completely offset that $2.1 billion or not," he said.

States such as Minnesota that have more generous eligibility requirements for receiving subsidized health care have complained that the Senate bill unfairly penalizes them in favor of states in the South that have done little to expand benefits.

For instance, Minnesota provides Medicaid, known in Minnesota as Medical Assistance, to families with incomes up to 275 percent of the poverty level, while some states cover only a fraction of those eligible in Minnesota.

Ludeman said that congressional health care proposals could have "a leveling effect ... across the states," encouraging them to provide coverage to up to 150 percent of the poverty level.

State Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth, said he opposes such a change, but notes that other changes in the health system could make private insurance more affordable and lessen the need for broader eligibility for government programs.

PAT DOYLE

Allen Quist, the GOP candidate to challenge Democrat Rep. Tim Walz, was speaking to a small crowd last month when he made an offhand comment about the threat posed by liberals. But as modern politicians learn every day, YouTube changes everything.

The Minnesota Independent is highlighting a video of the event that showed Quist seeming to imply that defeating Democrats is more important than fighting terrorism.

"Every generation has had to fight the fight for freedom," Quist said. "This is our fight. And this is our time. This is it. Terrorism, yes -- but that's not the big battle. The big battle is in D.C. with the radicals. They aren't liberals, they're radicals. Obama, Pelosi, Walz -- they're not liberals, they're radicals. They are destroying our country. And people all over are figuring that out."

Within hours of the posting, what began as a stump speech in a gym was broadcast via MSNBC to the country as an example of how, as liberal host Rachel Maddow put it, Republicans no longer "know how to do terror politics."