Entenza to start running TV, radio ads

Planning for the post-convention fight, DFL gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza will start running television ads next week.

The television ads, the first in the race, will focus on the "future of Minnesota," said his campaign spokeswoman Bridget Cusick. The campaign will also buy time on radio.

Entenza also expects to announce his lieutenant governor pick in the first few weeks after this weekend's DFL convention.

Rybak supporter goes country

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak may be a city slicker, but a supporter thinks he's country enough to be featured in the 1962 country music hit, "I've Been Everywhere."

The song and Web video, from a volunteer and what the video describes as "unknown phenom Web Danstar," includes a pitch for Rybak's gubernatorial campaign along with a tongue-twisting list of Minnesota place names.

Lyric samples: "If you want change from a governor, with R.T. you can ride. Join the Rybak bandwagon and we'll kick GOP hide ... I've been everywhere man. And nothing will compare, man, to R.T. in the governor's chair, man."

EMILY + Margaret

Stephanie Schriock, president of the national fundraising group EMILY's List, on Tuesday made a plea to Minnesota DFLers to endorse Margaret Anderson Kelliher for governor.

Kelliher is one of five DFL gubernatorial candidates who have pledged to drop out of the race if she fails to get her party's nod at this weekend's convention.

Schriock's name will be familiar to some DFL activists. She was the campaign manager for Al Franken's winning Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman, which ended -- after a recount and court case -- in a 312-vote victory.

"I know a little bit about what it takes to win a race in Minnesota," Schriock said in a Web video. She said she got to know Kelliher during the Franken race and knows she can win.

GOP candidates draw straws

Both Republican Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert's gubernatorial campaign managers sent supporters notes about congressional district straw polls in the past few days. Surprise! The two managers present the results very differently.

The Seifert take: Seifert carried the 7th and 8th CDs by large margins, while Emmer took CDs 5 and 6.

Seifert campaign manager Kurt Daudt noted that many of the Fifth Congressional District delegates are not state convention delegates, and so would not be able to cast ballots at the May 1 convention vote.

Emmer campaign manager David FitzSimmons sees it this way: "With the dust now settled on the congressional district straw polls, Team Emmer has a slight lead in the non-binding vote 881 to 741. A strong showing, but not enough for the 60 percent needed to endorse."

So, what does it all mean? It may be a tight, tough convention.

The last contested GOP gubernatorial endorsing convention featured one Rep. Tim Pawlenty vying against businessman Brian Sullivan in 2002. The straw poll results going into that contest put Sullivan at 51 percent to Pawlenty's 49 percent. At that dozen-ballot convention, Pawlenty won.