Labor alliance now aims at Horner

The Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a labor-backed interest group that has spent months clobbering GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, now is training its sights on Independence Party candidate Tom Horner.

The group, which has become a major player in the race, bought the domain name tomhorner.org in January, before Horner had even decided to run. Now it has launched a website called "The Truth About Tom Horner," in which it says he's been a "Republican insider for 30 years" and that Horner's former public relations company, Himle Horner Inc., has won state contracts because of its political ties. "Can a 30-year Republican operative really call himself an independent?" the website asks.

The website emphasized Horner's work as a staff member for former Republican U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger and points out Horner's campaign contributions to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "With nearly 30 years of Republican cheerleading under his belt, he's not fooling anybody," the website stated.

Matt Lewis, a Horner spokesman, said the website is further proof that Horner is making gains among Republican and DFL voters and that both parties are now anxious to discredit him.

"It only provides more wind at our sails. ... You know, they're taking us more seriously. They're worried about their base," he said.

Lewis said that while DFLers were painting Horner as a Republican who "gives money to Pawlenty," Republicans were portraying him as a DFLer because "he voted for [President] Obama."

The new website also said that Horner's proposal to expand the state sales tax to "clothes, haircuts and many goods and services" would hurt middle-class Minnesotans. "Where does this money go? It pays for business tax cuts," the website said.

Keillor takes on Bachmann

Garrison Keillor, humorist and host of the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," invoked his fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon to make a fundraising pitch Thursday for Sixth District challenger Tarryl Clark.

Keillor wrote that Lake Wobegon was "smack in the middle of Minnesota -- in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District," and said it was "embarrassing to me and a great many Minnesotans" that Rep. Michele Bachmann represented the district.

In the e-mail to Clark's supporters titled "Defending Lake Wobegon," the humorist accused Bachmann of "grandstanding and giving interviews to Fox News" instead of working for the district, echoing an attack line the Clark campaign has used.

Bachmann campaign spokesman Sergio Gor responded that Keillor's pitch "is yet another sign of a desperate campaign."

Today is the final day for third-quarter fundraising, and many candidates are sending out last-minute fundraising e-mails.

Keillor, who lives in St. Paul, is a frequent donor to Minnesota Democrats. He's given Clark $4,800 this campaign cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings.