Back in 2007, potential candidates started lining up in Southern Minnesota to run against then-freshman representative Tim Walz. By 2008, FDL/Mercury Rising blogger Phoenix Woman soon identified this as "The Clown Car" Syndrome, a strategy the MNGOP appears to be repeating in the First. Given the anemic fundraising by the candidates running against Walz, it's more of a kiddies' party than three-ring circus. The Republican Party seems to be taking the clown car on the road to Minnesota 's Seventh Congressional District, a seat now held powerful House Agriculture Chair and Blue Dog Collin Peterson. While progressives across the country are dismayed by Peterson's voting record, he remains quite popular in the sprawling rural district. Four potential candidates have hitched a ride.

It is the first day of session and Republican Sen. Mike Parry's footsteps are still echoing down the halls of the capitol building, but he is already thinking of limiting his potential political career in St. Paul. Parry was elected as the senator for District 26 just two weeks ago during the special election that ensued after six-term Republican Sen. Dick Day resigned on Dec. 8, 2009 to take up a career as a lobbyist. Parry carried the election with 43.04 percent of the vote, compared to 36.5 percent for DFLer Jason Engbrecht and 20.32 percent for Independence Party candidate Roy Srp. One of the first bills Parry plans to write will deal with term limits — if he has his way, each legislator will be confined to just three terms.