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Dear Minnesotans,
Norman Ornstein was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and was a child prodigy who graduated from the University of Minnesota at age 18 as a social science major.
In the 1970s and 80s, Ornstein became a fixture in Washington, D.C. as “The King of Quotes,” according to a 1986 Washington Monthly profile. He delivered pithy remarks on complex policy subjects to on-deadline reporters, while working at the American Enterprise Institute, a centrist think tank.
“Almost by definition he is conventional wisdom,” Steven Waldman wrote in that Monthly profile.
How much, if at all, that’s still the case 40 years later is perhaps a litmus test for the Minnesota Republican Party.
I interviewed Ornstein Monday at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota before he gave a talk titled, “It’s even worse than it looks: Donald Trump and America’s Future.”
In the last 20 years, Ornstein has become a tireless critic of Congressional gridlock, what he sees as creeping extremism in Republican policies and – most of all – the chaos and corruption of the Trump administration, which appears to viscerally sear Ornstein. By the time you finish reading this newsletter, Ornstein will have reposted multiple people on X purporting inconsistencies and injustices in the Trump White House.
What all this has to do with Minnesota Republicans is that at one time Ornstein was friendly with party leaders. He name-dropped several Republicans in our interview, including calling former state attorney general Doug Head “a man of tremendous integrity and intellect” and ex-governor Arne Carlson as someone “you could admire and work with, who cares about policy.”
In today’s Minnesota GOP, Ornstein said that some state legislative leaders like House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, who is running for governor, may be different in temperament than Trump, but have essentially adopted his approach.
“You look at how Demuth is handling her campaign,” Ornstein said. “They are not abandoning MAGA.”
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Ornstein predicted that will not change unless “Trump’s standing falls significantly among his base.”
I can see Trump supporters arguing that the Ornsteins of the world are precisely the careful establishment figures their president is rebelling against. What I hope to learn during the gubernatorial campaign is how many Minnesota Republicans feel passionately about Trump, versus those who nervously navigate his actions.
Demuth, meanwhile, is creating her own leadership record.
On Tuesday, the House reconvened after spring break and chose to spend hours debating legislation that would ban males who have transitioned to females from playing women’s sports. House DFLers opposed the legislation, which was discussed a week after the Trump administration sued Minnesota for letting transgender females play women’s sports.
“Opponents would rather cry hate than acknowledge that there are measurable differences between boys and girls, even after hormone therapy,” Demuth stated. “This is common sense – we need to pass this bill to restore fairness and safety for Minnesota girls.”
Complaints from actual Minnesota girls are not exactly clogging up the courts or the Minnesota Commission on Civil Rights, though a lawsuit filed last year by the Texas group Female Athletes United on behalf of three Minnesota softball players is in federal appeals court.
Lawmakers have six more weeks of legislating before they go into full campaign mode.
Questions, comments, stories about state lawmakers drinking on the job? Email me at mblake@minnpost.com.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
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