September 1- Hurricane Gustav may have blown away the Republican National Convention's tightly constructed agenda, limiting opening day to all but the essentials, but Common Cause was still very much in St. Paul to bring our message of reform.

Today, we ran a full page ad on the "Recapture the Flag" campaign in the Minneapolis Star Tribune's special Republican National Convention section. Check it out here. The "Democracy in Distress" ad, with the upside down flag and demand for a return to constitutional principles and the rule of law, certainly was a bold complement to the Target ad with their awfully cute dog reminding everyone to register to vote. There's little doubt the ad made its nonpartisan and timely point to thousands of Republican delegates and curious Minnesotans.

Common Cause Minnesota spent an exciting summer recruiting our board members, establishing our local office, and contacting legislative candidates to learn about their views on issues that matter most to our members. In fact, over the last six months we have built a solid foundation for our state chapter. We were thrilled to have Common Cause President Bob Edgar visit Minnesota in June as we kicked off our foundation-building summer. Please view Bob's message to Common Cause supporters here -