DO POLITICS AND SPORTS MAKE STRANGE BEDFELLOWS?

     Minnesota Wins, the nonprofit organization lobbying on
behalf of a new Twins ballpark, is profiled by Jay Weiner of the
Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE.  Minnesota Wins, which has already
raised $1.2M from 17 Minnesota corporations with a goal of
collecting at least $2.5M, is headed by Twins Marketing
Consultant, and former campaign manager to U.S. Senator Paul
Wellstone, Pat Forciea and former GOP State Rep. John Himle.
Although Twins President Jerry Bell says, "You can't buy votes
for the stadium," Weiner notes, "You can hire political expertise
[and] Minnesota Wins was designed to harness 'grassroots' support
statewide to push legislators toward approving some sort of
stadium finance package."  The group's plans to create "sentiment
among fans and citizens to push" the MN Legislature to support a
new ballpark include a 7-8 minute film giving "quick tours" on
some new facilities and two 30-second Twins TV spots featuring
Kirby Puckett (Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE, 9/15).