The last time DFLers controlled all the levers of power at the Capitol, during the 1989-90 legislative session, Duane Benson was the Republican Senate minority leader. Benson recalls making a floor speech at the time comparing the dynamic to a basketball contest between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals.

On a recent Thursday evening, roughly 50 people gathered at Shamrocks bar in St. Paul to discuss the looming ballot campaign to ban gay marriage. The event was specifically targeted at young Republicans and featured GOP Reps. John Kriesel and Tim Kelly, outspoken opponents of the proposed anti-gay marriage amendment.

A letter signed by 63 faculty members of the University of Minnesota Law School criticizes legislators for pushing a ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution to prohibit gay marriage. The argue that such a ban is unnecessary given that marriages between same-sex couple are already illegal in the state.