Archive → August, 2010
A drunk driver, a coward and a nobody walk into a governor’s race…
Even if you offered me briefcases full of money, it would be hard for me to select a desirable candidate this year in the Minnesota Governor’s race.
The GOP has a solid conservative in Tom Emmer, but he’s a two-time loser when it comes to DWI charges, and that’s one time too many in my book. You can have all the “right values” in the world, and if you don’t live by them, who cares? It’s going to be hard to cast a vote for Emmer as things stand now.
Trouble is, who else is there? The Dem’s best candidate, Matt Entenza, might have won me over, but finished a distant third. The winner, Mark Dayton, is and always will be a 9-11 coward in my book. He embarrassed the state enough by serving a term as US Senator; he’s done nothing to earn a reprieve from me… and he’d raise taxes uncontrollably.
Then there’s Independence Party candidate Tom Horner… a former speechwriter for GOP Senator Dave Durenburger back in the Reagan Era. Ehh. So what? He supports gay marriage and huge tax hikes, so he’s still a non-starter for me, as well as a nobody.
I’m really tempted to sit this election cycle out. With Entenza gone, there’s just no one to feel good about voting for.
Emmer atop GOP, but DFL’s a toss-up
The media was all over the Minnesota primary on Tuesday, and while Republican Tom Emmer won the GOP primary handily and Tom Horner won the Independence Party nod virtually uncontested, the fate of the DFL candidacy for Minnesota governor was in doubt as flash-flood conditions rocked the Twin Cities metro area.
While stations posted digital camcorder reviews of the night’s election results, mand Sony Handycams were in use as reporters rushed to track down the latest poll counts. Certain there were also many camcorders crowding the halls of all three Minnesota political parties, hoping to get that golden soundbyte that could encapsulate the night.
In fact, it is WonderfulPessimist.com’s belief that the DFL blew it tonight. Party nominee Margaret Anderson Kelliher held a narrow, 41-to-40.9 percent lead over veteran Democrat Mark Dayton for the nod, and either one is certain to be less appealing to mainstream Minnesota voters than Matt Entenza, who was running with former Fox 9 News co-anchor, Robyn Robinson.
Entenza is just as leftist as Kelliher and Dayton, but he has the advantage of a great “small town Minnesota kid made good” back-story that is unlike anything Kelliher or Dayton bring to the table.
Kelliher is a polarizing figure unlikely to appeal to tweener voters; her anti-Bush-centric primary campaign showed her to be out of step and out-of-tune with voters in a year when most voters no longer blame the current economy on Bush and Bush alone, but are disillusioned with Barak Obama. She played attack-style politics from the word “go” without ever stopping to make a strong, ideas-and-issues-based argument for why she would make a good governor.
By contrast, Dayton is an equally polarizing figure, but for different reasons; Minnesotans remember him as the cowardly Senator who fled Washington over a terrorist threat about an anthrax attack that never materialized; he retired after one term, in disgrace, and is hoping Minnesota voters have a short memory when it comes to his cowardice.
Both will be vulnerable to an effective campaign by Emmer, especially if he focused as much on ideas as he does on his opponents. Entenza would have been another story; he is the one candidate Emmer would have no chance against… basically because he’s likable.
Too bad he won’t get the chance. He looks great on any digital camcorde.
Waters, Rangel going down
California congresswoman Maxine Waters and New York congressman Charles Rangel share 16 ethical charges between the two of them, and could go a long way to aid the anti-incumbent sentiment currently placing Congress at all-time-low approval numbers. With mid-term elections looming, they could easily become the face of Nancy Pelosi’s so called “most ethical Congress in history.” That promise is sounding more and more hollow with each passing day.
If there is a sea-change in Congress, however, the GOP should be aware that it is not necessarily a shift toward conservatism that is fueling the current unrest, but a vast disillusionment with the Obama campaign promises versus the delivered results. While the GOP could turn the electorate toward conservatism, they will have to do more to accomplish that than ride the current wave of anti-incumbent discontent.
To turn this into a pro-GOP movement, the Republicans must sell their alternative ideas the the electorate as a solution to the current Carter-like national malaise, all the way up and down the socio-economic ladder from the blue collar worker to the wholesaler to the CEOs.
Otherwise, any re-taking of the reigns in Washington will be purely temporary and could easily shift against them a couple election cycles down the line; heck, it could even ensure the re-election of Barak Obama, if they play their cards unwisely. Make it about ideas, not ethics.
