Minnesota Governor Straw

[Wickerman]

Poll question: Minnesota Governor Straw

Who ya voting for? Why - if you want to add.

We have a good thread on who will win:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=160x39831




I'm leaning Dayton but would love to see someone with some passion for either Entenza or Kehliher try to convince me otherwise. I always include Ole (Savior) in polls for any race he runs in... :-)

[MineralMan]

1. I caucused for MAK.

After the primary, my support goes to whoever wins. Entenza is too focused on a single issue, I think, ending NCLB. He hasn't presented a broad enough campaign, IMO. Margaret is an effective legislative leader, and much will need to be done in the legislature. Dayton is OK, but by not accepting the results of the DFL endorsement and not participating in the caucus and convention system, he alienated a bunch of folks. Still, after tomorrow, whoever wins will have everyone's support. Emmer is simply not an option.

[dflprincess]

2. This is not the first time Dayton skipped the endorsing convention

and I don't think it alienates nearly as many people as the DFL hierarchy likes to think.

I know quite a few party hacks who hold offices at the Senate District level who are planning to vote for him tomorrow - while ducking calls from Kelliher's campaign to help with GOTV. (Though all the party requires is that you not openly work against the endorsed candidate).

Kelliher got the endorsement because of the super delegates and, as the rumor goes, because Entenza when he dropped out at the convention told his delegates to vote for MAK because he saw her as the easier one to beat (though he didn't have enough delegates to make a difference, until they combined with the "super" delegates.)

[MineralMan]

4. Yeah. I wasn't at the state convention, but I heard a lot about it.

Anyhow, if Dayton takes the primary, he'll get the support of all the DFLers, so it doesn't matter all that much, probably. I don't think Entenza has any prayer, so I'm ignoring him. We'll find out soon enough, though.

[Wickerman]

8. You make a strong point that the communication with the legislature

will be critical. That is a persuasive argument for Margaret.

I don't blame Dayton for bypassing the endorsement process. The DFL has picked some lousy candidates and obviously they wouldn't have picked him.

I'll happily support any of the three but Entenza doesn't have a well enough articulated platform for me to get excited about at this juncture. I think he would, however, be a decent debate foe against Emmer. Of course, a debate between Gov candidates would have low impact on a race so my hope is Mark or Margaret get the nod tomorrow.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. A friend of mine heard Entenza address a meeting of school social workers

She found him condescending and said that he told a sexist joke--in front of a mostly female audience.

[Spike from MN]

15. Gotta disagree with you here.

In particular, on the "Margaret is an effective legislative leader." bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a friend of mine that works at the Capital. This friend is a diehard Dem but had absolutely nothing good to say about Kelliher. She said when the Dems get together to caucus, if someone disagrees with Kelliher, she cries. She had a number of other stories but suffice it to say, MAK is completely lacking in leadership skills. If she becomes governor, MN will really be up a creek.

Out of curiosity, I asked why MAK had gotten on the single-payer bandwagon. I had assumed it was because Dayton supports single-payer but apparently there's a little more to it than that. At the convention, John Marty did NOT want to give up. He fought until the end but finally gave in on one condition: that MAK support single-payer. But he wouldn't take her word for it. He got her to commit to it on paper AND he then distributed copies to everyone there. He didn't trust her enough to take her on her word. He had to have it in writing.

Mistrust seems to be a rather common thing where MAK is involved. My friend had a lot of other stories but unfortunately, I don't have time to go into details at the moment. I guess they'll have to wait until the next get-together.

On a further note, my friend said she was glad to hear that I would be voting in the primary but, even more important than that, was extremely relieved to know I wouldn't be voting for Kelliher. She said she hopes more people think like I do and can see through her facade. But the real shocker for me was when my friend said that if Kelliher wins in the primary, she'll be voting for Horner. I never, ever expected to hear her say something like because, like I said, she's a diehard Dem. But I guess that only goes so far and Kelliher is beyond those limits, even for a party faithful like my friend.

[bjb]

3. I am also leaning towards Dayton

but will certainly support the winner no matter who it is. I thought it gutsy of Dayton to come right out and say he would raise taxes on the wealthy ( I agree with him.) However, I wonder if people who are in the upper bracket who are Democrats will not support him because of this?

[Lucian]

10. Who?

All, what, four or five people in the upper bracket in MN?

Big f'n deal.

[ISUGRADIA]

12. A Small %

Dayton would raise taxes on the top 8% or so. 92% of taxpayers would not be effected.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

22. On income or taxable income (after deductions)?

I haven't been able to find the answer.

But there is a great difference between your income and your taxable income if you have deductions for a home mortgage interest, property taxes, other taxes, childcare, healthcare, retirement, etc.

Can anyone point me to the answer?

Thanks.

[Randomthought]

5. I would like to vote in your poll

but the Entenza ad is covering the vote link.

[qb]

6. I want to see Dayton kick Emmer's hiney. Take that, Target!

[ComoParker]

7. Still Undecided

I'm still weighing each of the three and can't come to a decision. Here are the Pros and Cons as I see them. Any comments/suggestions are welcome:

Dayton
Pros
Outstate Support
$$
Seniors

Cons
Easy negatives for general (closing DC office)
Tax message though correct seems a little punative
I have trouble picturing him as our governor

MAK
Pros
Did well on the transportation bill
Support in the cities
Can get a crowd mildly excited

Cons
Rolled over after the unallotment decision
Hasn't articulated a clear plan
Can get a crowd mildly excited

Entenza
Pros
$$
Outreach to underrepresented communities
Decent vision
Held his ground against Pawlenty during the shutdown

Cons
Personality (see investigation of Hatch, Mike)
Easy negative target
Might be from Worthington, but not really from there anymore.

What do you all think?

[Morning Dew]

13. One of your Dayton cons is a pro for me.

That he closed his office showed great concern on his part for his staff.

Further, I think there's a lot to that story that hasn't been told.

[ComoParker]

16. Thanks

Fair point about his concern for his staff, though 99 others disagreeing seeming like an odd thing to me. Still sitting on the fence. Hoping for some sort of epiphany today.

[dflprincess]

18. Congress was in recess at the time

the 99 who disageed with Dayton would all be safely out of town leaving only their staffs in peril (real or imagined). Memebers of the House were also out of town and, of course, DimSon was in Texas.

At the time Bushco was having one of their "all terra, all the time" spasms and were even implying it was not safe for tourists to go to D.C. I was never sure if Mark did this because he believed Bushco and was keeping his staff safe or if he was trying to call their bluff and say "If it's so dangerous why are government offices open?"

[Spike from MN]

14. One correction here.

"MAK: Did well on the transportation bill."

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a friend of mine that works at the Capital. She said Kelliher doesn't deserve any credit for getting the transportation bill passed. She told me who was responsible for getting the bill through (and of course, I promptly forgot his name) and said he's not really interested in taking the credit. He just wanted to get the job done. Kelliher, in the meantime, was largely MIA.

Just wanted to pass along that little bit of information.

[ComoParker]

17. Interesting...I know Alice Hausman was pretty involved

and there was a GOP-er that pushed pretty hard, but I was always under the impression that MAK was in the middle of the slug-fest.

[Spike from MN]

19. I'm sure that's the impression she wants people to have but

unfortunately it's just not true.

Coincidentally, I just had a conversation with a coworker and she knows someone that used to work for Kelliher. She said the person she knows can't stand her and will be voting for Dayton in the primary.

She also brought up another interesting reason to vote for Dayton: ambition. Dayton isn't looking to do anything except be governor. He doesn't have any political ambitions beyond that. However, Kelliher views the governership as merely a stepping stone on her way to higher office. Don't expect a huge list of accomplishments with her as governor since her main focus will be to further her own political career. She'll toe the line and pander to special interests because that's what's good for MAK. What's good for the state of MN will be thrown by the wayside once again. After 8 years of Pawlenty, that's the last thing this state needs.

[dflprincess]

20. Very good (and interesting) points n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

23. "Kelliher views the governership as merely a stepping stone on her way to higher office"

Which higher office?

Is she expecting to be president, too?

[dflprincess]

24. There's always the Senate

should Al of Amy not run. Kelliher is relatively young, she could wait for that.

[Spike from MN]

33. Yep.

I don't know how long Al plans on being in the Senate but it's possible that he might decide to move on after one or two terms.

Amy, OTOH, will probably have to get voted out, hopefully soon. Can you imagine if MAK decided to primary Amy? That would be a perfect example of not having anyone to pick from. Princess, who would you vote for in that nightmare scenario? (I know how much you admire them both. ;) ) I'd have to leave that section of my ballot blank or do a write-in. No way could I ever cast a vote for either one of them.

[dflprincess]

34. If I HAD to choose between the 2 of them -

I'd go with Kelliher. Amy has had her chance & maybe MAK would at least hire a staff that was civil to anyone who called her office.

[Spike from MN]

35. That's kind of what I figured. Thanks for being a sport. ;)

If I was forced to pick between the two (as in, if someone were holding a gun to my head), I'd probably go with Kelliher to get rid of Amy. I think Kelliher would implode pretty quickly so it would be easy to boot her out after one term. Amy, OTOH, seems to be rather firmly entrenched so it might be harder to get rid of her.

[Spike from MN]

32. President? Gawd, I would hope not.

No, probably the Senate, though maybe she would "settle" for the House.

[loveable liberal]

21. I was disappointed in Mark at the end of his Senatorial term....

He seemed to have given up and was waiting for his term to end. I thought about those days though with the scumbag Bill Frist Clown club in charge, there probably wasnt a whole lot a liberal could have done at the time. I'm betting he was plain worn out from not having any backup.

I vote for Mark. My parents are too. My mom says she sounds like Hillary (my mom is 70 so I figure she can say what she likes...)

[Lucian]

9. I don't like MAK.

She doesn't want to end the tax cuts for the rich. That really turns me off.

I like Dayton, and I'll be voting for him tomorrow.

[Brickbat]

11. None of them have gotten me fired up, which is unusual for a primary. Usually I've got it figured

out weeks in advance. Not this time. I know who I don't like, but I have trouble liking who's left. But then, I was pulling for Rukavina.

[PatSnow]

26. Decided to vote for Kelliher

I studied the sites of both Kelliher and Dayton. She had a 10 page detailed proposal,while he just had a one sentence of what he wants to do.

And, yes, I am concerned that the Republicans will run against him as setting Minnesota as the highest tax state in the nation.

Let's face it: this state elected Ventura - who decided there was too much money and sent money back to tax payers - and Pawlenty.

Many people moved to the state to take advantage of quality of life, but are unwilling to pay for it.

Interesting, did you know that there were four DFL candidates? Don't remember the name of the fourth who, by the way, was first listed, but his running mate is "Lady" Jayne something.

And, as we got our ballots we were warned not to cross party. Yeah, right. "Minnesota Nice." A Republican was not going to try to create havoc in DFL primaries, right?

Made sure that Ritchie and Swanson got my votes.

As for Park District commissioner - anyone running on "fiscal responsibility" is a suspect. One of them actually said in his webpage that he wants to show that "conservatives, too, can care about park." Yeah, right.

[DFLforever]

27. Voting in more than one party column will invalidate

your vote. Your votes won't be counted: the machine will kick it out.

A stronger incentive than "MN nice".

[Wickerman]

28. Sorry, I missed Peter Idusogie

in preparing this poll. I seemed to miss him in every other capacity, too. Never heard of him. Don't even recall seeing him on my ballot today, either. :shrug:

I can't believe I missed someone with a running mate named Lady Jayne.

Something tells me Peter isn't going to be a dark horse winner.

[Morning Dew]

29. They just meant that you couldn't mix and match parties in the various races

So that if you voted Republican in the gubernatorial race, you had to vote Republican in all the races.

[dflprincess]

30. Ventura won with about 35% of the vote

and the best Pawlenty ever did was 45%.

The majority of Minnesotans did not want either one of them.

[myrna minx]

31. I went with Dayton.

I'll never forget watching him alone with Byrd in the *empty* Senate chamber prior to the IWR. He'll have my never ending respect for that.