Dayton not running for re-election!!! Links to the stories.

[MinnesotaMike31]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5231507.html

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/10856457.htm

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S6187.html?cat=1

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_040125120.html

conversation in DU: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1580172

Link to the conversation about this on dailykos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/131324/1068

[katinmn]

1. Shit

[dflprincess]

2. That's what I said

My mom called me and told me WCCO was reporting this on the noon news.

I don't get it.

[katinmn]

4. He seemed so committed to fighting the Rethugs

now is he gonna be a lame duck, or will he fight harder since he doesn't have to play nice?

[no name no slogan]

3. It's on WCCO's web site too

This is really odd. I got a voicemail message a day or two ago about a planning meeting for Dayton supporters this week.

If he decided not to run, he must have done it within the last 48 hours or so.

Now what?!?!?!?!?

[dflprincess]

5. And he sounded like a candidate at the State Central meeting Saturday

Something is fishy here. I wonder if he's been threatened somehow? (Yes, yes, my tinfoil hat is on)

[KyndCulture]

7. I just saw this on TV too... what the hell???

A threat was my first thought too...

[Oreo]

You have to wonder

if he got threats or antyhing.

I know he supposedly used all of his money on his last election.

[dflprincess]

8. He didn't use all his money, but he did say he couldn't afford

to finance this campaign all by himself.

[hermetic]

6. Awwww man

I just can't believe this, stop paying attention for 5 minutes and look what happens! He had this big fund raising push at the end of December. Suppose he's planning to give that back?

[ButterflyBlood]

9. might be a good thing if we can get Alan Page to run

he'd be far tougher to beat than Dayton.

[Zookeeper]

15. Oooh, yeah....

I like the idea of Alan Page.

[MsAnthropy]

10. Somebody Cheneyed him

There's something going on. Why was it only him who closed his office because of threats? His decision comes too closely on the heels of his denunciation of KindaSleezy Rice so I'm sure Cheney had a little talk with him about any future flights.

[dflprincess]

22. That's what I'm thinking

or maybe they threatened his kids. The only other thing I can think of is maybe something happened in his personal life between this past weekend and today.

His announcement was reported as being a shock to his staff and Mike Cerisi(sp) was heading to Washington this week to discuss fundraising with him.

There is something very weird about the whole thing.

[no name no slogan]

11. It's official now

Just saw the story at the Strib. He also withdrew his endorsement of Randy Kelly, too, so we'll see what's up with that.

[young_dfler]

12. Dayton

Lets just hope we find a good candidate for 06.

I was thinking that Attorney General Hatch would have the best chance or that Hennepen County District Attorney.

[no name no slogan]

14. I'm tentatively going with Klobuchar (Hennepin Co. DA)

Welcome to DU!!! :hi:

I really like Amy Klobuchar. I've met her a few times, and she's very genuine. Plus, she's a prosecutor, which will fix the whole "get tough" on crime thing.

Hatch is okay, but I think he's going to run for governor again. He faces an uphill challenge in many ways, because of things he's done in the past.

Back in 1990 when the late, great Rudy Perpich decided to run for one more term, Hatch challenged him in the primary, and subsequently pissed off a lot of DFLers. There was a pretty ugly battle on the convention floor that year. Thankfully Wellstone's upset endorsement victory overshadowed most of it, though.

Hatch lost a lot of loyal allies and friends in 1990 (especially among labor, who had been very supportive), which is probably why he hasn't run for governor since then.

It may have been fourteen years ago, but many DFLers have long memories....this one included.

[dflprincess]

21. Hatch has already said today he's not interested in the Senate seat

He's had his eye on the state house for a long time. I think any damage he did himself in 1990 has been forgiven during his term as attorney general. I would like to see him as governor.

Klobuchar would be good. Though I thought she was looking at the attorney general's race if Hatch goes for governor. Besides having been an excellent County Attorney, a big plus for her is that her dad's roots are on the Range and I think she could use that.

[Oreo]

13. This had to have been a sudden decision

Why would he back Kelly one day and then renig the next?

If he was going to run yesterday I could kinda sorta see why he'd endorse Kelly. I don't agree with it but I can see it.

If he knew he wasn't going to run why would he endorse him? What made him change his mind so quickly?

"I’ve also informed Mayor Randy Kelly that I must withdraw my support from his re-election committee."

[Demrock6]

16. F$*@! S*&% !!!!!!!

This sucks!!!!!! Why cant we win? I heard it could have something to do with his approval rating dropping. Lets look on the bright side: NOW HE HAS NOTHING TO HOLD HIM BACK!!!

More bad news, we might as well skip the election and give Kennedy the seat. This ruined my day. A blue state with republican senators and Governor. Pathetic.

[no name no slogan]

17. All is not lost

Kennedy IMHO is still a lousy opponent. He's a three-term incumbent, and has yet to win with > 6% of the vote. Most incumbents in their 3rd term are winning by AT LEAST 10%.

Kennedy is weak, and the other Repubs are even weaker. Dayton may not be running, but we can still keep the seat.

What disgusts me is that, in January 2007, Norm Coleman will become our "senior" Senator.

[Demrock6]

18. Your right. I guess I am just bummed.

We will no longer have the incumbent factor going for us.

[no name no slogan]

19. That's true-- but it may work in our favor

The Repubs have been gearing up for an anti-Dayton campaign for the last four years.

Now that Dayton's out of the equation, they have to rethink their strategy. Not only that, they won't have a clear nominee for at least another year. That leaves them even less time to reorganize.

This may be the silver lining in the cloud.

[CatholicEdHead]

20. Possibly

but they could also be looking at a broadscale attack given the names that have been already tossed out.

They would use Kennedy's House Incumbency against any DFLer who has not held federal office.

I was shocked when I heard this during the afternoon. I was in a work training session when it happened.

[no name no slogan]

23. I still think that Kennedy, their strongest candidate, is still pretty wea

For an incumbent, he sure isn't winning elections like one. He only beat Wetterling by something like 6% in '04. Running for his 3rd term, he should be winning by double-digits, at least, given the 'incumbency effect'.

And since there's no clearcut candidate, they won't be able to zero in on the incumbent-- meaning their attacks are more scattershot. And given their lousy showing in MN in '04, they need to make EVERY shot count, which means that they can't 'waste' them on non-candidates.

It's funny, I was having a conversation about whom the GOP was going to throw up against Dayton at about 10:00 am. An hour and a half later, I hear a rumour about Dayton dropping out. Damn that's some weird sh!t right there.

[ButterflyBlood]

24. Kennedy isn't their strongest, candidate, actually

Jim Ramstad would be very tough to beat. But luckily he is very unlikely to run, and Kennedy is probably the strongest of those likely to run, which is a good things since he's still pretty weak. Who else do they got? Kiffmeyer? Bachmann? GRAMS?! lol.

[no name no slogan]

25. Good point-- I HOPE Ramstad stays where he is

He's got a lock on his district indefinately-- mainly because a lot of "good" Dems support him every two years. He's also got name recognition and could do quite well outstate, too.

IMHO Ramstad would have more to lose going to the Senate than staying in the House. He's got seniority, he's got his pick of committees, and he's got some power. He'd be getting a demotion going to the Senate at this stage in his career.

Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and Michelle Bachmann will be the nominee. Stranger things have happened with the MN Repubs. Remember 1994, when they endorsed Alan Quist over the very popular sitting governor, Arne Carlson? Good times, good times....

[tsuki]

26. Florida checking in. He says it's money. Can we get a national purse

together? Find some place for internet people to donate? Would that help? I can't donate a lot, but I can reach out to others. He is too good to lose.