More state politics

Just a little bit. I won’t go overboard, because I know that no one outside of Minn is interested in this.

We had a little surprise here in Minn for our DFL (Democrat) primary yesterday. The non-endorsed candidate, Mark Dayton won over the party-endorsed candidate, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher.

Mr. Dayton is a former US Senator. He completely sidestepped the party endorsement procedure, and the party cut him out of everything. Apparently, the party may be a bit out of touch with what the rank and file DFLers want. The vote was split, with the metro area of Minneapolis/St. Paul going for MAK, and the outstate going for Dayton. Those people on “da range”, they don’t  like the people in the “cities” telling them what to do.

Dayton is the more liberal of the two candidates. He was the only Senator to close his office (to protect his staff) when the anthrax scare was going on several years ago. He gave the Senate-including himself-an F for the accomplishments of the time he was in the senate.

The Republican candidate is extremely conservative. A nutcase, to be exact. I have dealt with him, as have several of my friends and colleagues, all are in agreement about that. Both candidates have had issues with alcohol abuse/dependency. At least that takes that issue out of the realm of mud slinging.

Taxes will be the huge issue. Dayton wants to increase taxes for the rich to bring them in parity with the rest of the taxpayers. Emmer wants to reduce taxes and cut any program he can find, including health care, education and transportation. There apparently has already been an ad aired against Dayton. It was aired within an hour or so of his reported primary win.

It is going to be a bumpy ride here for the next three months.

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