[Speed Gibson,
Wednesday May 2, 2007 at 7:11am]
What if she knew?
What if Judi Dutcher had known about E-85 and Hatch otherwise kept his head long enough to defeat Gov. Pawlenty? Yes, what if Mike Hatch was now the sitting Governor?
Gov. Pawlenty seems poised to generally and significantly do better this session than his 2005 collapse would indicate. But vetos and threats of vetos still allow the story line to be DFL vs GOP, not the issues themselves. With that hard wall there, the DFL can propose anything fairly safely, satisfying the far left, then blaming the right to stay elected.
It's fun to speculate, but the focus can be put squarely on the DFL by the Republicans positioning themselves as the adults in the room. Pawlenty is doing well here so far. I applaud his decision to veto the entire bonding bill rather than try to have his way with specific line item vetos. Better still, his accompanying words were restrained and well chosen.
The Republicans in the Legislature are also doing well to sit back during some of the final floor debates, giving us some of the hard left DFL vs moderate DFL confrontation we would have seen with Hatch in charge. We saw 11 Democrats bail on a big tax bill last week, for example. Maybe that was planned, looking ahead to 2008, but the public won't see it that way regardless. After weeks of optimism and solidarity, it looks like retreat.
Keep it up, GOP. Let the public see the DFL unrestrained. Don't engage in pointless dialog with those for whom facts and reason are optional.
Gov. Pawlenty seems poised to generally and significantly do better this session than his 2005 collapse would indicate. But vetos and threats of vetos still allow the story line to be DFL vs GOP, not the issues themselves. With that hard wall there, the DFL can propose anything fairly safely, satisfying the far left, then blaming the right to stay elected.
It's fun to speculate, but the focus can be put squarely on the DFL by the Republicans positioning themselves as the adults in the room. Pawlenty is doing well here so far. I applaud his decision to veto the entire bonding bill rather than try to have his way with specific line item vetos. Better still, his accompanying words were restrained and well chosen.
The Republicans in the Legislature are also doing well to sit back during some of the final floor debates, giving us some of the hard left DFL vs moderate DFL confrontation we would have seen with Hatch in charge. We saw 11 Democrats bail on a big tax bill last week, for example. Maybe that was planned, looking ahead to 2008, but the public won't see it that way regardless. After weeks of optimism and solidarity, it looks like retreat.
Keep it up, GOP. Let the public see the DFL unrestrained. Don't engage in pointless dialog with those for whom facts and reason are optional.
We are doing our part to make sure everyone knows about E85, including candidates for Lt. Governor.