Posted: 05/23/09 11:21
by Dave Mindeman
Last night, Mark Dayton appeared at mnpACT! in the first installment of our 2009 Governor Candidate Forum. We really appreciated Mark sticking it out with us; he would have been fully justified to cancel since he had taken his father to the emergency room earlier in the day and would be heading back to the hospital immediately after talking to us.
Despite the distraction, Mark stayed on message and patiently answered numerous questions. Let's take a look at the Dayton campaign on policy.
1. Single Payer Health Care -- Mark has embraced the idea of single payer completely. He cites the stats with ease and fully understands that he will be forced to justify his position with the opposition and within his own party. Here, he was in friendly territory on that count, but how he makes his case going forward will make or break his candidacy.
2. IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) -- Mark has also embraced this position unequivocally. He had one caveat....that we move into it incrementally. He said he will be watching Minneapolis very carefully to make sure the "devil in the details" won't cause any serious problems.
3. MN Budget. Mark stated that he doesn't want this to be the first generation to leave Minnesota worse off then we left it. He also noted that he is tired of Pawlenty's portrayal of the "innocent bystander". It is his policies that are hurting the Minnesota economy. Excuses are getting old.
4. Education. His biggest concern is the debt that students are accumulating trying to get their degrees. In this type of economy when we need people to retrain, higher ed should get more support not less. He noted that our tuition rates are the 4th highest in the country. That cannot be sustained.
Mark fielded other questions... a lot of them centered on healthcare. But one person was focused on the RNC8 and the quelling of dissent. Mark's answer troubled me a little bit. He went into a comparison of 9/11 and his experience in Washington when that happened mixed in with some talk of the Minnesota Patriot Act. But here is the problem with that -- the issues are, or at least should be, totally unrelated. The use of the MN Patriot Act with the RNC8 shows how flawed the state statute has become. 9/11 was an attack on the United States, pure and simple. With the RNC8, we have a pre-emptive raid to prevent "possible" destruction of property but in effect, it was a stifling of free speech. I hope that Mark will look at that again.
Another question addressed another concern that will dog Mark's candidacy.... the early closing of his office in response to a possible threat. He acknowledged that he will be questioned on that. His answer focused on his responsibility to his staff. The Senate had adjourned, but the staff normally stay on for awhile to finish constituent work. Dayton justified his actions on a top secret briefing classified report. He noted that Bill Frist interrupted a committee meeting with Don Rumsfeld to have him look at an urgent report. An unprecedented action. Dayton was privy to the information and was concerned for the safety of the staff that would have stayed on.
I understand what Mark is saying here and it makes sense. But the problem I keep coming back to...is why was Senator Dayton the only committee member who took such action?
This is an issue that will follow him throughout his campaign.
Another question speculated that Pawlenty wouldn't run for Governor again, and wanted to know Mark's thoughts on whom the Republicans would run. Sen. Dayton tried to punt a little on that one... not joining in the speculation about Pawlenty and letting the questioner muse about possible contenders. There was a mention of Steve Sviggum to which Dayton responded, "He's made a career about opposing government, and then won't leave it."
Mark is a very likable person, but he will have to brace himself for a not so very nice campaign. Mark must be very encouraged by the KSTP poll that shows him the closest to Pawlenty by the numbers. But right now, he only has the advantage in name recognition. That has to be followed with substance.
Senator Dayton is a progressive, no question about it, but he has to prove one more thing -- is he a progressive who can win?
There is another excellent analysis of last night's forum at...
the Minnesota Democrat blog.
