Posted: 08/26/09 05:10
by Dave Mindeman
If you were a candidate for governor and you had the opportunity to spend $750 to have the citizens of Minnesota come to you, wouldn't you do it?
That's the interesting question that only Republican Marty Seifert seems to have figured out.
Seifert is the only governor candidate to have his own fair booth this year and why the others passed on this is a bit of a head scratcher. It's no secret that Jesse Ventura's presence at the State Fair was a major factor in his 1998 win. Yet, Seifert stands alone this year.
Of course, all the candidates will be there one way or another. The DFL and GOP have their own fair booths and candidates will in attendance early and often. But it is still not the same as having your own place.
Seifert will have his signs covering his rented area. He is easily accessible to the media -- which are also out in force at the fair. A state fair booth gives you the opportunity to get face time with an enormously broad cross section of the state -- isn't that what candidates are looking for?
This is a special advantage for Seifert's quest for the GOP endorsement. This is late August and the perception is that there is still a lot of time left until we have the election. However, the timeline isn't as lengthy as one would think.
The caucuses are February 2nd....just over 5 months away. The delegates that will endorse the Republican candidate begin their journey there. Every candidate needs to be gathering supporters to attend those caucuses with the intention to move them into delegate slots.
After the caucuses, the Republican convention schedule has also been moved up. They are holding the 2010 convention in Minneapolis in late April. That is about 12 weeks after caucuses. Dedicated and educated supporters need to be ready out of the gate.
Unless their is a Republican candidate that amazes everybody with their prowess in fundraising, the convention endorsement is the end of the GOP nominating campaign. That means the 2010 GOP candidate for governor will be settled 8 months from now.
Fair booths in 2010 will only be meaningful for party candidates headed for the primary. For the Minnesota GOP, that is probably going to be one person.
Seifert is getting a big heads up on that one.
Isn’t the rule in politics is to never place the candidate in a room that he is dwarfed in or ignored ?
The problem would not be the crowd, but instead being able to staff the booth with enough people over the many days of the fair. There is nothing worse than walking by a booth and seeing one person standing there … bored … especially when the candidate is not there.
Siefert will not create the buzz that a radio personality and ex-Pro wrestler did … and wasn’t Ventura’s booth during the election year not the year before.
Siefert is playing inside party politics … he is getting free publicity by being alone … and his purpose will be to have his team meet party regulars that they have not been engaged with before. It’s a statement to his challengers that he is equipped and ready to campaign. The average voter won’t realize that the game is being played is not them but to “Carination of a Champion” in the eyes of the Republican faithful.
The “Draft Rybak” booth is smart strategy … the candidate does not have to be there but people will notice.
What should be a concern for the MN-GOP and DFL is if there was a “Peter Hutchinson” “Tim Penny” or “Dean Barkley”-type booth set up …. If the IP got any buzz, that would hurt.
The other booth that would have impact is the “Ron Paul”-advocates booth … how many Republicans will stop there.