Posted: 09/13/09 11:38, Edited: 09/13/09 11:43
by Dave Mindeman
If Paul Thissen is not the DFL candidate for governor, it won't be because he was outworked. I asked his staff person where he was going to be over the next week and she rattled off a list of places that made my head spin. He is criss crossing the state over and over again, determined to meet virtually every Democrat in the state.
Thissen makes a great first impression. He is tall with boyish good looks (dare I say Kennedyesque?)....and makes you feel at ease immediately. He has a great conversational way of speaking and engages his audience directly.
But is that enough?
Rep. Thissen was at mnpACT! on Friday night to make his case. He states that for a Democrat to win, the candidate must challenge Minnesotans to truly solve our problems. The candidate must speak to the economic insecurity that a majority of people are feeling. And be honest and straightforward with what needs to be done.
He says he won't run away from raising taxes. He noted that he has voted to raise taxes himself and will have to, and is more than willing to, explain those votes in a full campaign. He indicates that the debate isn't about taxes, its about who pays them. Even without income tax increases, other taxes have increased and the voters need to know and understand that.
As for competing for Independence Party voters, Thissen believes that there is no unifying issue for them, other than simply wanting the partisan bickering to stop. He feels they just want honesty in their government and to be upfront about how you pay for things.
He touched on his committments to ECFE (need educational infrastructure in child care itself, as well as more parenting education).... Poverty (he has worked hard on these issues and mentioned stable housing as a key).... Education (state funding is the issue and he supports a "new Minnesota miracle" in that regard. Per pupil dollars simply can't be equal across the board -- too many variable with types of students and geographical differences) and Environment (does NOT support nuclear power or expanded use of coal).
When pinned down on the single payer health issue, Thissen, like some of the others, said he would sign such a bill if it came to his desk, but that he has reservations about fully supporting it directly as governor. He listed 3 problems:
1) The $16 billion it would take to implement would be hard to sell to the public. That would be a significant increase in the current state health care committment and although he realizes that there is more than enough savings to cover that, by the removal of the old method, he still is not sure the public would be ready to make that committment.
2) We would be losing a number of jobs in the health care insurance industry. Absorbing that much work force would be disruptive.
3) The state would still have no control over the Federal components. (Medicare, Medicaid, VA) Of course that could change somewhat as Congress grapples with health reform, but as things stand now, it would lead to conflicts that need to addressed.
(I'm paraphrasing some of this -- so I hope he'll correct me if I misinterpreted any item).
Frankly, those are legitimate concerns and Thissen is the first candidate we have heard to really articulate them clearly.
Paul Thissen, by necessity, has to have a strategy of getting the DFL endorsement. He can make a strong case.....but can he survive his schedule?
