Mark Dayton to run for Gov?

[gypsylud]

WTF?
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/16/dayton_gov/

[Eric J in MN]

1. I support Mark Dayton for governor.

He's proved that he can win a statewide race.

And Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner is prosecuting protesters as terrorists.

[Bjorn Against]

2. He has been planning the run for a long time.

A couple of my friends know Dayton quite well and he did some great things that did not get a lot of publicity. I am going to be making a post about a meeting we are going to be holding with Mark Dayton in the near future and I am hoping some DUers can make it out for it. I don't want to say much until we have a date set, but the meeting actually involves something that I disagree with Dayton quite strongly on. He knows he is going to face some opposition at this meeting, but he is volunteering to participate anyways so I have some credit where credit is due because most politicians would not participate in a public meeting of this sort while they are getting ready for an election. I will post more about this on DU when I know the details.

[dflprincess]

7. I like Mark though I don't agree with him on everything

but he is a person you can have a civilized disagreement with and I believe he is a decent human being. I'll be interested in the details of the meeting.

[gypsylud]

3. In my opinion Dayton is a goon--

He only proved that $ can win a race. He was an impotent Senator. The DFL can do better than him. He should concentrate on Target and not politics.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. I generally liked Mark, but he appeared very weak during his Senate term

The mystery of why he -- and only he -- closed his offices due to a perceived threat that was never articulated (and which never materialized) still lingers. Maybe he really knew something, but it looked as though he was jumping at shadows and I don't think he ever came forward and said what it was that he feared.

His public speaking skills weren't at the charismatic level, either.

We could do worse, but I'm sure we could do better.

[Mister Ed]

5. My impression at the time was that he, and only he...

...believed that if senators deserved to be shielded from the reported threat, then so did the "little people" who staff their offices. Other senators vamoosed but left their offices staffed.

Dayton's decision seemed ethical and decent to me.

[dflprincess]

6. I thought he was trying to call the "terra terra terra" crowd's bluff.

Congress was in recess at the time and most (if not all) of the members were out of D.C. Dayton's point was that, if the threat is so great, how can you leave your office open and your staff to face the threat while you leave town?

He said as much at the time, but that didn't get much airtime.

[glinda]

11. Doesn't he battle a speech impediment? Stutterer perhaps?

I like Mark.

[glinda]

12. He doesn't do anything with Target anymore does he?

[dflprincess]

13. I don't think he ever has ever had much to with Target

(even back when it was still Dayton-Hudson).

[HopeFor2006]

14. Target is a public company and

The Dayton family is no longer involved in Target Corp.

[annm4peace]

8. Mark supported the killing of woman and children

I saw Mark be driven past us protesting at the JCC rally and support of Israel attack on gaza.

I can not support someone that was at that rally. He must be receiving money from AIPAC.


and I definately can not support Gartner for procecuting organizing as terrorism.


It is going to be tough for me these next elections. I used to work on campaigns but that has changed as I dont' think I can stomach helping another spineless and silent politician get elected.


Not one DFL politician, other than St. Paul Dave Thune, spoke out against the militarization of our Cities in MN durign the RNC, or speak out against the unjustified arrests and trials of those who organizing or participating in dissent. It is shameful.

I do know of 1 person now running for City Council due to the silence of our DFL representatives and his campaign I will help. Charlie Underwood for Minneapolis city council. but I hope he also doesn't lose his voice.

[Bjorn Against]

9. That upset me as well...

The one good piece of news however is that Dayton has agreed to listen to those of us who are upset about his participation in that rally. There is going to be another event for people who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza and we are going to schedule it for a time in which Dayton can attend, I will give you more details when I have them.

[Mister Ed]

10. Just keep doing what you do.

Going forward, we will certainly need people working on campaigns to get Democrats elected.

We will also need to have people working to pressure those Democratic leaders to do the right thing. Heaven knows the pressures on a politician to do the wrong thing are tremendous - and relentless.