Shot in the Dark

Top Five Reasons Dayton Should Not Be Governor – #4: Fool Us Three Times…

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that Americans hate second acts.

It’s baloney, of course, Americans love a good comeback story.  Our history is crowded with ’em; Grover Cleveland’s second term; William Howard Taft’s service on the Supreme court; Richard Nixon (who perhaps should not have had his second act); Ronald Reagan himself, whose career spanned several different iterations.

But as George Patton said, Americans hate a loser.

And while God no doubt loves Mark Dayton, it’s quite clear that if we, the people of Minnesota, were a bank, and Mark Dayton were coming to us for a loan, and his collateral were his record in office, we would turn him down.

Dayton’s record doesn’t even qualify as “checkered”; it’s just plain bad.

Leave aside his questionable record as a New York City high school teacher – during which he taught about 1/3 of the working days during his tenure, and left in mid-year.  Let’s look at his political record:

  • State Auditor: Dayton was, at best, an undistinguished State Auditor.
  • Economic Development Director: Dayton shuffled through two years as the state’s Economic Development Director.  And then, with another recession on the way, he quit – as related by his boss Rudy Perpich’s son in a brutal Strib Op-Ed, to safeguard his own political future.
  • The Bumbler: His term as Senator was the stuff of comedy legend, almost like an out-take from the old TV series Benson.  When even the ultra-liberal Time calls a Democrat “America’s Worst Senator”, it’s time to sit up and take notice.  And – her’e’s the important part – learn from experience.

Dayton is a dissipate playboy who regards politics as a hobby.  If you had a kid who messed up this much, would you give him not only another toy, but a bigger, more expensive one?

Of course not.

Minnesota deserves better.

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18 responses to “Top Five Reasons Dayton Should Not Be Governor – #4: Fool Us Three Times…”

  1. Top Five Reasons Dayton Should Not Be Governor – #4: Fool Us Three Times… « Freedom Is Just Another Word…

    […] Shot in the Dark » Blog Archive » Top Five Reasons Dayton Should Not Be Governor – #4: Fool Us T…. […]

  2. The Big Stink Avatar
    The Big Stink

    My pet theory is every time he gets divorced, he runs for office. The pattern fits. Wife rejects him, he seeks affirmation from strangers. Classic. He belongs on a psychiatrist’s couch, spilling his guts for $100 an hour. Instead, takes his money and tries to buy relevance.

  3. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    “Mark Dayton – for a Bitter Minnesota”

  4. LearnedFoot Avatar
    LearnedFoot

    “…a Bitter Minnesota”

    Hey! Somebody should make that into a twitter account!

  5. Mr. D Avatar
    Mr. D

    My pet theory is every time he gets divorced, he runs for office.

    So he wants to screw 5 million people, apparently.

  6. Troy Avatar
    Troy

    Senator Fail quoting Austin Powers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118655/quotes?qt0367894) from a podium to a crowd of five million? Icky.

  7. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    “» Economic Development Director: Dayton shuffled through two years as the state’s Economic Development Director. And then, with another recession on the way, he quit – as related by his boss Rudy Perpich’s son in a brutal Strib Op-Ed, to safeguard his own political future.”

    So, you find the personal antagonism between Dayton and the Perpich’s (pere et fils) to be more believable reason than actually looking at the track record of what Dayton DID in the position? He was in the office of commissioner of Economic Development in 1978, then for another three years (’83-’86). He wasn’t elected to that job as I recall, and it is not unusual for the position not to track strictly with other political terms.

    Dayton was Econimc Development commissioner a lot longer than super-popsie and airheaded Palin was governor. She left purely to make herself wealthy, according to quasi-family member Levi Johnston, rather than fill the term to which she had been elected — and yet you have no quarrel with HER reason for leaving?

    Double standard much Mitch?

  8. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    Mr. D Says:

    October 29th, 2010 at 9:27 am
    My pet theory is every time he gets divorced, he runs for office.

    “So he wants to screw 5 million people, apparently.”

    Unlike all those recent Republican candidates who are the subject of scandal for having already screwed more than a few women who were not their wives, despite their ‘family values’ claims.

    Dayton, unlike those Repubs, still has the support of his ex-wife, which is more than some those scandalous pols can claim.

  9. Troy Avatar
    Troy

    Dog Gone said:

    “Dayton, unlike those Repubs, still has the support of his ex-wife”

    Too bad she has to show her support through shady, slime slinging front groups.

  10. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Alliance for a Bitter Minnesota

  11. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    So, you find the personal antagonism between Dayton and the Perpich’s (pere et fils) to be more believable reason than actually looking at the track record of what Dayton DID in the position?

    Er, what is your impression of what he “did” in that position? He was an ED commissioner in a state that was already growing rapidly, at the beginning of an epic boom (the Reagan years), in a market that profited immensely from several boom industries of the era (consumer retail, ag, defense, electronics, insurance, medical, finance). Paris HIlton could have been a successful ED commissioner under those circumstances; taking credit for being in one of the boats that got lifted by the rising tide was expedient, perhaps, but not really strictly honest.

    Dayton was Econimc Development commissioner a lot longer than super-popsie and airheaded Palin

    Y’know, DG, the ad-homina are both wrong and, to be honest, tiresome.

    She left purely to make herself wealthy,

    Both untrue on its face (she left to set herself up for a bigger political role and to disencumber her state’s government from having to defend her against the Demcrat smear machine) and, if it’s taken literally, a sign that you’ve not been paying attention. She calculated it’d improve her stock either as a kingmaker or a candidate, or both. And it worked.

    You people underestimate her. Like Reagan, I think she prefers it, It’s certainly profiting her, like Reagan and most of us for that matter, handsomely. And I don’t just mean financially.

    according to quasi-family member Levi Johnston,

    THAT’s your source?

    Good Lord, DG – at least make a coherent, respectable argument. Why not quote Perez Freaking Hilton while you’re at it?

    rather than fill the term to which she had been elected — and yet you have no quarrel with HER reason for leaving?

    She left her job (along with the reasons above) to dive further into the fight. Dayton left the ED job to avoid having his career tarnished by a recession (per Perpich).

    You would seem to be the one with the double standard!

  12. Terry Avatar
    Terry

    So it’s Palin vs. Dayton in Minnesota? And I thought that it was Emmer vs. Dayton with Ross Perot as a spoiler.
    I’ve noticed that some conservative pundits who dismissed Palin a few years ago are beginning to treat her with respect. She is a far more savvy politician than the liberals and the establishment republicans ever suspected.
    I don’t think that she is in it for the money any more than Obama is in it for the money.

  13. DiscordianStooj Avatar
    DiscordianStooj

    Ad homina is not even close to the plural for ad hominem.

    I’d add that “ad hominem” does not mean the same thing as “insult,” but I’ve tried and failed to get that across before, and I fear it’s a futile effort.

    You also managed to take a clause of DG’s and make an argument about it, when she was clearly making a parallel between Johnston’s accusation and Nick Perpich’s accusation.

    You completely ignored the argument she was making (that you take Perpich at his word, but not Johnston), ridiculed some argument she didn’t actually make (what is the Latin for “straw man”?), then continued doing exactly what she accused you of.

    Well done.

  14. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Ad homina is not even close to the plural for ad hominem.

    Duly noted, and it doesn’t matter.

    I’d add that “ad hominem” does not mean the same thing as “insult,” but I’ve tried and failed to get that across before, and I fear it’s a futile effort.

    It’s an ad hominem argument. It’s an argument against the person. “Of course you are against abotion; you’re a priest”.

    But you may have a partial point (which leads, nonetheless, to an erroneous conclusion); what DG is doing is the ad hominem tu quoque; “your argument is invalid because I perceive it [wrongly, in this case] to be inconsistent with a previous statement of yours”; DG believes Levi Johnson impeaches Sarah Palin in the same way that Nick Perpich does the performance of Mark Dayton, and if I don’t react identically to both, it invalidates my argument. I showed how it’s wrong, because Palin’s reasoning was vastly different than Dayton’s.

    You completely ignored the argument she was making (that you take Perpich at his word, but not Johnston)

    You’re right, Disco. Other than the part where I point out that there is no double standard (“She left her job (along with the reasons above) to dive further into the fight. Dayton left the ED job to avoid having his career tarnished by a recession (per Perpich)…You would seem to be the one with the double standard!“), flensing the argument like a beached whale, I ignore it completely.

    , ridiculed some argument she didn’t actually make (what is the Latin for “straw man”?), then continued doing exactly what she accused you of

    Her argument was that I was observing a double standard. I rejected it, showed why, and disposed of the argument.

    Just as I’ve done yours.

  15. DiscordianStooj Avatar
    DiscordianStooj

    because Palin’s reasoning was vastly different than Dayton’s.

    You are basing Palin’s reason for leaving on her own reasoning, not some third party’s story. You are basing Dayton’s reason for leaving on some third party’s story, not his own reasoning.

    It’s an ad hominem argument.

    It wasn’t an argument about Palin. It was an argument about you. Had she said you were wrong because you live in St. Paul or something, that would be an ad hominem. What she did to Palin was insult her. Because DG was simply using Palin as an example, and not actually making an argument about Palin. (I repeat myself because you seem to be missing that point.) Saying “Mitch, you’re a moron” isn’t an ad hominem, because calling you a moron is not an argument for or against anything. Saying, “Mitch, your argument is invalid because you don’t know the plural of ad hominem,” would be an ad hominem, unless the discussion was about how to make certain words plural, in which case it might be a valid argument.

    Duly noted, and it doesn’t matter.

    Getting things right doesn’t matter? OK.

  16. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Getting things right doesn’t matter? OK.

    Sure it does.

    Dayton was the worst Senator in America. One of the worst I recall in my lifetime. He was a crap ED director, a nondescript State Auditor, his budget has over a billion dollars in gaps and is DOA in the legislature, he is a puppet of the pubilc employee unions who will try to use him as a conduit into our wallts, and on inauguration day he will be the worst governor in Minnesota history – for all of one term, maybe.

    Yabbering about Palin – no matter what her daughter’s idiot ex-boyfriend (AKA “the most impeccable source on Sarah Palin ever born) has to say about her – is really irrelevant.

    You’re right. Getting things right is important. Thanks!

  17. Shot in the Dark » Blog Archive » Top Five Reasons Dayton Should Not Be Governor – #1: Malaise

    […] #4: Fool Us Three Times […]

  18. Shot in the Dark » Blog Archive » The Top Five Reasons

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