Ask a Minnesotan about Tim Pawlenty’s legacy. What do you think they’ll say?
Nothing. As long as most Minnesotans, like most Americans, are working and paying their bills and not getting blown up in their offices by terrorists, most Americans don’t care that much about politics.
Outside the month or two before an election, I’m going to guess that 60% of Minnesotans, or Americans in general, don’t care about politics, and of the 40% remaining, 35% might work up some interest over one or two issues – guns, abortion, taxes, gay marriage, whatever. The remaining 5% – the political class and its hangers-on, and people like me, most of my readers and listeners and people like all of us. That’s not a lot of people.
Unless, of course, they’re out of work, coming up short on the rent, or facing some other dire threat.
Which is why most Minnesotans, our “legendary” civic-mindedness notwithstanding, don’t really care much about politics other than between Labor Day and the first Tuesday in November every even-numbered year; because even in hard times, Minnesota generally has had things pretty good. Few booms (like the North Dakota oil boom of the late seventies), few rust-belty busts.
And so after three years of the Housing Recession, Minnesota is doing generally well, with unemployment well below the national average. Minnesota came out of the Pawlenty years as well as could be expected and, looking at the record of large states that had liberal legislatures from 2006 through 2010, considerably better than it had a right to expect.
For the Democrats nationally and the DFL locally, and the media that seems more than ever to be serving them both, the mission then is to turn the classic drill sergeant’s aphorism on its head; they need to take paté and convince the world it’s b**s**t.
In the Strib, Kevin Diaz tells the world “don’t believe all those numbers, and what you see with your own eyes throughout Minnesota; listen to the DFL’s spin!” in his look back at the Pawlenty era and ahead to a potential Pawlenty presidency:
Debuting a sweeping economic plan in Chicago this month, Tim Pawlenty said he could lead the nation to “a better deal” of prosperity and balanced budgets.
“I know government can cut spending,” he said, “because I did it in Minnesota.”
Conservatives like former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch publicly embraced his small-government vision of dramatic tax and budget cuts. But a host of economists and liberal critics questioned the former Minnesota governor’s scenario of unprecedented economic growth — and the trillions of dollars in exploding deficits that could result if it doesn’t come true.
Which, to be fair, is their job – to sit at the periphery of the public discussion and chant “don’t believe your own eyes; it would have been so much better with more taxes!”
Even before his closely watched speech at the Chicago School of Business, Pawlenty’s past was on display on the campaign trail, starting with the first nationally televised presidential debate in South Carolina last month, when he was asked to explain a projected $5 billion shortfall on the day he left office.
Pawlenty rejected the figure, arguing it assumed “outrageous” future spending levels that he doesn’t support. “This idea that there’s a deficit and I left it in Minnesota is not accurate,” he said.
And Pawlenty is right. The “deficit” was against a spending forecast – basically the numbers that the DFL-controlled bureaucracy gave to the then-DFL-controlled legislature. It was a win-win for the DFL, heading into an election they they thought they’d leave with at least a chamber of the Legislature; if a Democrat won the Governor’s office, it’d be a gimme to start the budget talks at the inflated level; if the GOP won, it’d be a rhetorical cudgel, a big number that the DFL and their servants in the media could repeat uncritically to that 95% of Minnesotans who just don’t pay attention to politics outside of election season, if at all
Like all such chanting points, it takes three seconds to say – “Pawlenty left a five billion dollar deficit!” – and a minute to refute; the DFL and the media know that to the 95% of Minnesotans who don’t care about politics outside of election time, a one-minute explanation might as well be two hours, for all the good it’ll do; the three second sound bite sticks. Also, it’s a lie.
But Pawlenty’s fiscal record in Minnesota, so central to his quest for the White House, continues to dog him as the 2012 presidential race heats up and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Legislature grapple with a multibillion-dollar budget gap.
But to be fair to Pawlenty, the figure was designed to do no more.
Read the rest of Diaz’ piece. More, perhaps, tomorrow.
Also, it’s a lie.
Well that is what the “L” in DFL stands for, after all.
“DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Legislature grapple with a multibillion-dollar budget gap”
No grappling necessary: a balanced budget was created early, submitted, and vetoed.
The Governor wants autopilot budgets to continue so that he can continue to pay off his various special interests.
The legislature wants to reduce government spend so Minnesota will continue to suffer less, and succeed more, than free-spending states.
Even current Democrat Governors are following Tim Pawlentys example.
Our mentally ill gevernor may be losing the official propaganda arm of the DFL:
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/124108404.html
Love the picture. It looks like an al Qaeda leader during a lecture.
“Read the rest of Diaz’ piece.”
No thanks, Mitch. I gave up the Red Star and its useful idiots like Diaz several years ago and don’t intend to read their propaganda. 🙂
Kermit, I’m pretty sure the Freedom Foundation isn’t part of the propaganda arm of the DFL. The Red Star published that editorial in hopes that most people would just blow over it. And the picture is further proof he’s about ready to snap. It’s not months now, its weeks, maybe even days.
TPaw is a joke, stick a fork in him, he’s done.
As to lies, and just plain bad ideas from TPaw?
http://penigma.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-wouldnt-minnesota-vote-for-pawlenty.html
http://penigma.blogspot.com/2011/06/unconstitutional-tim-pawlentys.html
Tim Pawlenty is substantively misrepresenting what he did as governor, and what he proposes to do as President is simply ridiculous. The Right doesn’t have any really good candidates running, and none on the horizon.
And Doggy Style, you are as dumb as a box of rocks.
Quoting your co psycho blogger doesn’t support your argument. As a matter of fact, I hope TPaw sees this BS and sues both of you pathetic losers for slander.
Of course, he has better things to do than deal with worthless piss ants like you two! Idiot!
“Love the picture. It looks like an al Qaeda leader during a lecture.”
The more I see of him I’m thinking he looks like Fester Addams (the Christoper Lloyd version vs. the Jackie Coogan version.
Fortunately DG, your guy is so weak, he is losing/within the margin of error versus generic republican…
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_president_obama_vs_republican_candidate-1745.html
I hope TPaw sees this BS and sues both of you pathetic losers for slander.
I’m pretty sure the assets they have combined wouldn’t warrant lawyer costs bosshoss. Also I’m reminded of this quote “You are hated by people? Good that means that at sometime in your life you stood up for something”. That being said the only way I’d vote for T-Paw in the primary is if it was down between him and Romney.
Does Dog Gone just look for chanting points and then put them into comments here? I guess that’s one way to be “on topic”.
Dog Gone is a joke, stick a fork in her, she’s done.
As for what Pawlenty did as governor, he held the line against DFL majorities and largely prevented them from raising taxes on EVERYONE.
The one time he failed was when his veto of the gas tax hike was overridden. Why do Democrats hate poor people?
Kermit, because if they weren’t poor they wouldn’t vote Democrat
I had high hopes for T-Paw, but after the CNN debate I think he needs to get his money back on his “Presidential Debating for Dummies” book. I have been interested in T-Paw since I started listing to the NARN years ago. I trust Mitch and Ed’s political insight and encyclopedic knowledge of Minnesota politics. You guys have always given him high grades so I still hold out hope that his record will eventually become known to the rest of the country.
As far as the MSM giving him any fair coverage…remember: news is just war by other means.
If a “community organizer” with zero executive experience can be President of the United States, a middle of the road governor with eight years of executive experience (and no socialist/communist buddies) might be a good alternative to the present status quo.
I hope Rick Perry gets in, T-Paw would make a good balanced ticket. I’m still campaigning for Herman Cain (for however long he lasts) but I could get excited for a Perry-Pawlenty ’12 ticket.
“Why do Democrats hate poor people?”
Kermit, if they haven’t figured it out yet, maybe the recent events affecting the North Side tornado victims will convince them. To wit; we have the Feds saying No aid, because our state can handle it themselves. They apparently missed the fact that Minnesota has been under the iron boot of DemonRAT rule for the last decade. But, I digress. We have a DemonRAT governor, a free spending in Mpls, our two cough, cough, Senators; Stuart Smalley and Amy “I’m living off of my dad’s name” Klobuchar, yet they said No! I love it when the elitists get smoked!
“freespending Mayor in Minneapolis.”
Caffeine, caffeine…must have caffeine!
“Tim Pawlenty is substantively misrepresenting what he did as governor”
Well, at least he isn’t procedurally misrepresenting what he did as governor.
Well heck, Mark Dayton is substantively misrepresenting what he’s doing as governor, so what’s the big deal?
“Dog Gone is a joke, stick a fork in her, she’s done.”
FACT!!!
Minnesota has to pay for Mpls’ tornado?! Does Obama know what that might do to the green roof and fancy fountain budget?! You know what Rybak and company will do: threaten to fire police and firemen unless they get another tax hike.
If they plowed large sections of North Minneapolis under it would be an improvement. They’re doing it in Detroit.
I think Pawlenty has done a fine job governing the great state of Minnesota for 8 years while enduring bubbles and collapses and crashes and natural disasters and the DFL/media…
.
Pawlenty/Cain ’12