Dayton had an answer. \u00a0I could try to reconstruct it, but at the end of the day this classic cartoon really captures it.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/annieinfinite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/then-a-miracle-occurs-cartoon.png\")
<\/p>\n
Dayton’s the guy in the glasses. \u00a0The equation is his “budget plan”.<\/p>\n
No, really. \u00a0His answer wasn’t a whole lot more detailed than this, and a whole lot less funny.<\/p>\n
His answer mentioned revenue forecasts; he’s hoping that the economy closes the gap via increased tax revenues. \u00a0Read: “Then A Miracle Occurs”.<\/p>\n
I silently constructed a followup question. \u00a0Eichten actually hit on this one too:<\/p>\n
Your budget plan will have to go through a Legislature that used <\/em>to be overwhelmingly DFL, but might well flip one, maybe both chambers this fall. \u00a0What then?<\/strong><\/p>\n The answer was a long one – but it basically came down to “I have many years of experience working across the aisle”.<\/p>\n I almost did a spit-take.<\/p>\n Dayton served as Auditor and Economic Development Director during the Perpich administration, when the DFL was at its extended post-Watergate high and the then-“Indpendent Republican” party was at its collaborationist nadir.<\/p>\n Oh, and he was a Senator during the Bush Administration. \u00a0Seriously, he used his time there as an example of his “bipartisanship”.<\/p>\n