Now that Tom Emmer has conceded in the governor’s race, it’s time to figure out who the other winners and losers were during this race.<\/p>\n
Conservatism:\u00a0 <\/strong>Lori Sturdevant may not have gotten the message yet, but the “Independent Republican”\u00a0 of “progressive Republican” politics in Minnesota is dead, dead, dead.\u00a0 And nobody’s going to visit the grave.\u00a0 This election put a railroad spike through the forehead of the party of Durenberger, Carlson and the post-Watergate “DFLers-with-nicer-suits” version of the Minnesota GOP.\u00a0 The biggest victory in this past election – next to two chambers <\/em>in the Legislature – was the one for the soul of the MNGOP.<\/p>\n The House And Senate GOP Caucuses<\/strong>: They can <\/em>run 100 campaigns with an amazing degree of success!\u00a0 Who knew?!<\/p>\n SocialCons<\/strong>:\u00a0I’ll confess; I became a Tom Emmer supporter the day he said he didn’t care about gay marriage in this election (though he opposed it personally and in the legislature).\u00a0 Emmer steered well clear of social issues in the campaign – even refusing to discuss abortion in the final debate at the Fitzgerald Theatre, two days before the election.\u00a0\u00a0 The Tea Party was aggressively ecumenical on social issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Would Emmer have gotten 8,000 more votes had he hit on gay marriage and abortion?\u00a0 There’s some evidence that it might have helped<\/a>, even in “purple” Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n The “Star\/Tribune” Poll and the Humphrey Institute Poll<\/strong>:\u00a0 Is there a case to be made, anywhere at all, that either of these polls shouldn’t be immediately scrapped?\u00a0 Someone show me.<\/p>\nLosers<\/h2>\n