When Dave Schultz at Hamline University calls it quits on a “DFL-Lite campaign like Tom Horner…
It looked all so promising only two weeks ago. Momentum and buzz suggested Tom Horner was gaining ground and he had a real chance to be governor. Polls showed strong gains, he was ahead of where Jesse Ventura was in 1998 at this time, and rumor had it he was racking in piles of money. Horner, a former public relations person, also knew how to package his statements for the media. It all looked so good.
…then you know it’s time to stick a fork in it.
Schultz, unlike me, thought that Horner may have had a shot at it – but then, he does twig to the real key fact; Horner is not Jesse Ventura:
Here is the horn(er) of the dilemma. Horner needs media attention to get his message out. He can only do that with money. He can only raise money if he lets people know he is running and what his message is, however he needs money to do that. Horner is trapped in a cycle and he may not be able to get out of it.
But not being Jesse and not having money is only part of the problem. MN’s flirtation with third party politics runs in cycles. Third party candidates do well when the state is economically doing very well or very badly and there is high disenchantment with the major parties. Think Floyd Olson (Farmer-Labor Party elected during prohibition) and Ventura during the flush times of the 90s.
It’s neither bad enough that people are that desperate, nor good enough that people are that frivolous.
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