Hubris Patrol

I caught this yesterday in a piece on MPR about the number of legislators, mostly DFLers (because it’s mostly them that got ushered out of office in 2010) that are trying to get their jobs back:

In a year when about 20 percent of the Minnesota Legislature plans to retire, there are also 20 former state lawmakers working hard to get back to the Capitol.

The list of former legislators attempting political comebacks is dominated by Democrats. Some are trying to win open House and Senate seats created by redistricting. Others are taking on incumbents to try win back the seats they lost.

Yadda yadda.  That’s fine – they want that pension.  A DFLer’s gonna look for taxpayer money to use up.  It’s understandable.

Less understandable was this statement:

[Former Eagan rep Jim] Carlson said he thinks many of the DFL candidates share a common motivation.

“I think a lot of us think the voters made a mistake in 2010, and we probably can reverse that mistake,” he said.

“You voters sure are stupid!  But via relentless repetition, even a moron like you, simple voter, can get it right eventually”.

I really do hope that that Carlson’s opponent – maybe it’s Doug Wardlow, but I’m not sure – prints that statement up on T-shirts.  It may just be a contender for a 2012 Shootie Award.

4 thoughts on “Hubris Patrol

  1. “I think a lot of us think the voters made a mistake in 2010, and we probably can reverse that mistake,” he said.

    Combine that quote with the Cy Thao quote

    When you guys win, you get to keep your money.

    When we win, we take your money

    and you have an excellent campaign piece for 2012 and beyond.

  2. “I think a lot of us think the voters made a mistake in 2010, and we probably can reverse that mistake,” he said.
    So I’m guessing the interviewer followed up and asked Jim Carlson if that also applied to the election of Mark Dayton? No? I didn’t think so.
    This voters are stupid, uninformed, bamboozled by ‘outsiders’ when I lose; smart, brave, noble, etc. when I win is just pathetic. Please stop.
    To quote a guy banging a drum in Madison, WI – This is what Democracy looks like.
    Not this…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-IXwrP_LSk

  3. We should just feel lucky that the DFL’ers are so humble that they would be willing to overlook the voter’s mistake in 2010 and let themselves be voted back into office.

    Maybe it would be a fitting gesture if on the ballot this year, next to Jim Carlson’s name, the voters could write in an apology, something like “Sorry Jim!” or “We screwed up last time, please don’t hold it against us!”.

  4. What this DFL person doesn’t realize that the voters were correcting the mistake of letting the DFL control the senate for years and the state house for the last four years.

    Seems like the voters got it right almost in 2010. They blundered with Dayton, Ritchie, and Swanson, but that is for 2014 or will Jim say the voters got those three right while they were wrong on the legislature races.

    Walter Hanson
    Minneapolis, MN

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