Just thinking

Posted at 7:14 PM on March 23, 2006 by Bob Collins

So the rumor du jour is that Kelly Doran is going to drop out of the governor's race. I thought he seemed like a decent sort. Not at all a politician and his ideas had some meat to them. He hurt himself, of course, when he switched from the Senate race to the governor's race, but he was such a longshot, you can't really say it was a fatal decision.

Still, lots of folks who are, well, politicians, run by saying they're not politicians. But in almost every case, they are. There are even some people running in this state for high office this year who are already in office, who have actually said in the last few months, "I'm not a career politician." Because, I guess being a politician makes it tougher for you to win elections.

Really? On what planet?

Just wondering: is it possible for a non-politician to run for statewide office and win? Sure, Jesse Ventura did it, but that was a talk show promo that got out of hand.

I mean, serious candidate. Someone who doesn't -- and never has -- made a living running for office, but works in the real world.

Can it be done? Lots of people talk about how government needs to be run more like a business. And lots of people nod their heads when they hear people say it. So how come businesspeople can't even register a small seismic reading when they run for office?

* * *

As for Doran's running mate, Sheila Kiscaden, she really can't hop onto another campaign at this point; it just wouldn't look... right. So presumably she tries to keep her seat and that sets up a really sweet looking battle... potentially a three-way.

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