Leftover questions

Posted at 7:21 AM on July 19, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy (7 Comments)

It seems like everyone is catching his or her breath this morning after yesterday's attorney general developments. It all leaves a few questions, some of which will be answered, some of which may never be answered. But here are a few:

--What role did Mike Hatch play in Entenza's decision to drop out of the race, and what role will he play in the process to choose the next AG candidate? We know he had encouraged Bill Luther and Lori Swanson to get into the race. How active will he be in pushing for one over the other?

--Why was Entenza so cagey about explaining details of his opposition research into Hatch? Is there more to come out? Will other candidates have to defend the research they've done?

--Will other candidates' spouses face the same scrutiny Entenza's did, or did her success as a UnitedHealth Group executive make her unique?

--What happens to Entenza's political career? Does he make a comeback in four years? Do he and Lois Quam continue to donate large sums of money to DFL campaigns?

--Does the DFL recover from this? Better to have problems early in the campaign than late?

--Who sent that fax the other day with South Dakota checks?

Any answers?

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Comments (7)

Yes, I think the "who sent the fax" question is a most interesting one.

I can't imagine someone in Hatch's camp would do something like that. It would be foolish.

I wonder if it's known which number the fax came from.

Posted by Jeff | July 19, 2006 8:55 AM

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Apparently the fax came from a Kinko's so it is almost untracable.

Posted by waffletushie | July 19, 2006 9:06 AM

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To dovetail the "who sent the fax" question, my question is how were the cancelled checks acquired? Was there a mole who had access to Entenza's personal documents that made copies to use for future use? I don't believe that's information that one can get at the CFB office.

Posted by wtm | July 19, 2006 9:56 AM

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There must have been more to come out. Hiring someone to find an old Mike Hatch parking ticket and lying about it is stupid and embarassing, but hardly a campaign ender - especially given that there are 3 1/2 months till the general election and Entenza didn't have any serious competition in the primary (Nick Coleman's ridiculous puffing of Mattson, who has had a license to practice law for less than 3 years, notwithstanding).

My guess is he spent a lot more than $200 for the research and figured that would come out. Also, the true purpose of ordering the research is still very much in question.

Posted by Reg | July 19, 2006 10:21 AM

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I think it is interesting that the faxes went to all the media outlets, who, presumably have fairly public fax numbers, but then also to Michael Brodkorb at MDE. Someone was inside baseball enough to have his personal fax number, and yet spelled his name wrong on the cover? Something there doesn't pass the smell test.

Posted by Roving Reporter | July 19, 2006 1:13 PM

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Roving, seriously.....

Entenza is not the victim here. He screwed up and got busted. Whoever uncovered it isn't in the wrong, he is in the wrong for doing it in the first place.

I personally doubt that Michael would uncover that anonymously. That would be a big feather in his cap and I doubt that he'd either hide that he uncovered it OR that he'd share it with the capital reporters first. Just an opinion though.

Posted by Andrew | July 19, 2006 2:07 PM

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Also, where did someone get cancelled checks from Matt and his wife? Those aren't something that I generally give out to anyone.

Posted by Mike | July 19, 2006 2:13 PM

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