What are the three best reasons to support your candidate for governor?
Posted at 5:00 AM on November 1, 2010
by Eric Ringham
(29 Comments)
Filed under: 2010 Governor's Race, Politics/Government
Each Monday leading up to Election Day, we've asked a question related to the race for Minnesota governor. Today's Question: What are the three best reasons to support your candidate?
Republican candidate Tom Emmer:
Running for governor of Minnesota has been an honor and a privilege. It would be another great honor to serve the people of Minnesota if elected governor.
We have produced a complete, balanced budget that deals with Minnesota's fiscal reality by asking government to live within its means and we are the only ones to do so without raising taxes on middle-class Minnesotans. As a political outsider, it is time for leadership that represents everyday Minnesotans. My wife Jacquie and I will do just that. Lastly, as a small business owner, I understand the most important issue facing Minnesota is growing jobs. We will work aggressively to put Minnesotans back to work. Thank you and we appreciate your support on Tuesday.
Democratic candidate Mark Dayton:
As former economic development commissioner, I have proven experience in helping bring new jobs to Minnesota, which will be my priority as governor. I am the only candidate who will not raise taxes on middle-income Minnesotans, but only on the wealthiest. And I will invest those revenues in better education, so our children and grandchildren can be successful in the global economy. I respectfully ask for your support on Tuesday.
Independence Party candidate Tom Horner:
First, virtually every major newspaper, former governors, and local officials who have endorsed a candidate have endorsed me. They must know something. Second, I'm the only candidate who has the experience, ability and temperament to break the gridlock and put Minnesota back to work. And third, when you have a problem you don't look for solutions to those who created the problem in the first place. Minnesota -- we need new answers, new parties and new leaders.
Click here to see answers to the other questions in this series.
Comments (29)
Tom Emmer as I would vote for a dead rat before I would vote for Mark Dayton. The good news for me, is I am one of the snow birds with two homes. Guess which one I will sell? Guess which state will benefit from my high income expenditures? As Jessie once stated, you can't legislate against stupidity, dayton never got the message.
1. He's not Tom Emmer
2. He's not Tom Horner
3. He's not Tim Pawlenty
We need some Change around here!
I am voting for Mark Dayton for several reasons. Here are three of them.
1. Over the last twenty-five years in the U.S., the wealthy have seen their wealth increase tremendously, the middle class has shrunk, and an ever increasing percentage of Americans has fallen into poverty. We need to increase revenue to provide for the common good, and the fairest way of doing that is by raising taxes on those who have benefitted most over the last twenty-five years and who generally pay a smaller percentage of their income to income taxes than most people who make a lot less.
2. He is firmly committed to repairing our system of public education at all levels (including colleges and universities). It is shameful that we have not done more over the last ten years for our students. Unlike his opponents, he has not used teachers and unions as scapegoats.
3. I am incredibly impressed with his personal qualities: his intelligence, his knowledge, his honesty, his courage, and his integrity. An example of his courage: Instead of playing it safe in the primary, he came out early with a plan to rebuild the state, in large part by increasing revenue. Most Democrats were too timid to do the right thing and say that they would tax the people more who had benefitted the most.
1- Governor Carlson
2- Governor Quie
3- Governor Ventura
Endorsements should matter.
Vote your principles, not your fears.
I am voting for Mark Dayton.
1 He plans on making the MN income tax more fair by raising it on the rich.
2 His plans for the schools seem to be the most complete.
3 He supports the green and buy it local philosophies that I support.
I'm voting for Dayton for 3 simple reasons:
1. He's the lesser of two evils. Sorry, Horner can't win.
2. He seems to be most likely to increase education spending, which should always be our #1 priority.
3. I prefer a tax-and-spend Democrat over a borrow-and-spend Republican.
1) Hemp For Victory! - Public Safety Through Regulated Distribution, Not Gangster Distribution. (The criminalization of the world's most useful and versatile plant, Cannabis/Hemp/Marijuana, was Unconstitutional ... a crime against humanity and nature)
2) Energy Independence - Through Biomass Gasification & Renewables
3) End Corporate Personhood - End Corporate Domination of Government; Soverign Inalienable Rights are the Domain of Natural Persons, Period!
That those be among the most important issues, hence:
Chris Wright of the Grassroots Party
as for three reason regarding the individual:
Integrity, Intelligence, and Imagination.
Please forgive me for the length of this comment.
First, I must comment on how some people think a Governor Horner would mean no – or less – partisanship. For one thing, he IS a Republican; has been for a long time. It hasn’t been very long since he stopped being the Republican pundit on MPR. And I remember listening to him back then and feeling very frustrated because he was a typical Republican pundit: VERY partisan, sometimes mean-spirited, very much the PR professional (PR = getting people to believe lies), which is what Republicans use most to run for election. For another thing, there was still partisanship when Ventura was governor. A so-called “Independent” office-holder (most of them seem to me to be some shade of Republican) does not preclude partisanship or ensure that things will get accomplished.
I will be voting for Mark Dayton because (among other reasons):
1. He’s honest, and as far as I can tell, honorable (I know people who know him). Emmer and Horner, in comparison, seem like a flim-flam man and a – well, a PR professional.
2. He wants to make the income tax system more fair, and he knows that raising the income tax on the wealthiest Minnesotans will NOT mean that there will be fewer jobs.
3. He wants to get rid of at least some of the highly paid, unnescessary cronies in state government.
In addition, I want to say that I applauded Senator Dayton’s decision to close his Senate office when he heard about a viable security threat. It’s just the kind of thing a real and good leader does – in the face of criticism – because he cares more about the safety of his staff than he does about the often mean-spirited criticism. I also know, despite what Emmer’s campaign has been trying to tell us, that Senator Dayton gave himself an ‘F’ because he COULDN’T do anything in a Senate controlled by some of the most rabid Republicans we’ve ever seen (until now, of course).
OBTAIN=Abstain
Just guess which one I am going for.....
Its not hard when you see the three reasons.
1.) Honesty, and I mean being honest with results and numbers and knowing they should override personal opinion.
If you see numbers and facts that go against your personal bias, don't just ignore them because you do not WANT to believe them.
Honesty, and I mean showing you understand both sides of a issue. That is you can argue for pieces against your own opinion fairly without exaggerated claims then point out why you are supporting the other with fact based approach.
I would say in 'Honesty' one has to be holistically willing to look at all information.
If you end up a alcoholic then face facts and openly admit it. Not avoid the issue....
If you are lobbying for group or firm, and even if you just have a relationship with a group that has issues you over see, have the backbone and honesty to OBTAIN or step down from those positions. Political insider-ism is NOT honesty.
2.) Heart, no leader should lead if he leave someone behind. We choose leaders to bring us to where we are going, a promised land. AND I mean together.
Leaders who feel or paint others as vile or villainous or even lecherous tell me they have no clear vision to the goal and seem bend on some twisted goal instead. Something we do not want to know so the create a 'stawman' of the others and then try and burn that stawman...
Fear is not a way to lead! Fear has no heart.
3.) Openness, that is open to hear people and their issues, not tailor a town hall meeting to be JUST people you already agree with....
Openness in expressing and hearing. And that means transparency.
No leader should lead hidden in a ivory tower unwilling to go to where the need is. You never know the problem until you see it first hand.
No waiting 2 days after a damn breaks after a hurricane and THEN just fly over in a helicopter complaining you never knew it happened any sooner. (Bush)
No hiring a PR firm that hides the problems with a bridge that collapses and then never really confront the issue.
Head to the problem, offer to help, if its all OK, then you have at least offered and can go back. But leave that door open to let them know you are able to jump to action if requested.
I'm voting for Mark Dayton. My reasons:
- Support for education: if we are to be competitive in the marketplace of the future, we'll need highly educated citizens.
- Medical coverage support: every Minnesotan should have access to affordable health care.
- Tax policy: we can't just look at today's tax structure (or even tax cuts) and say that the government must "live within its means." We must consider at least some taxes as investments in our future, and decide to restructure our taxes accordingly. An increase in income tax for the highest earners is the most progressive way to fund some of those investments in the future.
I am voting for Mark Dayton because:
1. I like his stance regarding education funding.
2. I like his plan to increase taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans.
3. I don't believe Horner will have a chance in this election, and I want to ensure Emmer doesn't make it into office. If we had instant runoff voting, I would likely choose Horner over Dayton, since I'm sick and tired of partisan politics.
For once I agree with Tim Pawlenty. A vote for Mark Dayton is a repudiation of everything done in the governor's office for the last eight years, to wit:
Blind devotion to political ambition beyond Minnesota.
Disinvestment in the present (and thus the future) of Minnesota.
Favoring of the rich at the expense of the poor (and the middle class).
Thank you, Tim, for making it clear how important it is that I vote for Mark Dayton on Tuesday.
1) he's not tied to ideological solutions to complex problems.
2) he's willing to ask all Minnesotans to contribute to solutions that will benefit all Minnesotans
3) he's more free to implement solutions that might not please special interest groups and major donors, by having neither.
I'm voting for Mark Dayton because:
1. His support for Social Equality as described by Mike earlier.
2. His support for increasing revenue by increasing income taxes.
3. His preparedness for taking the long-range view of what is needed to improve the lives of Minnesotans including education, health care, and development of technology.
i am still kind of undecided but i like dayton and his background i think he will work well with the congress.
1) We have a moral obligation to provide for the poor.
2) Emmer = Pawlenty.
3) Horner = noble, but wasted vote.
Nobody cares what my reasons are. Reason is irrelevant in American politics. Sadly, the only thing that matters in political campaigns is who can get the most people angry at or afraid of the other side. People don't base their opinions on reason; they go looking for reasons to support their opinions. Campaign slogans and sales pitches seem persuasive only to those who are already inclined to agree.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias.
Dayton, because....
1. My first choice was Horner, but he can't win. (He might have if we had ranked choice voting.)
2. Emmer is more extremely conservative than Dayton is liberal.
3. Though Dayton is more liberal than I'd like, the legislature is unlikely to go along with anything truly extreme.
A sensible approach to balancing the budget, one that is not an ideological continuation of the past that got us where we are today.
A real commitment to education, one that actually reduces k-12 class size.
Investment in infrastructure while costs are lower than they will ever be.
I will also be writing in my vote. My three best reasons: Dayton, Emmer, and Horner.
I'll write in a candidate because:
1. Winkin' (Emmer) is untrustworthy
2. Blinkin' (Dayton) is clueless
3. Nod (Horner) is out of his league
Reasons?
1. I'm not voting for anyone named Tom.
2. My job depends on no-one named Tom winning.
3. My mother's, my sister's, my brother-in-law and quite a few of my friends will also possibly loose their jobs if someone named Tom gets elected.
So much for "creating jobs by cutting everything" huh?
I'm voting for Mark Dayton because of the following:
A) Social equality - he doesn't have any unethical views towards citizens who are currently being treated like 2nd-class citizens; such as members of the GLBT community, minorities, and those who live in poverty.
B) Taxes - though Horner's proposal to raise the sales tax would generate [some] needed revenue, unfortunately this would be an extra burden on those who already struggle enough for a gallon of milk or for a new pair of socks, but "make too much" to receive any supposedly sales-tax exempt status. Simply put, those who hold the majority of the wealth should be expected to contribute more to society as they are capitalizing of the hard-work (real hard work - not an inherited CEO position) from those in the middle and lower economic classes, without which the people of the upper economic class wouldn't even be in.
What still gets me is the people who are still "undecided". There has been enough talk on all the issues that you have to know which side you fall on.
We have a choice tomorrow. Do you want Big government or government that is trying to live within its means.
I am voting for Mark Dayton's because he is the only one would mover our states for ward. The most importnat issues are:
1. Job/ the economy
2. Health care &
3. Education.
I'm voting for Mark Dayton because:
1. I want to prevent Tom Emmer from becoming governor. Emmer's economic policy proposals would hurt Minnesotans, particularly the poor. Emmer also favors withholding civil marriage from some Minnesota couples, and civil marriage is a civil right.
2. Dayton's plan would increase taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans to match the rest of us. I know people in this category. They can afford the increase. If they are small business owners they can avoid the tax by investing in their businesses rather than pulling more than $250,000/year out of the business. They should hire more people if they are really concerned about creating jobs and avoiding taxes. I'm not completely sold on Dayton's plan, but it's way better than Emmer's.
Dayton - If you're reading this, you have a long way to go. It's pretty sad when your best asset is that you're not someone else.
I'm voting for Mark Dayton because:
I think that people with a lot of wealth should pay the same or more of a percentage of their income as I pay as a middle class citizen.
I hope he'll reverse the direction Pawlenty has taken the state, and increase local government aid so that communities can better provide basic services like police, fire, and public works.
I think his government can do a better job improving education quality and affordability.
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