Would R.T. Rybak have done better or worse than Hatch?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm wondering if he would've been a better candidate.

He's a good guy and a lot more likable, but there are some things I could see the Pawlenty campaign hammering him non-stop on. Same thing I'm worried about if he runs against Coleman, although I have no doubt he could beat Coleman.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Hatch lost to Pawlenty in a Democratic state in a year of opportunity, even as Klobuchar was trouncing Kennedy 58%-38%.  Still, I would like to see Hatch run for the Senate in 2008 over Al Franken. 

Me too. I think he's learned from his campaign mistakes, but I still have doubts. I'm debating over whether Rybak would be a better candidate (obviously either would be better than Franken).

The problems with Rybak:

-He endorsed Ellison in the primary. Both Hatch and Klobuchar played it smart by ignoring the MN-5 race and when asked by their opponents' campaigns if they supported Ellison, Hatch's campaign gave a response that that was completely irrelevant to the election, while Klobuchar simply didn't respond at all. I have little doubt Coleman will just hammer on with Ellison and blame Rybak for his problems.

-Crime is up in Minneapolis. Not really his fault, but he'll get blamed.

-He's in some controversy now with trying to sack his fire chief that he appointed. She's also a lesbian, leading many to claim he appointed her out of tokenism, and didn't take her incompetance into account.

Despite all that though, he's a great guy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Word is now that Hatch may stick around as de facto Attorney General. His Solicitor General (basically second in command), Lori Swanson was elected Attorney General. Now apparentely he's being offered the position of one of her chief advisors. Since he was the one who convinced Swanson to run, I wonder if that was his "plan B". If so he might have plans for future runs.