Could Mark Kennedy have won?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Oh yes, I love this topic.

Of course I say no. Even against Dayton he would've been lucky to break 45%.

[Rawlings]

Nope.  I thought he stood a good chance at the beginning of the year, but he lost for the same reasons that Al Franken can even be considered a 'serious' candidate: Minnesota leans considerably to the left.  The DFL is an entrenched institution and it's tough for a guy like Kennedy to overcome.  On that note, it's kind of stunning how Tim Pawlenty has been so successful.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

On that note, it's kind of stunning how Tim Pawlenty has been so successful.

yeah, he has been so successful. For starters he has, ummm, well caused a government shutdown. And he also, um, well forced the state to spend millions in legal fees to defend his cigarette tax increase (because he refused to call it a tax).

Yeah, some amazing accomplishments there.

[Verily]

Nope.  I thought he stood a good chance at the beginning of the year, but he lost for the same reasons that Al Franken can even be considered a 'serious' candidate: Minnesota leans considerably to the left.  The DFL is an entrenched institution and it's tough for a guy like Kennedy to overcome.  On that note, it's kind of stunning how Tim Pawlenty has been so successful.

So entrenched, that, you know, they didn't even control the Minnesota House until 2006.

Yup, those darn entrenched, corrupt Democrats, ruining the lives of good, hardworking conservatives.

[7,052,770]

On that note, it's kind of stunning how Tim Pawlenty has been so successful.

yeah, he has been so successful. For starters he has, ummm, well caused a government shutdown. And he also, um, well forced the state to spend millions in legal fees to defend his cigarette tax increase (because he refused to call it a tax).

Yeah, some amazing accomplishments there.

Pawlenty raised cig taxes?  Wow, my respect for him just shot way up.

Maybe it's just the contrast with my worthless governor who would rather have the nation's highest grocery tax (on the nation's poorest people!) instead of a very small increase on cig taxes....

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

On that note, it's kind of stunning how Tim Pawlenty has been so successful.

yeah, he has been so successful. For starters he has, ummm, well caused a government shutdown. And he also, um, well forced the state to spend millions in legal fees to defend his cigarette tax increase (because he refused to call it a tax).

Yeah, some amazing accomplishments there.

Pawlenty raised cig taxes?  Wow, my respect for him just shot way up.

It'll go down after you hear the whole story:

Pawlenty promised during his campaign that he would never raise taxes. Then the state ran into a budget situation where a tax increase somewhere was needed, so Pawlenty pushed through a cigarette tax increase. But to argue that he kept his "no new taxes" pledge, he said that the tax wasn't a tax but rather a "health impact fee".

As it turns out this very likely violated the state's agreement with the tobacco industry after a class action suit taken several years ago, which stipulated that no further fees would be placed on the industry. Basically, the state could raise cigarette taxes (as the purpose of a tax is to raise revenue), but not anything designed to further punish the tobacco industry. This resulted in a judge issuing an injunction blocking the tax, and the state was forced to go to court to argue the new tax/fee did not violate the agreement. It won, after a proacted legal battle and much spent on legal fees that could've all be avoided simply by calling a tax a tax.

[Conan]

nah

[AndrewTX]

Yes

[Hash]

How?

[AndrewTX]

Magic.