I’ve been kind of torn in the DFL primary. I don’t really love any of the candidates. I guess Entenza is my choice among them, despite the endless repetition of his abandonment by his alcoholic father (goes well with his running mate stepping off a Greyhoud bus).
However, the Republican endorsement is just unspeakably bad. This guy makes T-Paw look like a quality governor. Let’s take a quick look through the issues (as Tom Emmer defines them):
Second Amendment
Actually this isn’t an issue in Minnesota. Nobody talks about this in Minnesota. But Tom Emmer cares:
The right to own firearms is under constant attack by those who want to limit, and in some cases, end gun ownership by individuals.
Taxes
Not only is he wrongheaded, parts of his page on taxes aren’t even coherent:
Minnesota’s tax system has become more regressive in recent years. We have become far too reliant on income taxes to supply our state’s coffers. Over 40% of state revenues come from them, the sixth highest in the nation! The top 10% of income earners pay more than half of Minnesota’s income taxes – the top 1% of income earners pay over 25%, while earning only 15.6% of total income.
I think he’s looking for that other tax word, progressive. And it’s not a bad thing for the rich to pay more. That’s actually the point. However, if you’re going to gripe about it, it behooves you to use the correct word.
Social Values
Tom Emmer’s clearly given this a lot of thought, and has come out in support of Life and Marriage. The particular phrasing in his “Life” section made me wonder:
I strongly believe in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.
He emphasizes “natural” death, so presumably he should be opposed to the death penalty, right? Not even being a bratty liberal here; if that’s not the standard assumption of an American Rightist, that really is the most reasonable reading of that sentence. Is capital punishment a major issue in MN? Not really, but if he’s going to play up the Second Amendment “issue,” he may as well address this one, too. I e-mailed the Emmer campaign (writing as sincerely as I possibly could). I have received no response.
Update (June 26): After a second e-mail to the Emmer campaign, I actually received a call from a staffer. The staff told me that Emmer has expressed opposition to capital punishment in a personal conversation with him. Now I don’t think it’s an accident that they didn’t put anything in writing — position like that could repel the Freedom™-loving types — but I guess I do believe its sincerity. Still not going to vote for him, but I’ll be one tiny bit less disgusted if he wins.
