It always comes back to taxes
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I was listening to Pat Kessler on Dan Barreiro's show on the drive home tonight. It was a little tough to follow because of Barreiro's penchant for, shall we say, taking side roads. Mr. Magoo had more focus. But eventually he settled down to talk to Kessler a bit about this ad that apparently was in the Strib this morning (I'm not presently a subscriber so I didn't see it) from a group of wealthy Minnesotans who say they should be taxed more to make up for what's happened in the state in the last few years.
Kessler was suggesting, if I followed it correctly, that this was now what the campaign the rest of the way would be about. Since what campaigns are about are -- let's face it -- what the media chooses to talk about, and since Kessler is probably the most influential TV political reporter in Minnesota, and since political reporters tend to run in packs, I'm guessing he's right.
Which puts the taxes issue front-and-center again on the gubernatorial stage. That being the case, we might as well hold the election tomorrow.
Still, it will require a little finesse since Pawlenty has ticked off the Taxpayers League recently, while saying he won't be signing anymore no-new-taxes pledges. There's also the little matter of leading the band on new stadiums.
So, do Democrats push him into a corner on the tax issue? How can they without ending up whacked upside the head again with the "tax-and-spend" tag? Can Pawlenty whack them upside the head again with the "tax-and-spend" tag? How can he since he's refusing to say he won't rule out new taxes?
Pawlenty returned serve pretty quickly today when he said, basically, "here's the state's address, go ahead and send the cash." Of course the pesky media also dogged him on the Crosstown highway reconstruction debacle, which -- for the record -- probably won't play big in Willmar. Anyway, here's the audio.
And on the other side, here's Joel Kramer on All Things Considered tonight.
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