Pawlenty ad marks unofficial start of campaign
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The old adage in politics is the campaign doesn't really start until Labor Day. Bob Collins has found quite a bit of truth in that, at least as reflected by traffic on the campaign section of MPR's Web site.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty starts running his first TV ad today, and it sure feels like the start of the campaign for the general public.
No sooner did Pawlenty's campaign announce the ad yesterday than the Mike Hatch campaign pounced with a reaction. For several weeks the state GOP has been calling Hatch an angry man and trying to play up his attack-dog nature. But it's clear from the response yesterday Hatch is going to let running mate Judi Dutcher play the role of campaign attacker.
Here's just a sample of what she told MPR:
"The fact of the matter is that the governor has given Minnesota a 50 percent solution to many issues. College tuition went up 50 percent under his tenure. Health premiums went up 50 percent, and property taxes in a lot of counties went up by 50 percent."
No word on when we'll see the first Hatch TV ads. Or on who will play the "truth squad" role on Pawlenty's side.
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