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HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN – ENTENZA DROPS 3 SPOTS IN MNPACT RANKINGS
By Luke Hellier | December 1, 2009
Yesterday, Minnesota Network for Progressive Action released their rankings for the DFL candidates for Governor. Former Rep. Matt Entenza, who had previously been ranked #1 overall has fallen to #4. Excerpts are below and you can read the whole post here.
4. Matt Entenza (formerly #1): As the union endorsements started to go public, it was hard not to notice that Entenza’s name was never called. Now certainly, an endorsement from a union is not a pre-requisite for becoming governor, but it makes it a lot easier on the DFL side of things. I’m also still trying to get a handle on why his wife, Lois Quam, has decide to join the campaign full time. Is it a sign that the campaign is lacking something?… or is it just a natural happenstance? In any event, the power couple seems to be doubling down on this campaign.
3. R.T. Rybak (formerly #3): Alright, Rybak is officially in the hunt and with his official entrance comes a lot of positives. Rybak is probably the best campaigner in the field, and anyone who has seen him in person is almost always impressed. I still have to be convinced that he is able to translate that into outstate support. I have also heard him say that he will abide by the endorsement. In his case, that might be a little bit premature,,, because if his finances are strong enough, he could certainly join a primary field if he doesn’t get the endorsement. With a multiple candidate field, anything can happen.
2. Mark Dayton (formerly #4): Dayton’s statewide name recognition is still translating into good polling. I thought that might diminish as we moved farther into this, but the numbers are still there. He should benefit from his past network and he still gets high marks in progressive and anti-war circles. It will be interesting to watch how he plays the convention. Will he go all out to compete for the endorsement or maybe pull back and save some capital for the inevitable primary campaign? Dayton has the option to play it either way.
1. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (formerly #2): With multiple union endorsements in hand, MAK is moving into a strong position for convention endorsement. Women’s groups and Union support are golden and Kelliher is getting solid marks on those fronts. One more big endorsement by SEIU or Education MN and it could give her hard to beat momentum. Her biggest challenge going forward will be the legislative session. The success or failure of the 2010 version is squarely on her shoulders. Can she successfully challenge Pawlenty and push a Democratic agenda, via compromise or override? Or will she end up on the short end of more vetos? Her strength as a governor candidate is riding on the outcome.
OK — 2 months to go to caucuses. Still no field reduction on the horizon. Everybody is in it to win it.
This is a high stakes race. Everybody needs to be informed, be involved, and make this the year of a Democratic Governor in Minnesota.
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3 Responses to “HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN – ENTENZA DROPS 3 SPOTS IN MNPACT RANKINGS”
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December 1st, 2009 at 1:37 PM
What are we talking about here? Neither Entenza nor Dayton has a chance of winning a convention endorsement. Their objective is to win the primary, where union support doesn’t count for much, particularly when the candidates are well financed.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:55 PM
And isn’t it still too early for any of these ranking polls to matter? I mean, if somebody sneezes, they could drop two spots. And if somebody else hugs a puppy, they could jump into the lead. Nobody is really doing any serious campaigning so the results are going to be all over the place because of the “Hey, I’ve heard of that guy, sure, I’ll rank him higher.”
December 1st, 2009 at 4:07 PM
I checked over at moonbatpact.org and didn’t see Hiram or AC/Bob/InTheLoop leave comments there. Why come over to MDE and shoot the messenger?
“What are we talking about here?” The rankings as just released by moonbat.org What’s the matter Hiram, are you upset your boy Thissen is ranked #5?
“And isn’t it still too early for any of these ranking polls to matter?” Not as early as earlier ones.
Neither Entenza or Dayton want to spend money they don’t have to. Neither wants to run in a primary when they don’t have the DFL endorsement. Neither wants to wait until after the primary to get money from the unions. Has either made a pledge to honor the endorsement?