Comments on: Exclusive: Entenza Meeting Details

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:42:10 +0000

That was the kicker - his campaign expenditures were off the books. The Matt Entenza sleaze-o-meter just went a little bit higher. This guy is a joker if he really thinks he is going to be governor.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:28:25 +0000

“Brodkorb and/or Hatch timed the attacks on Entenza until just before the deadline for him to drop out and others to throw their hat into the race.”

Wow, again it was Entenza who got busted investigating Hatch, but its Hatch’s fault for releasing the information? Unreal.

“Calibrate your sleaze-o-meter, Dan. It’s way off.”

Well, let’s see. Entenza had to quit the AG race for his ethical failings, not to mention the huge conflict of interest since the AG was investigating his wife’s company. He is funding his campaign with the millions of dollars his wife made screwing people for United Health Care, and now he is trying to scare opponents out of the race with his millions and his threat to ignore the endorsement. The sleaze-o-meter has been calibrated. And Matt Entenza is as sleazy
as they come. Certainly a lot sleazier than Mike Hatch, the apparent scapegoat for all of Entenza’s problems. You can just rubber stamp Pawlenty’s re-election if the DFL puts up Entenza. Despite all his ill-gotten millions, I suspect DFLers know better than to do somthing that stupid.

By: Anton

Anton — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:59:57 +0000

Anonymous -

If it was campaign opposition research, then Entenza should have reported the full cost of the expense on his campaign disclosure forms. But he didn’t - leading many to believe (correctly, in my opinion) that he used his wife’s money to pay for it. Now why would he do that? Well, then he wouldn’t have to disclose that he was spending thousands of dollars on investigators - which never looks good on a campaign disclosure report. Given, the Campaign Finance Board never followed up on this, likely believing that the public humiliation that Entenza experienced was punishment enough.

In any event, I VERY much look forward to hearing Entenza follow your lead and claim that off-books PIs are “ethical.”

By: Progressive DFL'er

Progressive DFL'er — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:04:26 +0000

Calibrate your sleaze-o-meter, Dan. It’s way off.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:24:25 +0000

Brodkorb and/or Hatch timed the attacks on Entenza until just before the deadline for him to drop out and others to throw their hat into the race. Entenza did handle the story badly, but that does not make what he did — oppostiion reseach — unethical.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:15:21 +0000

I am all for vetting candidates. But if what Entenza did was good, why did he drop out of the AG race?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:37:54 +0000

Couple of thoughts/responses:

1. Another Chris asks “When was the last time party activists endorsed a moneybag candidate in a contested fight?”. 2008, Al Franken beat Mike Cirisi and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. According to the latest polls Franken is ahead.

2. Opposition research is good. (Note this is a defense of Entenza that is not a knock on Hatch). Politicians use of opposition research keeps candidates honest. Vetting candidates leads to better elections and better governance.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:42:21 +0000

I wouldn’t count Bakk out of the endorsement race. He’ll probably come in with 25-40% with his labor support. I would think he’ll have a good chance at the endorsement. Karl, the reason we haven’t had a governor since 1990 is because we haven’t had our candidates vetted by a statewide electorate. Primaries are a good thing, remember Rudy Perpich was our last democratic governor, and he had to run in a primary EVERY year he ran for Governor. He also won, twice and was a great Governor.

By: Flash

Flash — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:11:50 +0000

Non starter, Entenza’s chance at being elected to a statewide office ended when he withdrew from the AG race.

By: Printup

Printup — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:40:25 +0000

Dan - Good point about Entenza supporters defending themselves by attacking Hatch. But, then again, it’s not surprise, is it? Political scum - like pond scum - tends to congeal. The Entenza - Hatch/Swanson spat is proof positive of this. I once met a guy who told me that people go into politics either to DO something or to BE something. It isn’t hard to guess where Entenza, Hatch et all fit into that spectrum.

Entenza hires PIs to harass his opponents. Hatch/Swanson use AG employees to post defensive comments on political blogs (ask Jim Nobles). If the DFL has any luck in the coming years, all three will be chased out of the party, thoroughly shamed, and completely forgotten. I am so sick of these people.