Aaron Brown has a must read interview with recently announced gubernatorial candidate Paul Thissen. There are going to be a lot of big fish in the DFL field and a virtually unknown state legislator like Thissen is going to have a steep hill to climb, but if he keeps getting reactions like this, who knows…
If Thissen really does get into the guts of every corner of the state and really does listen, he might have an outside chance. I described my talk with Thissen to a friend this way, and I’ll stick with it now: He’s so damn reasonable. As a health care expert, he strives and generally succeeds to avoid “wonkishness,” showing a clear speaking style that makes sense — especially to independent-minded anti-ideologues. The risk with being reasonable is that voters might lose him in the shuffle of loud, emotional, and better known candidates who might join this race. But the fact is that reasonable people make good governors. Thissen is experienced but not yet a career politician. He has shown something that I have found lacking at every level of government, from dog catcher up to President: curiosity. He wants to learn more about a problem before he decides what the best solution is. And he’s also willing to talk about specific problems. We spent a good portion of our talk last week talking about the woes facing one Iron Range nursing home that is closing later this month, greatly affecting several dozen Iron Range families. Most candidates avoid specifics, but not Thissen.
Check out the whole thing. Later today, Bluestem Prairie will have an interview with long suspected gubernatorial candidate Tim Walz. Ollie previews the interview by suggesting that Walz is more focused on staying in Congress than running for Governor.
UPDATE: Apparently I misunderstood the Bluestem preview. Ollie Ox writes in the comments:
The interview focused on congressional business, since policy and civic engagement is more interesting to this bovine blogger right now. Those who are interested more in the gubernatorial race should follow Brown’s excellent lead and interview declared candidates and potential contenders. Walz’s plans? People should ask him.
Bluestem’s article based on the interview is going to focus on transportation, energy policy, jobs creation, education, rural economic development, that sort of thing.
Apologies for the error. We’re looking forward to the interview regardless.
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Whats wrong with waiting until either after the holidays or after this upcoming session is complete to get all gung-ho about running for governor?
The interview focused on congressional business, since policy and civic engagement is more interesting to this bovine blogger right now. Those who are interested more in the gubernatorial race should follow Brown’s excellent lead and interview declared candidates and potential contenders. Walz’s plans? People should ask him.
Bluestem’s article based on the interview is going to focus on transportation, energy policy, jobs creation, education, rural economic development, that sort of thing.
Scott, if the field ends up being as crowded as all the rumors suggest, starting early is important in terms of raising money, building networks, trying to win supporters, etc., before things get completely saturated with candidates that people can’t keep straight. Democratic primary fields sometimes suffer from a “Seven Dwarves” problem, although it was good to see the Republicans have to go through that last year.
Hopefully this won’t be like the 5th District race where 13 candidates were sitting on bleachers on Almanac and given questions like, “How do you solve Iraq? Please limit your answer to one word.” In another section, a line was drawn across the floor, and the candidates would answer yes/no questions by standing on one side or the other while “Walk the Line” played on speakers and Mary LaHammer had a giggle-fit.
I’m also hopeful that the DFL field will have some women or non-caucasians or both of the above in it. So far Susan Gaertner is the only person who fits that description, and she’s probably too conservative for most of the activists anyway.