Then there is State Representative Paul Kohls. Now that Mark Olson is out of the legislature, Kohls probably holds the mark for the most time spent speaking on the House Floor. To his admirers (does he really have any), he’s loquacious. To the rest of us, he’s just really obnoxious.
Finally, today comes word that State Representative Tom Emmer, the King of the Crazies, is going to run for Governor. Emmer had been considering a run for House Minority Leader, but I’m told he didn’t have anywhere close to the votes he needed to win. Apparently Emmer decided that it’d be easier to win a statewide election than to pull together 24 supporters in the House Republican Caucus. Good luck to you Tom.
Sadly, there is just too much crazy in this Republican field. There is a real danger that Haas, Kohls, Emmer, et al will divide up the winger vote and allow a more moderate, sane candidate to win.
By the way, the House Republican Caucus will be selecting a new leader tomorrow night. The Strib identifies Paul Demmer and Kurt Zellers as candidates. From what I hear, Zellers is the frontrunner. Zellers will be a formidable leader, certainly a more disciplined messanger than Marty Seifert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKp1tdPCRMk
This is quite a fork in the road for the MNGOP. If they choose the moderate course, they will have a great shot at 4 more years of the Exec Branch. If they veer further right, the door is wide open for an independent candidate to do very well in 2010.
“If they choose the moderate course, they will have a great shot at 4 more years of the Exec Branch. If they veer further right, the door is wide open for an independent candidate to do very well in 2010.”
Correction: If they choose the moderate course they might have a 40-50% chance to win the exec branch, if they chose a right winger they will almost definitely lose, it is an ugly ugly ugly party these days…
Thanks goodness we dont see any crazy people running in the DFL race for Governor…..now that’s funny.
There’s no such legislator as Paul Demmer. You may be thinking of Randy Demmer. Or you may be creating an altogether new entity to bash. Randy Demmer would be competing with Kurt Zellers for Minority Leader. Oh, and Marty wasn’t a messanger, he was a messenger. Spelling matters. And Marty didn’t do a bad job considering what he had to work with. He got along great with Margaret.
Paul Kohls is a good guy with agreat family. He’s a solid candidate. Have you ever spoken to him? Interviewing him might lend some credibility to your writing. Same goes for Tom. Call him. Once you get to know him you may decide he’s not nearly as crazy as you would like to portray him. You can’t run for Governor and run for Minority leader. Considering the outpouring of support Tom has had from folks who want him to run for Gov he really couldn’t in good conscience continue to pursue the Minority Leader post.
I wouldn’t characterize any of your side’s candidates as crazy. It’s not necessary to be quite that disrespectful in order to make a point of differentiation on policy issues.
Drew, I’ll do it for you… some DFL candidates are crazier than shit-house rats, cases in point Miles Lord’s daughter, some city council people, and more than a few urban representatives. If some weren’t elected politicians they would be cat ladies and tinfoil-hatted gentlemen ranting on street corners.
Neither party has a complete lock on sanity and practicality with the Republicans seeking to go farther and farther afield every time they have a meeting. Republican leadership in Minnesota is solidly behind Representative Michelle Bachmann… need any more proof of delusional tendencies? These guys think Norm Coleman is a good example of a Republican candidate and deserves a Senate seat.
Tom Emmer: In 2006, Amy Klobuchar carried 129 out of 134 State House seats. Emmer’s district was one of the five that voted for Mark Kennedy. Emmer comes from, and has spent the last few years appealing to, one of the most hard-core right-wing districts in the state. His image of a big fat angry guy whose first bill was to castrate people isn’t going to help him statewide.
Paul Kohls: Pencil-necked party apparatchik whose ambition vastly exceeds his abilities. His recent performances during the Fiscal Planning Commission meetings should give you a glimpse of what to expect: Blind support of Pawlenty’s budget, no helpful suggestions, no new ideas, lots of whining that the DFLers were being mean by asking questions, lots of simpering about how the DFL should be “bipartisan” by accepting everything Pawlenty wanted, etc.
Marty Seifert: Of the handful of announced candidates, he’s probably the top of the heap. As Minority Leader, he had basically two responsibilities: 1) Holding his rump caucus of GOPers from the most conservative districts in the state together against tax increases; and 2) Coming up with pithy, quotable insults against the DFL majority. In these areas, he was a success. But now that he’s running for Governor, he’s going to have to show that his talents extend beyond the relatively narrow range of responsibilities he’s held for the last two-and-a-half years. For instance, he’ll have to start telling people what he’s for, not just what he’s against; become a player and not just a critic. His economic views are really old-school; basically he views Minnesota as being in competition with South Dakota, and that we need to become more like them to flourish. That message isn’t going to resonate very well in the Twin Cities suburbs.
Zack,
Thanks for posting this. This is the exact kind of gossip chitchat crap I look forward to reading on this site in the off year. These simple pot shots fill me with the blather I need to get through the day. I almost didn’t find it though because of the 10 posts by Jeff today on the Iran, Obama, and liberal/conservative conversation which for some reason seam to satisfy me the same way a 5 page graduate student term paper fulfills me. Can’t wait for his exciting policy based discussion on public housing or the treasury tomorrow!
Post more please.
I have great idea. Why don’t you call Paul and get to know him before your insult him. It might serve you well to understand the person behind the candidate before you pass judgement.