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Anyone But Entenza
By Jeff Fecke | July 10, 2009
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor party is really bad at picking gubernatorial candidates. Not since 1986 — that’s 23 years ago — has a DFL candidate won election in a governor’s race, a five-cycle drought that’s almost impossible in a state as blue as Minnesota. The candidates we’ve put up since — Rudy Perpich in full Governor Goofy mode in 1990, John Marty in weak tea mode in 1994, Skip Humphrey in dynastic right mode in 1998, Roger Moe in Roger Moe mode in 2002, and Mike Hatch in full meltdown mode in 2006 — have been disaster piled upon disaster, a series of men (all men) who each, in his own special way, clearly deserved to lose their election.
It is tempting to write this off as an abberation, but it is not; in the history of Minnesota, there have been a total of five DFL governors. Two of them are Rudy Perpich; the others are Wendy Anderson, Karl Rolvaag, and Orville Freeman. By the time the next governor is sworn into office, Republicans will have held the Governor’s mansion for 42 of the past 72 years. Independents will have held it for four. DFLers have held it for 26 — and again, eleven of those years belong to Rudy Perpich.
This is not an abberation. This is a trend.
Which brings us to Matt Entenza.
Matt Entenza rose to serve as House Minority Leader during his time in the Minnesota Legislature, but he wanted more than the minor power a Minority Leader has. Had he stuck around, he might have gotten it — House Speaker was but a few months beyond his grasp. But instead, when Mike Hatch left the Attorney General’s seat, Entenza leapt at the chance to make a statewide name for himself.
Making a name for himself was what Entenza appeared most interested in. He stuck mainly to platitudes in his campaign, giving the sense that Entenza was interested in the Attorney General’s office not so much because he could do good work there, but because it was a stopover on his way to the governor’s mansion. Indeed, on one of the central issues facing the AG’s office — health care regulation — Entenza was silent, hamstrung by his wife’s senior position with UnitedHealth Group. Entenza was asked how he could go after United if the need arose; he ducked the question. Repeatedly.
But while Entenza wasn’t big on specifics during his campaign, he was doing research of another sort. Entenza hired a private investigator to do opposition research on another candidate. This would not be notable — well-funded candidates do oppo research all the time. But the candidate Entenza focused on was unusual. That candidate was the aforementioned Attorney General Mike Hatch, a DFLer who was leaving the office.
To this day, Entenza hasn’t explained why he targeted Hatch. He claims he “never used the research” that he paid for, which would make sense, since Hatch wasn’t running for Attorney General and ostensibly, both men were on the same side during the campaign. It’s also the sort of transparent falsehood that’s more embarassing each time Entenza repeats it; of course he looked at the research, and of course he was willing to use it; that he didn’t get a chance to use it is, frankly, beside the point.
Was Entenza eyeing a 2006 gubernatorial run? Was he afraid Hatch would duck out of the gov’s race and head back to the AG’s office? Was he just a huge douchebag who was doing oppo research on a member of his own party for no good reason? Probably a bit of all three.
Some will say that Entenza paid a high price for this action: he was forced from the Attorney General’s race at the eleventh hour, pushed out of politics altogether. The House turned blue, and his Assistant Minority Leader, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, became Speaker. The AG’s office stayed blue, but with Mike Hatch protegé and horrible human being Lori Swanson in the position, rather than Entenza.
But the fact is that this action was of a piece with the abortive campaign Entenza ran. Prior to his withdrawal from the race, Entenza had been fined $28,000 by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board for exceeding limits on campaign contributions. That’s a massive fine for a second-tier race like Attorney General, and it fits a pattern we’ve seen with Entenza. In a word, he’s unethical.
Today, Matt Entenza is running for governor, pushing hard on the idea that he’s already the de facto nominee. He’s got a lot of money, he’s got a strong organization, and he’s got a tailwind. You can hear the cognoscenti of the DFL nodding approvingly. It’s his time. He’s put in his time, paid his dues, that 2006 kerfuffle was almost three years ago, nobody remembers that.
We’ve been down this road before. It was Skip’s turn, Roger’s turn, Mike’s turn. Each, in turn, lost in November. And yet each of those men had done more for the state and their party than Matt Entenza. Each offered a more compelling vision of the future, and to a man, every one of the losing candidates the DFL has put up in the past 24 years has met the bare threshold of basic decency. Sometimes, as with John Marty, it was to a fault.
Matt Entenza has not shown himself to be an ethical candidate. If that were all, Entenza would be a candidate for the DFL to avoid. But Entenza is also a candidate with John Marty’s common touch, Skip Humphrey’s drive, Roger Moe’s charisma, and Mike Hatch’s even temperament. Add in a dose of Norm Coleman’s ethics, and you’ve got a candidate singularly unqualified to receive the DFL nomination in 2010.
I can make a case for almost any Democrat in the race. Even John Marty and Mark Dayton are decent, honorable men. They are perhaps not truly suited for the realities of the political offices they seek, but they seek the offices for noble reasons. If any of the declared or rumored DFL candidates win endorsement, barring calamity, I will support them, from Margaret Anderson Kelliher to Tom Bakk to Ole Savior.
Save one.
If Matt Entenza is the DFL nominee in 2010, I will not support him. I will not campaign for him. I will not vote for him. I will likely cast my vote for the Independence Party nominee, and hope that sanity breaks out and the GOP endorses Jim Ramstad. But even if it means that a Tim Pawlenty clone is taking the oath in January of 2011, I will not vote for Entenza.
I can not support someone who plays fast and loose with campaign finance laws, who spies even on political allies, and who then has the temerity to lie about it. Political office is a sacred trust, and if Democrats want to put forward a candidate who has chosen to break that trust, they can. But I will be damned if I will support him.
Topics: MN-GOV, Matt Entenza | 61 Comments »
July 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Wow. Someone in the MN blogosphere making sense about Matt Entenza? Someone’s not going to be invited to post at MN Progressive Project!!!
July 10th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Entenza’s quest for higher office began a couple of weeks after he assumed the House Minority Leader position when he fired a dozen House staffers–most of them older and some with over 20 years there–and replaced many of them with his own sycophants. He lied and blamed Republicans for the firings, when in fact, it was Entenza’s desire to surround himself with his own people.
I applaud your post here, Jeff. There are more of us out here who agree with you than you realize.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Jeff has posted occasionally at MN Progressive Project and is always welcome to.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:29 am
[...] chosen to break that trust, they can. But I will be damned if I will support him.” Source: Blog of the Moderate Left, July 10, [...]
July 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Matt’s hardly my favorite candidate, but I would have no problem voting for him in a general election.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Jeff, you be nice to DFL candidates, or I’m bringing up “underoos”.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Entenza has shoved a knife into the backs of many elected legislators and staffers along the way. There will be many around the state that hold the same opinion as the author. Not only will they not vote for him if he is the DFL nominee, they will actively work to get the message out about his “divide and conquer at all costs” mentality.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
‘Douchebag’ is a term I have used to describe him. There is a rumbling against him but, I’m not sure that it goes beyond the rumbling.
I know him to be an ambitious phony and will be working against him with a small team. An Entenza win will be DFL in name only with his vanilla agenda of platitudes.
One more thing, the problems with Lori Swanson in the AG’s office stem from life long friends of Entenza. Its far too long to go into in one email but look into who was complaining and filing grievances.
Look out for AFSCME. Elliot Seide, the exec dir, is Matt’s close friend. He is the one actually orchestrated the AG internal over the union using friends of Matt that go back to the days when Enetnza was lawyer employed by the AG office. They have become his attack dog behind the scenes. When I say they, I mean a few, not the whole union though that few are in leadership.
Enough for now. Keep up the honesty.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
This post looks like a blog carrying water for one of the other Democrat candidates. Matt is the front runner and will likely win. This is nothing more than a smear to try give the others a chance at defeating him or justifying a primary.
Matt is almost certain to be our nominee. Lets focus on getting him elected, not attacking him with stories from lifetime political hacks who Matt has let go.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Don –
I am carrying water for no candidate. I am undecided in the race — I probably lean Rybak, but I really like MAK, and I could be persuaded to support Bakk, Thissen, Coleman, or Gaertner.
Matt Entenza may win the DFL endorsement. Bully. I won’t be supporting him, period. I’m not a DFL Blogger. I’m a blogger who happens to be a DFLer — but I’m also a blogger who’s voted Carlson – Ventura – Penny – Hatch in gubernatorial races, and the only one of those votes I regret whatsoever is Hatch. Not because I was wrong to vote against Pawlenty, but because Mike Hatch was not a candidate worth my time and support.
DFLers can do better than Entenza. If we choose not to, we will lose in 2010. Period. If he’s our candidate, we will lose, and we will deserve to lose. And I will take no pleasure in saying I told you so.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Don,
Go tell your master the race for the endorsement is not over. For one, not one of the delegates have been elected yet.
Besides, Matt being one of the last guys standing will be great avenue for Dayton’s ranks to swell.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Totally untrue. Matt is clearly the front runner. He is also the most electable candidate in the field. Having another DFL candidate who can’t raise money being the nominee is a way to guarantee the Republicans win.
Lets go with a proven winner instead of rolling the dice on a risky choice. An Entenza (Governor), MAK (Speaker), Pogemiller (Majority Leader) leadership team would be best for the DFL.
July 10th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Well, congrats, you got this up on MDE. Good job. This is why Democrats lose in MN– we eat our own. If Matt gets the endorsement I hope you put your in-party grudges on the back burner. Those of us in the real world can’t survive another Republican term.
July 10th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
There are a lot of people out there who didn’t like Mike Hatch, and who thought Tim Pawlenty wasn’t so bad. They have since learned to regret their choice, or at least their lack of enthusiasm.
July 10th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Don –
Proven winner? Huh? Not for nothing, but Entenza hasn’t won a race outside his legislative district. No, he doesn’t get credit for flipping the house after he had already retired from the house in the biggest DFL wave year in three decades.
Sean –
I want you to understand clearly: I believe Matt Entenza would be an objectively bad governor. I put my state above my party. And I make no apologies for that.
If Entenzabots want to show where I’m wrong in what I’ve said, they’re free to. I’ll listen. But telling me that I’m bad for daring to speak ill of the former House Minority Leader and a guy who has a lot of money isn’t going to convince me of anything, other than that I’m dead right about the guy, and that if anything, I’ve gone to easy on him.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Oh, and one more thing, Don. If you know your DFL history, you know that the biggest mismatch funding-wise we’ve faced in a statewide election was in 1990. Our guy was severely outgunned. He still won. Why? Because despite not having a ton of money, Paul Wellstone was a decent, honorable man. All the money in the world won’t buy that. And frankly, even if Matt Entenza is able to buy his way into the governor’s mansion, what does that profit those of us who call ourselves liberal? How are our interests served by that?
July 10th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Hiram –
And yet whose fault is that? The voters aren’t at fault for rejecting a guy who melted down in the final week of the campaign. The DFL is at fault for nominating him. Nothing that happened in the 2006 campaign was surprising to anyone who knew anything about Mike Hatch, which was everyone remotely connected to DFL politics. At best, we hoped he’d keep his mouth shut through the campaign, but everyone knew that really, it was amazing he made it to late October.
We knew Hatch had a temperament problem, and counted on luck to see us through. We knew that Roger Moe was charisma-challenged, and counted on Paul Wellstone’s coattails to pull him through. We knew that Skip Humphrey believed the office of governor was owed to him, and counted on Ventura to pull more from Coleman than from Humphrey.
I don’t actually know what we were thinking with John Marty. At least Rudy Perpich, odd though he was by 1990, was a sitting governor.
My point is that we know that there are red flags with Matt Entenza — we know he’s got character issues. We know he’s self-aggrandizing. We know he’s never been much of a friend to the little guy, and that he may be slightly to the right of Jim Ramstad. We know that he defended against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage by talking about how tough and anti-gay-marriage Minnesota laws were. We know who Matt Entenza is, and we know that the best you can say about him is that he can field a strong organization with money he didn’t earn himself.
We can do better. If we choose not to, then when Tom Emmer is being sworn in, you all can gripe about the idiot voters. I’m not. Because the voters get it right more often than not, and if the DFL offers lousy candidates, we will get lousy results.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Don Flowers wrote this sentence:
“This post looks like a blog carrying water for one of the other Democrat candidates.”
No DFLer I know uses the noun form “Democrat” as an adjective to modify a noun. The correct adjectival form is “Democratic.”
Rather, Republicans typically use this grammatically incorrect form to make public nuisances of themselves. Perhaps Mr. Flowers is indeed a DFLer, but he certainly doesn’t sound like one.
July 10th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
And yet whose fault is that?
I am not that interested in assigning fault. I have always thought Hatch was a poor candidate, just as now I think he is a poor spokesman for the party. But in 2006, he was the only candidate we had, and he would have been a better governor than Pawlenty.
I completely agree that Entenza is a lousy candidate, and given his well known liabilities, it’s hard to take him seriously. But if he is the Democratic candidate in the general election, I will certainly support him.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I’ve shared these comments elsewhere…
—
If there’s a lesson to be learned from 2008, it’s that anything can happen on Election Day. Sen. Al Franken? It’s still pretty surreal given where he was heading into the convention. Hell, despite all the crap that came out on Norm in October, it’s amazing that he came within 312 votes of beating anyone.
Neither party has a transcendent, Obama-like figure in this race. Whoever wins the endorsement/nomination from the DFL and GOP is going to look like Satan to half the voters by October 2010. The winner will be the person who, like Franken, builds the infrastructure and raises the money needed to keep his/her head above water until the polls close. At this moment, it would seem Entenza could very well be that guy. Money’s not an issue; he has a strong and experienced staff; and he’s getting across the state like nobody’s business. Yes, the Republicans are going to drill him, but if anyone thinks RT Rybak (who hasn’t even transformed Minneapolis) or Kelliher (who co-owns the dreadful legislative session) or anyone else is immune from the same thing you’re living in something of a fool’s paradise.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Chris, can you name another serious DFL candidate for governor who has anywhere near as much baggage as Entenza? And with a history of dirty trickery like his?
July 10th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Seems like some people are trying to tear down Mr. Entenza instead of building up their own candidate. I agree with Don. The best DFL team would be to have both Entenza and Kelliher working for us at the Capitol, not just one of them. Who can disagree with that?
July 10th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
For someone who says to put “state above party”, you seem to lack any arguments against Entenza that lie outside of campaign-land. Did you actually attack him because he wanted more power as Minority Leader? Reality check dude: politicians are ambitious. That’s like complaining that the cow moos. Are you anti-Obama for the same reason?
Are you going to call every candidate that gets fined by the campaign board unethical? You have a lot of fingers to point. Most of the time, this happens because the campaign isn’t run well.
No general election voter will care about the Hatch/UH stuff. The GOP can try to pin him on corporate ties without sounding like hypocrites–Good Luck.
It’s easy to write an attack piece when you cherry pick your juicy bits. You congested his public service history into about two sentences. Granted, Entenza has screwed up in the past, but he deserves more than the straw-manning you give him here.
I’m disappointed: you have done a much better job than this in the past. This is blogging at its worst.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
The best DFL team would be to have both Entenza and Kelliher working for us at the Capitol, not just one of them. Who can disagree with that?
Me. I don’t want Matt Entenza working at the capitol. And as I’ve said, I like MAK, but I’m not carrying water for her.
Are you going to call every candidate that gets fined by the campaign board unethical? You have a lot of fingers to point. Most of the time, this happens because the campaign isn’t run well.
This isn’t a garden-variety fine, and if a campaign isn’t run well, the person to blame is the candidate. Or is a candidate not ultimately responsible for his or her own campaign?
I’m disappointed: you have done a much better job than this in the past. This is blogging at its worst.
“Blogging at its Worst.” That’s my new tag line, all right.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I’m fine with blaming the funding stuff on a bad campaign. With his team this year I think things will be different. That’s different than jumping the gun and using words like “unethical”. I’m guessing you are conceding your original argument since you aren’t even defending it anymore.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Seems that Mr Entenza has a good team indeed. They’re all over the blogs defending him. This is great. They’re already concerned.
Sally Jo,
You’ve nailed it. Flowers is a republican or anti-dfler. Its their little slur that he let slip. Its also telling us which candidates they’d like to get.
Whomever thinks MAK and Entenza will work well at the capitol wasn’t around when they worked at the capitol. They were not friends or even legislative buddies.
Truscott, how did your candidates work out in 2008? Did any of them who paid you win? No?
Thissen is the best long term potential for us DFLers. He’s got enough of a team and plan and very little baggage. The delegates in their/our infinite wisdom will probably give him the ol’ thanks for playing at the endorsement.
Dayton, is the only one that has 100% name ID, the confidence of plenty of voters, two times elected statewide, three times endorsed statewide, 30 years of campaigning for himself or others in every corner of this state. Last but not least, the honesty to admit he’ll spend his own money. He left the Senate in a quirky way but, everyone who knows Mark knows that quirky is the order of the day- always has been and it hasn’t stopped him yet. He also doesn’t suffer from ethical issues.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Sean –
Conceding what? That in 2006, Matt Entenza put together what can charitably be described as a sleazy campaign, and that he’s unethical? I stand by that wholeheartedly. And no, sorry, but Matt Entenza put together his campaign in 2006. His name was on the ballot. He is responsible for his campaign. Or are you arguing that we should trust someone to run a state who can’t even be bothered to oversee a campaign?
David –
Dayton is quirky, and my fear with him is that, as with Senate and Auditor, he’ll get bored halfway through his term and mentally check out. I actually think Dayton’s an interesting guy who is probably too pure a thinker to govern; that said, as I noted before, I wouldn’t vote against him if he were the nominee, even though I question whether he’d be the best candidate. At the very least, I believe he’s a decent human being. Thissen, I’ll admit, I don’t know enough about, though people I trust say he’s bright and capable.
And yes, I find it remarkable how hard the Entenza forces are jumping on a C-list blogger; it sucks when someone questions the narrative, doesn’t it? I tend to think I’m on to something here. If anything, I’ve become convinced by today’s events that I’m right, that Matt Entenza should be kept away from the levers of power. If one post by a minor has-been blogger can get this level of vitriol going, I don’t want to know what he and his supporters would do with actual power.
July 11th, 2009 at 6:17 am
“And yes, I find it remarkable how hard the Entenza forces are jumping on a C-list blogger; it sucks when someone questions the narrative, doesn’t it? I tend to think I’m on to something here. If anything, I’ve become convinced by today’s events that I’m right, that Matt Entenza should be kept away from the levers of power.”
Couldn’t agree more. You have the campaign’s communications director actually threatening people through tweets about future jobs in DFL politics. What the hell? You must have hit a raw nerve Jeff. I don’t agree with everything you said in your post (about Lori Swanson, for example) but I think it needs to be said. And for those of you all worried that Jeff has given MDE fodder. STOP WORRYING ABOUT MDE. Who cares what Brodkorb and his ilk think? Are we going to let their existence stifle a very necessary conversation about our governor’s race?
July 11th, 2009 at 10:33 am
My point is that you are not a C-list blogger. You are better than posting one-sided, poorly-researched attack pieces.
I’ll agree that this is a conversation that needs to happen, but tone is everything. The tone of your hack job makes it impossible for there to be a conversation in your comments section that isn’t reactive in nature. Support who you will, oppose who you will, but show some class in the process.
July 11th, 2009 at 10:36 am
And I agree that Matt is responsible for the decisions of his campaign. He took responsibility for what happened in 2006–multiple times. If we judge public servants only on the campaign they run, we would be losing a lot of effective legislators.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Thissen is the best long term potential for us DFLers. He’s got enough of a team and plan and very little baggage. The delegates in their/our infinite wisdom will probably give him the ol’ thanks for playing at the endorsement.
He seems pretty good, doesn’t he. I hope it’s more than a play for endorsement. C’mon delegates, pick a good one.
And for those of you all worried that Jeff has given MDE fodder. STOP WORRYING ABOUT MDE. Who cares what Brodkorb and his ilk think?
Yeah, right. We can’t be motivated by example or fear. But we should remember that we talk to the public.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
It all comes down to who has the best chance of winning. Matt Entenza is that person.
July 11th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
“It all comes down to who has the best chance of winning. Matt Entenza is that person.”
Three years ago, Matt couldn’t even make it to the primary before his candidacy blew up. Why and how do you think things have changed? I would like to expect more from DFL candidate, but the least I expect and even demand is that they be able to make it to election day.
July 11th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Hiram–bingo. What I fdon’t get is why Enenza has become the de facto nominee in may peoples’ eyes. He was a mediocre minority leader (emphasis on minority, folks; the DFL was not in charge during his tenure) and a disastrous AG candidate, whose abrupt withdrawal from the race gave the DFL a limited time to vet and choose a replacement. He then ran a think-tank because he had some money to run one. What has he done to earn this that Mayor Rybak or Speaker Anderson Kelliher or Senator Dayton hasn’t? Other than lose?
July 11th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Thank you for speaking the truth about Matt Entenza. As life-long democrat, I’ve been secretly hoping that Ramstad will run as an independent. Under NO circumstances will I cast a vote for Matt Entenza.
Beyond not showing that he’s ethical; he has NO integrity. What he did to Hatch is consistent with what he’s done to everyone running against him. Starting with his first race for State House. Even when a person doesn’t stand a chance of winning, he steps on them like a bug, democrats included. This has got him in trouble because of the lies he’s told about his opponents.
Then there are the campaign finance violations. One after another after another. Another pattern emerges? He laundered money illegally through other state parties, money that came from his wife’s pockets. This is all from a lawyer? All to try to build a name for himself.
Well I will not support a platform for Matt Entenza to run for President. He has a record and it’s a record of abuse of power and no morality.
July 11th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Mary sneaks in as a Republican disguised as a dem? Says she would secretly vote for Ramstad? HA HA HA HA.
this just proves to me people don’t understand the basic differences between Democrat and Republican. Plain and simple. They aren’t alike when it comes to “bootstraps” and “community” or “you carry the burden because you’re not as good” and “share the burden so we all prosper”.
Wide open attacks on Entenza. Truth is now lost. No specific examples included.
July 11th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Sean – his staff? No offense but Cuisicks work on Sarvi’s race, and Will Howell’s inability to be polite to anyone (polite in person, but don’t turn around or he will stab you in the back) are not much different. I think that it is hard to talk about health care reform when bankrolling your campaign with your spouses money… I think that they didn’t learn the lesson when he talks about green energy and she just opened a green energy consulting firm (who will profit off of his success… seems like it is the same as before). Matt is a well connected individual who will take this to a primary and cause us to lose another election. I lost respect for him when he sat down with other DFL potentials and said he would spend $10-$15 million of his (spouses) money and would take it to the primary. Ambition and cocky walk a fine line in politics that shouldn’t be crossed.
We will not lose if DFLers don’t gather behind Entenza if he wins the endorsement, we will lose if he gets the endorsement. We should go with someone like Rybak, Thissen, MAK, or Rukavina. If we give Matt the endorsement we will seal our fate like when we gave Hatch and Moe the endorsement. Granted, all those people helped the party and donated or raised a lot of money – but we can’t just reward that. We need to find a hard working, intelligent and trustworthy candidate. I don’t think the average voter would find Matt trustworthy – even if he is.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Hiram – Entenza was caught spying on Hatch three years ago. Outside of that he may well have beat Hatch before losing to Pawlenty.
Holly, how did Ramsted manage to get 60-70% of the vote in the 3CD every two years, if it wasn’t for Republicans? The Republican base not only endorsed him they voted for him.
Erik Paulsen worked for Ramstad at the two are very close friends. Despite that did not meddle in the endorsement process to help Paulsen, he has a great respect for the party process.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Why go with a candidate with a proven history of breaking down under pressure? What does Matt have to offer that makes it worth taking a risk on him again? His wife’s tainted money?
July 12th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Holly, how did Ramstad manage to get 60-70% of the vote in the 3CD every two years, if it wasn’t for Republicans? The Republican base not only endorsed him they voted for him.
Right. I agree with that. The Republicans like Ramstad.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:44 am
This is going to sound crazy but, Entenza has been running for governor since getting elected. Every vote, and power grab has been focused on that. He and MAK did not get along, because he lied over and over. He could not be trusted to tell you the truth because the truth was always, what’s best for Matt.
Now, think about that. Governing in the frame of what’s best for Matt. Why? because like almost every other American governor, he’ll begin wondering if he can be President or Senator. So, once again, we’ll get this non-committal governance from him for four or eight years. We just went through that. No, thanks.
Using your spouses money is not a crime but, as usual there is more to the story than that.
His wife made her millions as a leader and decision maker with a healthcare provider. They don’t make billions by paying for every claim that comes through the door. So, over the last few years of her time there, every industry in American witnessed their health care costs skyrocketed, millions fell off the rolls because they couldn’t afford it, thousands more were denied procedures and care, and thousands more were kicked off the rolls because of the expense of their conditions. Real incomes went down during this time too. However, the Entenza household saw their income go up by millions. It allowed Matt the comfort of not having to get a real job and focus on his political future 100%.
The think tank was nothing but a way for him to stay involved on the political scene. The blood money, allowed him to remain in the highest political circles through donations. Its exactly why the Clintons are helping him raise money across the country (they’ve hosted fundraisers for him in Ca, New York and DC at Hillary’s Georgetown home).
He did funnel her money through the DFL to pay for 21st century Democratic staff to come here and work. He was building the majority back through the money made from denying procedures and care to seniors (Lois was President of Ovation by this time). He denied it until the report came out, of course.
Jeff, you are on to something and should stick to it. It makes me sick to see the sycophants slobber up to Matt because he has thrown dollars their way in the past. As long as you keep exposing Entenza, we’ll keep people coming here with the truth.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I doubt that Mr. Entenza is particularly electable, given the degree of antipathy shown here. Further, the quality of a victory matters.
Please, let’s not talk about winning alone, or make the mistake of finding a “winner” for a candidate, and that rationalize ourselves into thinking he or she represents our best interests.
The times call for a candidate who is for single payer health care. For full civil rights in marriage and work and all of life. The times call for a candidate who can call out the lies that there is not enough for the poorest and the most vulverable, and that the richest cannot be taxed lest all jobs run away and leave us with nothing.
The times call for a candidate who can call us to be our better selves and pull together in these times of economic and environmental turmoil.
OK, I like John Marty. I signed on early as a supporter. But I’m not here for loyalty’s sake. I just want a candidate who offers what I want. There’s room for others. RT Ryback might do it for me. Paul Thisson might as well.
In my opinion, the DFL has not been winning governor elections because we have not been expecting our candidates to first and formost represent us.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Again, besides tearing down Mr. Entenza what is being accomplished here?
He is the front runner because he has the best chance of winning. If you disagree talk about why other candidates are better, not why Mr. Entenza is worse. But you won’t do that because none of the other candidates are better. Of course when Matt when you will brag about how you’ve always liked him from the beginning.
July 12th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Matt Entenza is the DFL Nixon. He investigates his DFL opponents, violates campaign finance laws and spends millions of dollars trying to rehabilitate his image with his blog and donations to poliical organizations and operatives. The money to rehabilitate his image comes from the fortune Mrs. Quam recieved from cashing in United Health backdated stock options. While not a crime, at least Robinhood took from the rich and gave to the poor not themselves. Good luck on that run for Governor Tricky Dick Matt. What do Tricky Dick and Trick Dick Matt have in common, they both resigned.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Again, besides tearing down Mr. Entenza what is being accomplished here?
Tearing down a bad candidate is an accomplishment. Stopping a bad candidate from getting the endorsement is a good thing. If you think all politics should be about being super-enthused and positive, I’d like to introduce you to the United States of America, 2001-2009.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
It’s a shame that so many people are making such serious allegations (many of which don’t include include citations or evidence) anonymously. As far as i’m concerned, i will not listen to you unless you comment in the thread under a real name. Everyone should stand behind their words during this discourse. To do otherwise is cowardly.
July 13th, 2009 at 6:27 am
“He is the front runner because he has the best chance of winning. If you disagree talk about why other candidates are better, not why Mr. Entenza is worse.”
Sadly, when has being the front runner for or even winning the DFL endorsement ever had anything at all to do with electability?
July 13th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Hitchcock, Is that your real name? While your at it, give out your name, address, telephone #, SS#, and date of birth. To do otherwise is cowardly/
July 13th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Sadly, when has being the front runner for or even winning the DFL endorsement ever had anything at all to do with electability?
It’s funny because it’s true.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Favorite Son says Entenza front runner…say what? In a SurveyUSA poll Entenza was behind Dayton, Rybak, Coleman and was tied with Gaertner. How does this make him the front runner? Here are the results:
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=85f8bdd5-5419-4b4a-bba1-336941049c49
July 13th, 2009 at 11:28 am
John Marty was ahead of the times in 1994 and is now our best option. Had we elected him then, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now. Jeff’s article cries for a DFL candidate people can believe in rather than one merely granted a shot at it by the party machine. How about 23-year state senator from a moderate district who was the only (o-n-l-y) senator to stand up against Ventura’s disastrous tax cuts? There we have it: ability to win plus integrity.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Joel, I like John Marty on a personal level, and he’s a strong progressive. But he’s gonna have to prove that he learned a lot since 1994. That was an absolute disaster of a race.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I agree with Joel, and Jeff and Paul. I support John Marty – but he does have to prove he’s learned a lot since 1994. So far, so good – but there’s a long road ahead. I very much see John Marty as the “anti-Entneza”, pro-issues candidate. Marty isn’t out for himself, he seems to really be out for the best interest of MN. He’s taken on the special interest, and at times has taken on his own party (something we often need.) Joel’s right, he was ahead of his time in 94 and his campaign seemed very unorganized. However, so far this year his campaign seems to be one of the most organized campaigns out there. At least he’s dropped the $100 limit, that’s a good sign. Perhaps he’ll get it right this time? I hope so. If so, I hope people put the past in the past and look at all candidates with an open mind. Let’s look at the issues and elect a Governor who has the courage to stand up for what’s right for the state, not his own political career. The race is still wide open.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I actually think this discussion has been far more productive than the original post. Look, I agree Matt has baggage, and that’s why the DFL vetting process is good. The burden is on Matt to prove you guys wrong.
Bear:
I find it funny that you trash someone for “backstabbing” when you don’t even have the cojones to post your real name. Will Howell is one of the top operatives in the state– I have worked with him in the past and he is top-notch. Moreoever, he is a solid guy. I’ve pulled some “strange” changes of heart on Will’s candidates in the past and he was a class act to me about it. You sound like someone who either a) is jealous; b) just wants a rise out of him; or c) has no idea what the hell you are talking about. Prove me wrong, post in your name, or shoot me an email at seanvoyseyolson@gmail.com.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Why is it that anyone who says anything bad about Entenza has to be a republican? I’ve been a democrat my entire life and in the past, I was active in DFL politics, which is WHY I don’t like Entenza. In any legislative race I would hold my nose and vote straight party line if I knew and didn’t like the candidate. I don’t feel I have to do that with mayor or governor. But now that Ramstad has announced he’s not running, I’d never consider voting for anyone from the GOP. I AM supporting another candidate in the primary and I am sure if I name that person the next accusation will be that the campaign is responsible for my post… My point is that there are a number of people who KNOW Entenza and that’s where our concern rests. And, I suspect that there will be more and more concerns raised as the election progresses and more people get to know Entenza.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Okay Mary, I hear you loud and clear.
Thanks
August 15th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
[...] Anyone but Entenza, Blog of the Moderate Left [...]
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
[...] That assessment of Speaker Anderson Kelliher comes from progressive Minnesota blogger Brian Fallidin. Fallidin has not endorsed a candidate for governor yet, but he’s been pretty supportive of Entenza thus far, which is a feeling that I, ahem, do not really share. [...]
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
[...] That assessment of Speaker Anderson Kelliher comes from progressive Minnesota blogger Brian Fallidin. Fallidin has not endorsed a candidate for governor yet, but he’s been pretty supportive of Entenza thus far, which is a feeling that I, ahem, do not really share. [...]
January 13th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
[...] by Phoenix Woman on January 13, 2010 Here is, for your delectation the ever-classy Matt Entenza’s response to fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson [...]
August 7th, 2010 at 12:36 am
[...] last year, when Entenza followers were saying he had pretty much already won the nomination, so it was really horrible of me to express my dislike of the guy? Yeah, good times, good times. [...]