Why Emmer lost

Written by Erin Haust
Thursday, 09 December 2010 08:06

Political pundits, radio talk show hosts, and local Minnesota media-types are attempting to pinpoint where the Tom Emmer campaign went wrong. By most accounts, failed former senator Mark Dayton should have been easy to beat, but Minnesota Republicans are left scratching their heads in disbelief as Tom Emmer conceded in a press conference today.

Minnesota Republicans have been vocal on talk radio, blog sites and Facebook posts citing the reason for defeat was an ad the Dayton campaign ran falsely accusing Emmer, who roughly 30 years ago made the mistake of driving under the influence of alcohol, of using his position as a state representative to steer drunk driving legislation.

The ad, and subsequent silence from the Emmer campaign to refute the claims, clearly negatively effected the election results. Keeping in mind local races resulted in the Minnesota House and Senate changing to Republican control for the first time in decades, the blame for losing at the top of the ticket must be placed squarely on the state party and the Emmer campaign for reasons other than just one ad.

Dayton's history of ties to socialist, progressive groups is far from secret. Dayton spokeswoman and Executive Director of Alliance for a Better Minnesota, Denise Cardinal, was a featured speaker alongside self-avowed communist and community organizer Van Jones at the America's Future Now! conference last summer. They and other speakers demanded redistribution of wealth in the United States and discussed radical, revolutionary tactics to accomplish that end. Neither the state party nor the Emmer campaign made the connection between radicals like Cardinal and Van Jones and the Dayton campaign.

In October, Alliance for a Better Minnesota gained national media attention when Bill O'Reilly, Fox News Channel superstar and number one audience-getter in evening cable news programming, used at least 3 segments over 2 days to highlight the ABM boycott of Target stores. Target had made a political donation to an independent organization that later backed Emmer for governor. In turn, ABM lead a smear campaign against Target. O'Reilly exposed the hypocritical and shameful tactic used by ABM to disillusion Minnesota voters. Again, the state party and Emmer campaign was silent.

Dayton's campaign received millions of dollars from groups and individuals linked to socialists, progressives and communists. George Soros funded organizations like Democracy Alliance contributed heavily to his campaign. Soros himself is scheduled to co-host a fundraiser for Dayton in the coming week.

The Republican Party of Minnesota and the Emmer campaign failed to take advantage of the national media attention Dayton's friends and allies were receiving during the campaign and throughout the recount. The opposition research was non-existent. The state party and the Emmer campaign failed miserably to expose Dayton's past and present relationships, even when national media outlets were on the cusp of breaking the stories wide open.

Dayton was a failed senator with a disappointing past. He has personal issues that, though tragic, should have been mentioned during the campaign. He has dealt with depression, addiction, and alcoholism. He has admitted to "falling off the wagon" at the end of his term as senator. Is he in danger of slipping again? Is he stable enough to lead the state? What will he do if the going gets tough in the governor's mansion?

Dayton was quoted in January 2010 saying, "Anyone involved in recovery knows that no one, regardless of length of sobriety, can guarantee its permanent continuation.”

The bottom line is that Dayton should have been an easy target. Without smearing him personally, there was enough political ammunition to expose him for the socialist sympathizer and progressive elitist that he is and demand a public conversation about his ties to radical groups. If Minnesotans had known of Dayton's relationships with communists, could Emmer have picked up 10,000 more votes?

Cross-posted at Minnesota Conservative Examiner Comments welcome.