paint him as "too angry" to hold office, --like Dean in 2003: MN gov. race

[rodeodance]

by Washington Monthly Election Day Blog
Washington Monthly Election Day Blog

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 11:42 a.m.

The Minnesota governor's race today is being called perhaps the tightest in the country, and pretty much every poll the last few days shows only a few--at most--percentage points between Mike Hatch and Tim Pawlenty. (Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson, playing to part of the crowd that got Jesse Ventura elected, is polling in the high single digits, enough for the IP to maintain major party status in the state.) This is surprising on two fronts.

First, six months ago, Pawlenty, a popular Republican incumbent who came to prominence as a state legislator, seemed destined for a second term. But Hatch, a Democrat who ran for governor nearly two decades ago and has since become known as perhaps the most stalwart attorney general this state has ever known, mounted a smart campaign that assumed the liberal base and went after moderates and undecideds. It worked in the weeks leading up to the elections, with Hatch showing double-digit leads in some polls.

Then late last week, the bottom fell out. Hot on the heels of John Kerry's hilarious stand-up bit, Hatch walked into a similar gaffe. Hatch has likened himself to a bulldog on advocacy issues, but the local GOP has tried to paint him as "too angry" to hold office, much like the knock was on Howard Dean in 2003. But Hatch played right into it last week, and it's costing him today, no doubt.
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