Discover Politics

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner laughs when I ask her who her favorite Gubernatorial candidate is other than herself. She ponders for second before laughing, “Has anyone else answered that question?” I explain that I had to at least try and for a second I thought I might get an answer. She had plenty of other straightforward answers though. Like when I ask why a County Attorney is a good candidate for Governor, “I’m the only candidate with executive experience. When I make difficult and unpopular choices I am held accountable, there’s no passing the buck. Regardless of the implications for my political career, I have to make decisions that are best for my entire community.”

I’ve asked all the candidates that have checked in with DiscoverPolitics.org this question: If Minnesota Democrats and Republicans nominate candidates from the far extremes of their party, does that set the stage for another Independent to step and sweep up votes? So far they have all said or implied no, that voters will resonate with a candidate regardless of where they fall on the liberal/conservative scale. When I ask Gaertner, she says “Absolutely.  This is a race that will decided by swing voters and the DFL needs to nominate someone that appeals to those voters.” I ask about where she falls on the scale and she says that she thinks she has “progressive politics”, but is grounded in pragmatism. “I work in a non-partisan environment and it has to be that way to get anything done. That’s what Minnesotan’s want at the capitol”.

Gaertner is also different in that she doesn’t have the same knee jerk reaction to Governor Pawlenty’s approach to the budget at the end of the last session. “It shouldn’t have come to that”, she says, “As a Democrat I am very critical of the choices the Governor made, but it shouldn’t have come to that. Everyone in the legislature has to take responsibility for the budget and revenue mess,  but in the end the Governor made decisions that primarily impact the Minnesotan’s who are most vulnerable”. She is more critical of Pawlenty’s policies in general. “His ‘no new taxes’ pledge was irresponsible. All that did was push taxation down to local government”. When I ask what she would do differently, “You have to effectively communicate with the public about what their government needs to do. Then you need to assure them that their tax dollars will be spent wisely. Then you responsibly trim the budget and raise revenues”. I’m unsure if she means being clear with the public about what their Government needs to do vs. wants to do or if she means just better explaining what Government is responsible for, but she seems to be implying that Governor Pawlenty did a poor job of communicating.

We talk about Democrats holding solid majorities but still constantly in-fighting instead of getting a cohesive message out. She says that the Governor’s role to utilize the Democratic majorities in both houses is to build an agenda that the public can get behind and then “dampen the partisan fighting”. “Governor Pawlenty created a culture where everyone is focused on fending for themselves instead of thinking like a community”.

We talk about her campaign and the other nominees. She will abide by the party endorsement. That seems to keep her focused on April instead of concerning herself with the funding advantages of a Dayton or Entenza. She says that once she gets the nomination she’ll raise enough money to compete with the fundraising frontrunners.
Her confidence comes in her strong record. She says her campaign has similarities with Sen. Klobuchar in that it’s hard to run against an experienced and successful prosecutor. “I can’t imagine what the negative campaign ads will be. Will they say I was too hard on crime?” We wrap up with me asking what one thing she’d like voters to know about her. “I can win in the general election. I can beat any Republican nominee”.