A putdown of an unsolicited political phone call

A few minutes ago I received a phone call in which there was a pause after I said, "Hello."  I wasn't fast enough to hang up before somebody said, "Is this Melvyn?"  I answered, "yes".  The person proceeded with something like, "This is so and so, and I'm calling for the Matt Entenza campaign."  I replied, "We are not interested in someone who spends so much money."  Then I hung up.

For readers not familiar with Minnesota politics, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) race for governor has two non-endorsed candidates, Matt Entenza and Mark Dayton, who are spending a spouse's or their own fortunes on the primary campaign.  The endorsed candidate, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, has spent far less, but still over a million dollars.  I was disappointed that one-fifth of her contributions come from lobbyists and PACs (Star Tribune, 2010-07-26).

I think about leaving the governor race blank on the ballot.  The Republican candidate, Tom Emmer, has serious foot-in-mouth disease.  I like the idea of the Independence Party attempting to be a viable party, but its website's message doesn't resonate with me.

The only candidate that I have any enthusiasm for is Kelliher's running mate, John Gunyou.  He was the Finance Commissioner for the last good Republican governor of Minnesota, Arne Carlson, and he is the city manager of Minnetonka.  Every few months he has submitted an op-ed article on good governance.  I have emailed him from time to time and he has responded graciously.  I once wrote him that I was looking for the Governance Party instead of the Groveling Party and the Grumbling Party.

Will moderates be returning to Minnesota state government?

I don't have any great hopes for seeing this happen in a big way soon, but a wedge has been put in to create an opening.  Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the DFL-nominated candidate for governor, has chosen John Gunyou as her running mate.

John Gunyou was Finance Commissioner under Arne Carlson, the last state-wide moderate Republican.  He has written many op-ed pieces for the Star Tribune criticizing the many ideologues in politics, especially Republicans.  I've saved five of them.

One of my favorites is "Taxpayer's League's model for governing", Star Tribune, 2006-06-15.  Sorry, it's no longer available online.  His opening is priceless:

"Here's a civics question to start the day. Who provides your public services like police and fire protection, education, parks and roads? Is it: (a) cities, counties and schools, (b) Uncle Sam & Cousin Tim, or (c) the Minnesota Taxpayers League?
Listening to the Taxpayers League and their political sycophants crow about our state's drop in tax rankings is a little hard to take for those of us actually responsible for delivering the services those taxes pay for. It's a whole lot easier to pontificate about downsizing government when you don't have to figure out how to stretch shrinking resources to patch crumbling streets."

Among other things he points out is the Taxpayer's League doesn't consider that the price of asphalt has gone up but the cities's share of the unchanged gas tax has not gone up.  As citizens' two biggest concerns are speeding and road repair.  Gunyou proposed that his city solve these with less taxes by having inverted speed bumps.  He had a couple of other tongue-in-cheek ideas for getting something for nothing.

If you are a Minnesota voter, I highly recommend looking up his commentaries in your nearest public library.  That is, if it is still open and at a time convenient to you.

I was planning to cast a blank ballot in the August primaries, but now I will be sure to put an X next to Kelliher/Gunyou.  Also, after I post this I'll make a small contribution to the Kelliher/Gunyou campaign.  Note that I am still a Party of One and do not contribute to parties.  Oh, the Coffee Party might be an exception.