Commentary; Posted: 1/18/06
Gubernatorial politics off to a fast start with the entry of ëThe Impalerí
T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Gubernatorial politics the first days of the new year brought skirmishing, a running mate selection, the political emergence of the undead.
Itís been busy.
Attorney General Mike Hatch began 2006 with a focus on privacy law, an exercise which evoked sharp words for the man he hopes to replace, Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Hatch, to whom a shrinking violet is a consumer issue, let loose at the governor, labeling him ìCulprit Number Oneî in allowing Minnesota driverís license data to slip out and be used by scam artists.
But in a jujitsu move, Pawlenty, though sounding alarm bells over Hatchís rhetoric, agreed with the attorney generalís main thrust on the need for addressing privacy issues.
The sound of something deflating was almost audible.
A gentler Hatch later questioned Pawlentyís pedigree as a privacy advocate, but also backed his biometrics proposal ó the scanning of faces as a means of certifying the person pictured on a driverís license is really the one whose name appears.
Thus ended Round One, with both gentlemen adjusting their ties and returning to their offices on opposite sides of the Capitol hall.
A dynamic of a campaign appeared: fire and ice.
Wealthy businessman Kelly Doran made a big step in his campaign for governor by selecting Sen. Sheila Kiscaden of Rochester as his running mate.
Kiscaden, who has evolved or devolved, depending on point of view, from the Republican to Independence to the Democratic party, is a serious lawmaker, comfortable in front of TV cameras.
Yet some reporters were left pondering why Doran made the choice.
Presumably, the Doran/Kiscaden ticket will appear on the ballot in the Democratic primary.
Assuming the bulk of the voters going to the polls on primary election day are activists, people wondered whether Kiscaden will attract support from more liberal voters.
(Or is Doran the more liberal of the two?)
Doran and Kiscaden ó the latter a self-diagnosed centralist ó talk of a changing Democratic Party and appealing to the mainstream crowd.
In a hard rain on primary day, will they show up?
Certainly the most colorful manifestation of the gubernatorial race in young 2006 was the entry of Jonathon ìThe Impalerî Sharkey into it.
A resident of Princeton, Sharkey is the hope of the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party.
His proposal for dealing with evildoers in the state is to impale them outside the Capitol like memos on an office spike.
Sharkeyís gubernatorial announcement on Friday the 13th in Princeton drew television crews from the big city and Sharkeyís dietary and political convictions were widely reported in the media.
Pawlenty on Friday morning commented that it takes all kinds, which may set a new standard for understatement for months to come.
Still, perhaps thereís no reason why a vampire canít be governor.
The Capitol rotunda is certainly cavernous and the building lacks a Hall of Mirrors where the absence of a reflection might mare important bill signings.
Backbiting, if not neckbiting, is well established in politics.
Anyway, the gubernatorial campaign season is obviously underway.
Itís somewhat curious, though, to note that the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party has attracted more intensive media coverage recently than Minnesotaís third major political party, the Independence Party.
Of course, the Independence Partyís apparent gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson hasnít yet declared his candidacy.
State Party Chairman Jim Moore indicated that would come at the end of the month.
But late last week, Minnesota gubernatorial politics focused on a different figure in the shadows.
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