Posted on 01/17/2010 10:43:24 PM PST by MplsSteve
Former Senator Norm Coleman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Political Reporter Tom Hauser Sunday he will not be running for governor in 2010.
He made the official announcement on his Facebook page late Sunday night. He released the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS ahead of the announcement.
"I love Minnesota and I love public service, but this is not the right time for me and my family to conduct a campaign for Governor.
Timing is everything. The timing on this race is both a bit too soon and a bit too late. It is too soon after my last race and too late to do a proper job of seeking the support of delegates who will decide in which direction our party should go. The commitments I have to my family and the work I am currently engaged in do not allow me to now go forward.
At the moment, I am tremendously energized by the work I am currently involved in to create a positive, center right agenda for this country. Anger on the left and anger on the right will get us nowhere. In Minnesota, we face a jobs deficit, a budget deficit and a bipartisanship deficit. We must all put aside the bitterness and sniping and remember that behind every job loss and every home foreclosure is a Minnesota family losing hope and confidence.
(Excerpt) Read more at kstp.com ...
It's not because he's a RINO. He's not. He voted with the GOP more often than he didn't.
But my biggest concern is that Coleman lost to Al Franken. There's absolutely no reason in hell Coleman should have lost to Al Franken.
None whatsoever.
He was nearly invisible in his six years in the Senate. His campaign for re-election was extremely insipid and worse yet, his campaign's efforts during the recount were poorly conducted.
In short, I couldn't support someone who has lost elections to two of the biggest ass-clowns in Minnesota politics, Jesse Ventura and Al Franken.
Now Norm, please go away for good.
Comments or opinions - anyone?
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I relished Ventura’s victory. I got to watch Don Shelby almost crap his pants on live television. That alone was worth the price of admission.
APf
Well, the election was, simply put, stolen. Coleman really would’ve preferred the Governorship, anyway. Hopefully we’ll still retain it, despite the rank incompetence of Pawlenty, who has drastically shrunk the state party on his watch.
And he also lost to Jesse Ventura. That hardly looks good on a resume.
I’m with ya. Norm rolled over and died when it came to fighting for his senate seat and now we’re looking at obamacare as a consequence.
Go pound sand norm, you loser.
But I was just polled, Coleman or Mark Dayton? My answer; c. None of the Above
Yep, Pawlenty has been a good bench warmer for a Democrat to take over where they left off at, high tax rates and big spending
When a gang of people rushed into the Republican Election night party in 2002 screaming “We have 50, we have 50” I thought DFL Don was going to break out crying.
Good summary. He energizes the democrats since they consider him (with good reason) to be a turn coat. He began his career as a democrat.
If you can’t even beat an insane person, I mean really..
I agree, just go away, Norm.
Go visit ANWR why don’tcha?
You’d likely still be sitting in your comfy Senate seat if you had voted Yes to drill there,, BUT NooOOOoooo...
Are the fish biting? :-)
That would be odd, Dick Cheney had to cajole him to run for Senate instead of Governor in 2002, he never wanted to be a Senator he just did the party a favor.
Polls show the GOP nod this year would be his to lose.
He might be done with running for office.
“I suspect Norm will wait and run against Klobucher in the next Senate election”
With Coleman and Ramstad out, does this mean Mr. Marshall Fields/Target man buys the Governor race?
If the DFL controls redistricting, then say goodbye to Michelle Bachmann in 2012.
Perhaps Coleman is burned out from all the campaigning.
He campaigned in 1998, then in 2002, then in 2008. That’s not all that much campaigning over the past 12 years for someone that has been in politics for a couple of decades.
Maybe he doesn’t want to be governor or Senator, though.
You are right. It may be that Coleman thinks MN voters are more liberal than they are, and he always tried to “reach out” and got his arm chopped off. Coleman couldn’t have lost much more than he did by fighting harder.
Mark Dayton might try, but I don’t think the DFL grassroots is very enamored of him, they know he’s a total flake who quickly bores once he gets a job (he’s never run for reelection to anything). He quit his Senate seat also after it was becoming apparent he’d probably lose reelection to GOP then-Congressman Mark Kennedy. Dayton, however, would also be such a fiasco as Governor that he’d be the best thing to happen to the MN GOP to revitalize their sagging fortunes under Pawlenty.
My gut feeling is the DFL grassroots is behind Matt Entenza, although Minneapolis R.T. Rybak may also be a contender. Handicapping the GOP side is also a problematic, I’d think ex-Spkr. Marty Seifert might be the strongest, but in such a heavily divided field, anybody could emerge.
As for Bachmann and redistricting, MN may lose a seat (the only real growth in the state has been occurring in two of the GOP districts, the 2nd, and Bachmann’s 6th). If they try to exact revenge on her (if the DFL is in total control), that could backfire. Pushing her out may embolden her to run against Sen. Klobuchar. Personally, I’d probably eliminate Oberstar’s 8th district. It keeps having to extend outwards every 10 years. The only other alternative is to get creative in placing both the moonbats from Minneapolis and St. Paul in one district, but that could jeopardize the surrounding GOP suburbs (which would include Bachmann).
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