Some people out there think the Republican Party of Minnesota should take the advice of Democrats when picking our nominee for Governor. You’ll hear and see quips about Tom Emmer being unelectable and mentions of his temperament. That’s usually the defense used by those who are less apealing to their base or the voters on the issues.

And do I need to remind people how well the 2008 Presidential race went for us when we let the media and Democrats who just wanted a Republican they could vote for pick our “likeable” Republican who could get along with Democrats?

Now I’m not saying that we need to adopt Democratic tactics of going it alone, but I am not one who sees much benefit to checking our principles and common sense values at the door when it comes time for budget and policy negotiations. There’s some evidence out there to prove that when a Republican is determined to compromise with Democrats things go terribly bad. Not for just the party, but for the State and Nation.

The Minnesota budget is a hodgepodge of liberal programs that have been marginally improved on (restrained) by Republicans, but in the long run Minnesota is still recognizable as a Blue State, not Red, not even really Purple, BLUE. High entitlement legacy costs not to mention mandates galore to make our economic climate less appealing and very restrictive.

The easiest way to expose the missed opportunities for Republicans can be when Pawlenty spent the $2.2 Billion surplus a couple years back. Oh and let’s not forget his slip of “the era of small government is over.” We had a chance to improve the hue of Minnesota, but we didn’t want to be seen as bitter and angry. So we compromised with Democrats, getting no credit from them for such, and we have bombshell deficits to deal with. We didn’t curtail runaway spending when we had the chance.

On the national front, things were even worse for Bush and Republicans. They lost their common sense and principles and compromised with Democrats and spending, entitlements, and the size of government all grew exponentially. The things that make Bush a bad President weren’t conservative items, they were liberal or Democratic agenda items that Bush and Congress did. Capitalism failed? Free markets failed? Limited Government failed? Hogwash, we never tried those solutions.

The story of the Governor’s race here is not one of electability or temperment, but rather that when Republicans work with Democrats on the art of compromise, it seems only Democratic agenda items win and the citizens lose. Bush’s downfall and Pawlenty’s heavy history hanging like an anchor on his 2012 run are that spending went up under both Republicans. Mandates and economic interventions also led to the bubbles which had no where to go but into the ceiling fans to splash down and drench the citizens.

Conservative principles are not hyper partisan. Oh sure, I know that people on the left will scoff at that, but that’s because they know the truth. That conservative principles are not only what our nation was founded on, but that is what is best for the citizens.

And that’s the whole key here. It is one thing to go in and negotiate and make sure you leave the room with a smiling one liner but it is something else altogether to go into the room with out preconditions. What Republican leaders were lacking in the last few years at those negotiating tables was principles like these:

• Is it Constitutional?
• Is it really a core mission of State government or is it something best left to municipalities, or God forbid the private sector?
• Will this program burden future generations and mean less freedom and liberty?

You see, it all really comes down to spending. When Government doesn’t have the money to use for feel good social engineering, it can’t redistribute wealth and ration freedom.

Gary at Let Freedom Ring has a post up debunking a lame attack on Tom Emmer’s principles from the DFL. He ends it with this:

Finally, what’s evident is that Chairman Melendez doesn’t like it when the DFL doesn’t get its way. He’d rather see Republicans moving in his direction. Thankfully for conservatives, Tom Emmer thinks that the purpose behind reaching across to the other side of the aisle is to pull the DFL in our direction.

Tom’s principled conservatism is appealing to a wide range of voters, from conservatives to common sense independents to conservative Democrats. That’s the type of coalition we’ll need to keep the governor’s mansion in GOP hands.

That is what is really key here going into the battle to replace Tim Pawlenty. Today’s Democrat Party leaders are Progressives. The agenda of the Democrat party is radically left and will, to quote their dear leader, “fundamentally transform our society”. Progressive politics is all about getting to the end goal, but they are willing to take baby steps all along the way.

The want single payer government run socialized health care, but they are willing to take mandated insurance as a first step. Why? Because they know that once the ball gets rolling towards their dream, it will be a matter of time. The rolling stone gathers no moss theory. Private insurance will be put on the endangered species list if the mandate passes and it included price controls. It will be only a matter of time before Government “HAS NO CHOICE” but to take over all of health care.

Democrats want Marxist wealth redistribution where the so-called rich have their money confiscated and either directly sent to others, or used to subsidize social engineering.

I could go on, the Progressives have a long laundry list of unAmerican and anti-Freedom agenda items. They will continue to try to enact them. The key to the survival of our society and nation is to stop them from opening the barn door. How do we do that? We make sure the person we send into negotiations is going to have the right principles and ability to say no to the things that Government has no responsibility doing.

Both Republicans in the Governor’s race, Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert, are far better suited to represent the population as the adult in the negotiating room then any of the DFLers currently running. Heck, some of them are so delusional that they think that confiscatory taxes are patriotic and we aren’t really a patriotic state yet.

But between Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert are a couple of giant issues that set them apart. First, Seifert has been in the Legislature for all of his adult life. For 12 or so years he has been compromising and negotiating in the realm of politics and the public sector. There’s been a few times that he had the chance to stand on principle when he instead followed the lead of Pawlenty. When the fire was the hottest and the heat was on from the left, Seifert shied away from the flames.

Sure, it can be said that it is better to get something done then it is to go down swinging. But as Governor, you set the agenda and most importantly, you have the final say. We have the opportunity to send a guy who has actually signed the front of the checks to the Governor’s mansion. A guy who has run a business, seen what his father had to do when times were tough for his business. He knows that sometimes you have to drain the pool and set aside fun when the going gets tough.

So back to the Electability dig that is being used by everyone with a stake in the Governor’s race besides Tom Emmer.

Here’s the stage for the 2010 elections. Washington is out of control and so disconnected from the people that they know the public can’t even see or read the laws they are trying to pass or they’d show up with pitch forks to literally throw them out of office. The same thing is happening in St. Paul. Democrats are fast tracking boondoggles, entitlements, and debt that will be long lasting. They are doing this because they know that their days in power are numbered. It is now or never for them.

The mistake that was the 2008 election cycle is going to be corrected in November. It isn’t a matter of if Republicans will pick up seats, but how many. The public is angry at Democrats. They are angry at all career politicians who drip condescension and believe they are smarter then the average Joe.

To me the only thing that Republicans could do to screw this election up would be to put forth a career politician or have another Abramoff/Foley kind of scandal or series of. Well, the later seems to be clearly happening to the Democrats and our side seems to have finally learned our lesson.

Would you rather have a guy who has sat at the desk in his private business who has read the news about the latest fiasco boondoggle mandate or spending spree  that Government has just undertaken and  now has to figure out how to make ends meet because of it? A guy who knows how this will affect the bottom line and more importantly their employees who are counting on that paycheck not bouncing?Or would you rather have a guy who has had one liners in those news stories that people got so upset about. Part of the problem or someone with a solution?

Tom Emmer’s “temperament” is an attack line from his opponents on both sides. I don’t think he is an angry guy, but he is a guy who gets passionate when he sees what is happening to our state. He’s got a fire in his belly that gets boiling when people try to do bad things. Folks, that’s a good thing. You want someone who won’t just sit there.  I’d much rather have a guy who will say something when someone on the left is trying to do somethign really really bad.

Call me crazy but I think the public may just well share that same sentiment right now if you haven’t noticed. People are sick of government and politicians lecturing them.

Ah, this was supposed to be a short rant, but as usual I got long winded.

And as usual someone else found a way to sum up my thoughts short and sweet. Check out Chief’s post. Emmer And Seifert: Candidates For The Taxpayer

With the Legislators who have been a little better at fighting against out of control taxes and spending, Tom Emmer’s team has a better record. Add that notion to the fact that Tom Emmer has solid private sector experience well. I think there’s a pretty electable case to be made for Tom Emmer as the best choice for Governor.