One week out

We'll know more, potentially a lot more around this time a week from today. A few thoughts concerning where we are:

• Despite all the heavy lifting that the local newspapers and superannuated Republicans have done on his behalf, it looks like Tom Horner is starting to fade, Tim Penny-style, and that means the gubernatorial election is going to be between Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton after all. That's probably just as well, because it means there is a clear choice for voters to make. Do you believe that Mark Dayton's plan to raise taxes to pay for more spending is the way to go, or do you believe that Emmer's more austere approach is better? There are a lot of people who will have to weigh that question closely. I remain hopeful that the undecideds will break Emmer's way, but it's not clear that they will.
• There's been some outrage about the 8-year old video circulating on the web that features Betty McCollum purposely leaving out the words "under God" when she led a reading of the Pledge of Allegiance in Congress. I can think of a dozen reasons why Betty should be retired, but this isn't one of them. What is valuable about this kerfuffle is this: Betty has largely been invisible during her decade in Washington -- she's a one-woman echo chamber for Nancy Pelosi -- but the rest of the world now understands what a dunderhead we have representing us the 4th District. Teresa Collett is a fantastic candidate facing an uphill struggle against the DFL muscle in St. Paul that keeps McCollum employed. I've spoken with Teresa during a number of events this year and she's whip-smart, quick on her feet and knows policy up and down. In a normal congressional district, Collett would win easily, but districts don't get much more blue than the 4th.
• Although I haven't lived there in over 25 years, I still care a great deal about the 8th Congressional District in Wisconsin. I grew up in the district and it's been distressing to see it represented for the past four years by a very odious fellow, Steve Kagen. Kagen got swept in during the 2006 wave election and held his seat in 2008 while riding Barack Obama's coattails. This year he's in a lot of trouble and it appears likely that he is going to lose to a political newcomer named Reid Ribble. I'm fond of candidates like Ribble, who take the Cincinnatus approach -- he's been a highly successful businessman in the roofing business and has also been a high school volleyball coach. He's the sort of guy who gets into politics because he sees problems that need to be solved. It looks like he's going to win and that's a happy thing. I'm also hopeful that he can light a fire under the long-time Republican congressman who represents the adjoining 6th District, Tom Petri, who is too much of a careerist for my taste.