Hannah Barred-bera

So IP candidate Hannah Nicollet is not going to be participating in the next gubernatorial debate:

For the first time in at least four campaigns, the Democratic and Republican nominees were gearing up to go one-on-one.

Incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP rival Jeff Johnson were due to meet Tuesday on a debate stage in Duluth. The local chamber of commerce sponsoring the debate didn't invite Independence Party nominee Hannah Nicollet.

A few observations:

• It's been silly to call the Independence Party a major party for a very long time now. While it's played a spoiler role in several elections, we're a long way from 1998 and the IP hasn't come close to electing anyone to statewide office since then.
• Jeff Johnson would much rather be able to go after Mark Dayton directly than have to share time with Nicollet. This is hardly surprising, since his best chance to show he's governor material is by direct comparison with the incumbent.
• Just wondering -- what is Mark Dayton's second-term agenda? He's spent most of the campaign taking credit for the Better Minnesota he's purportedly created, but there's not been much about what he's going to do with the next four years. Maybe someone could ask him about that today.
• Based on what I've been able to observe, Hannah Nicollet has promise, but there's no reason to believe she could be an effective governor at this point in her political career. If we had a black swan event and she somehow found a way to win, she'd have no party support and would be whipsawed by the established sharks in St. Paul. If she is serious about public service via politics, what she really ought to do is to run for the state senate in 2016. She is a Roseville resident and the incumbent there is John Marty, who has been in office for a very long time and hasn't provided much other than sanctimonious pronouncements. No matter what banner she chose -- IP, Republican or DFL via primary, Nicollet would have a chance to establish some bona fides by running against a guy who is ripe for replacement. It's worth remembering that Nicollet is still quite young and could, if she played her cards right, be a formidable competitor for higher office in later years.