Editorial: Past may not bode well for Seifert

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So Marty Seifert wants to be Minnesota’s next governor. We wish him well with his campaign, and what a campaign it should be — we’ve already got more than a dozen declared candidates, and we’ve still got nearly 16 months until Election Day 2010.

There is no doubt Seifert is a smart man with good ideas. We are fond of his proposal — which he detailed in Worthington last week — to reform the state’s welfare card system, in particular. But even casual followers of the state political scene can probably realize that Seifert faces a couple of obstacles to winning the state’s highest office.

As House Minority Leader, Seifert (R-Marshall) was one of the more visible legislators in the state during a session that left many angry and frustrated. Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment decision, which has proven to be unpopular in several quarters, was a direct result of a stalemate between legislators, and Seifert could see some backlash from that standpoint. A Daily Globe Internet poll earlier this week on Seifert’s gubernatorial prospects had its highest percentage of respondents — 43.3 percent — choose the option, “No, he’s a legislator and there was not enough accomplished this past session.”

Seifert won’t be the Republicans’ leader in the House in 2010, but perhaps a good session can pay dividends for him. Still, there are some folks who may remember how Seifert punished the six GOP representatives who voted to override Pawlenty’s transportation bill veto in 2008. For people who desire bipartisanship — even the right for a politician to think on an individual level — this may be a reason to keep Seifert out of the governor’s office.

Tags: marty seifert, opinion, editorials, minnesota