Let The Sideshow Begin

Image via WikipediaWith the primaries over and the Minnesota State Fair upon us, we can reasonably expect the Governor's race to get a bit more serious, right?  Not so fast.

• Mark Dayton, the DFL candidate, took time out from his 'tax the rich' mantra to complain about the presence of 'trackers' in his campaign.  They're the army of people apparently hired by the GOP to follow Dayton everywhere, using digital video cameras to catch him in an embarrassing moment.  Well, they have one to their credit so far:  Catching Dayton making phone calls to staffers, making sure that his two dogs don't suffocate in a hot car.  This might lose votes for the former U.S. Senator among animal lovers, but at least there's no mistress involved that we know of.  Previously, Dayton asked for a "cease-fire" on all the negative advertising.  This is 2010, Senator.  Like it or not, negative campaigning has become a way of life in politics.
• As Target is taking more hits to its reputation for giving money to an organization that supports Republican candidate Tom Emmer, a candidate who has anti-gay views, MSNBC has rejected a request by the progressive site MoveOn.org to air its ads supporting a boycott of the Minnesota-based retailer.  Why would the network of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, do this, you ask?  MSNBC says that the ads violated their policy of not attacking certain companies directly.  Besides, current owner General Electric (until the Comcast-NBC merger is approved) needs a place to sell its light bulbs.  MoveOn did succeed in getting three of the four Twin Cities network affiliates (WCCO, KSTP and KARE) to air their ad.
• Someone with too much time on their hands posted a video on the website for the GOP in Senate District 56, covering Lino Lakes.  On it was a not-too-subtle comparison between Republican and Democratic women.  Can you guess which party's women were considered hot-looking and which ones were not, thanks to the magic of Photoshop?  The video was taken down after officials from both parties complained.  All of which proves that being beautiful is not a job requirement if you want to succeed in politics.  Or is it?
• Of the political ads currently running on TV, they tell us that (A) Dayton is "too risky" to be Minnesota's governor because of his erratic stint in the Senate in which even he gave himself a failing grade, (B) Emmer missed a few votes as a state legislator, and (C) Independence party candidate Tom Horner wants us to know that he isn't as extreme as the other guys.  So his ad features a man whose eyeballs go too far to the left AND right.  Creepy, no?

Unfortunately, all of this sideshow stuff belongs on the State Fair's Midway.  They do nothing to better educate the voters about the person they'd like to see as Minnesota's next governor.  As the weather cools down, that may change.  Or not.