Pass-the-Buck Tim has a long list of accomplishments as Governor, if you're going by criteria that impresses Republicans.
1. Under his watch, MN has fallen from having among the best quality of life in the nation (generally top 5) to just about average.
2. Under his watch, our state has fallen from one of the best-funded and best-performing school systems to somewhat above middle of the pack and chronically underfunded
3. He has placated the Christian right whenever and however possible
4. He has slashed health care spending to near-record lows (in MNCare's history) despite the overwhelming opposition of the Legislature
5. He vetoed a badly-needed bill to save the state's transportation infrastructure and punished moderate Republicans who helped override his veto
6. He appointed a partisan hack to head and de-fund the DOT, then stood back and blamed others when a major bridge collapsed
7. His tax cuts for the rich and unallotments have forced local property tax hikes, especially in the larger metro areas, allowing him to blame local Democrats for raising taxes
8. In the midst of one of the state's worst budget crises, he refused to give up on any pet programs or tax cuts and unilaterally stripped funds from social programs without consent of the Legislature; for the rest of the shortfall he borrowed against the state's future
And the list goes on and on. All this from a guy who never topped 47% of the vote or a 1% margin in any statewide election.
more.
The '12 election is starting to shape up like the 1996 race. Because Romney supported Universal Health Care in Massachusetts and because the Evangelicals don't care for Mormon's allows for a possible break in the GOPs tradition of nominating the first runner-up in the previous nomination cycle, but there is a lack of Heavy Weight contenders that makes it likely that the sharps and the money guys stay further away from the GOP then normal. If the economy doesn't continue to steadily get better then Obama might have a problem, but even then the GOP doesn't have anyone who can communicate on his level and/or melds the different factions like Evangelicals and Social Libertarians together. It's getting to the point where half of the GOP thinks people like McCain, Dole, and Bush are too liberal, so in all likelihood they'll nominate a Goldwater, (but without the brain power), level candidate and get plowed.
The Congress in 2010 depends on turning out voters like we did in 08'. That's more doable then people think. Throw away the old model that the President's party will always lose seats in an off year election. The intangibles and demographics have changed but so has the technology around turning voters out. Obama has big coat tails, bigger then Bill Clintons. The voters will be there, because we have better candidates, the fact that the NJ and VA Governor's Races have drawn closer is a testament to the fact that when you match our candidates head-to-head with the GOPs candidate, we offer better choices. The rebuilding that the Democrats did 2000-08, where we decided to better select candidates and use better software to focus on turning out individual voters, works. Barack Hussein Obama won Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, and Ohio... it works if you work it. Only the Democrats can stop the Democrats, only we rest on our laurels, only if we fall into the same old traps of entitlement and hubris that Party's in power usually fall in to, can we fail the people. I still think a re-commitment to case work on the Congressional Level would also help the Democrats maintain their majority levels.
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