A trail well traveled

"One more thing before I hang this one up. Ever wonder why the Democrats are already focusing their fire on Jeff's opponent? Is it because he is expected to win? Maybe and maybe not. It might just be there is no dirt on Jeff to dig up."

Today, my wife and I were with Jeff Johnson (again) on the campaign trail. The percentage of time we have spent on the trail with Jeff and Donna Bergstrom is probably less than one percent. Donna and Jeff are all over the place, all the time. And there is a HUGE reason for it.

Jeff's competitor (who for the sake of this posting will remain nameless), loves to point out that Jeff Johnson lost two statewide elections. When Jeff hears that accusation, he does not bow his head in shame. There are two very good reasons why he lost, and he does not mind discussing them. 

In 2006, once Mike Hatch decided not run again, the Attorney General's seat was open. Well, that is not really true. Since the AG position has been held by Democrats since before I started to shave, it was somewhat of a long shot to get a Republican elected. However, Jeff has an impeccable legal resume. After he triple majored at Concordia in Moorhead, MN, he was accepted to the Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. After that, he practiced law with some well known law firms.

But (and this is a big one), old habits are hard to break. Even though Jeff was parsecs more qualified than Lori Swanson in education and experience, she had the (D) behind her name. Jeff lost, and the Republican drought for that position goes on. Please Doug Wardlow - put and end to this drought!

Then there was the last Governor's race. After Mark Dayton, for reasons yet unknown, beat the highly respected Tom Emmer in the 2010 election, Jeff made a decision. Jeff decided (in a very crowded, and competitive field), to have a go at Mark Dayton in 2014. Jeff was better than Dayton in every metric known to man - except one. Because Dayton was a former US Senator (although a lousy one), PLUS a sitting Governor, his name recognition was state wide. Jeff's was not. Jeff did what he could to close that name recognition gap, but simply ran out of time. If the race lasted two more weeks, he might have won it. But that was the lessons learned. That would NEVER happen to him again! Lack of name recognition would never again be his demise.

Jeff's primary competitor, who really has no new news, no new platform, is relying on his name recognition (like Dayton did) to win the day on August 14th. "Not so fast, sir", saith Jeff and his team. "We know how this is played." Rather than relying on negative and false TV ads, Jeff is out MEETING the voters face to face, shaking hand by hand, and talking and listening to them. Is he talking trash about any Republican primary opponent? No - not really. I have heard him. I have been with him. He mostly talking about a better Minnesota. One which is within our grasp, should we decide to get rid of the status quo.

I don't know if Jeff likes this or not when I say this, but since it is my blog, I will say it anyhow. Jeff Johnson is a decent man. Not a weak man, a decent man. He wants decent government in Minnesota. There is SO MUCH wrong right now with how this state is run, Jeff will be like a kid in a candy store fixing the broken. Yes, there are areas which are really that broken. That is why our taxes are so high, our government so huge, medical insurance payments out of sight, and utility bills going up and up. 

NEWS FLASH: Four years or more of Jeff Johnson could change this state - forever. We have already tried eight years of his primary challenger. What did we get? More of the same. More taxes, more growth, more Met Council, more fees, and more status quo. That is Obama type of hope and change. 

One more thing before I hang this one up. Ever wonder why the Democrats are already focusing their fire on Jeff's opponent? Is it because he is expected to win? Maybe and maybe not. It might just be there is no dirt on Jeff to dig up. I can't wait to see the ads which start appearing on August 15th. The ones trying to rip Jeff to shreds. Good luck on that one. Jeff has a record he proudly stands behind.