Governor Emmer?

"And because we had this third party intrusion, Tom Emmer lost in a squeaker."

Life in the land of unintended consequences. The other day when our current unfit Governor made yet another proclamation about banning "unnecessary travel" to a state in which he did not agree with, all I could do was shake my head. How did we get such a boob as our Governor in the first place? Is this really the best we could have done? Get a guy that was such a lousy Senator, he was voted one of the five worst of all time? 

In 2010, when after the primary was over and the convention finished, Tom Emmer stood as the party's representative to go up against one the weakest Democratic candidates in the history of mankind. Then it happened. We had our own version of Benedict Arnold. Tom Horner, a lifelong Republican, decided to join the party of Jesse Ventura. He ran as a third party candidate under the Independence Party.

All of a sudden, this contest which should have been as easy as picking low fruit off a tree became very close. Too close. And because we had this third party intrusion, Tom Emmer lost in a squeaker. How much of a squeaker for those who do not remember? Dayton - 43.63%; Emmer - 43.21%; Horner - 11.94%. I have NEVER forgiven Tom Horner for handing us (on a platter), our ill-equipped Governor. Never. 

Why do I bring up this ancient state history in 2016? Simple. For those who do not learn from history, are condemned to repeat it. As fractured as the Republican Party is right now, I can easily see one of the three running for President pulling a Tom Horner. And that would hand us (on a platter) Hillary "Perp Walk" Clinton as our next President. And like Horner, the person running third party would "feel good about making a statement". Meanwhile, the unintended consequences would be disastrous for our country.

Back to the 2010 Governor's race one more time. Okay, maybe the loss was not the total fault of Tom Horner. When you mix in the extraordinary amount of potential and real voter fraud in Minnesota, maybe that was the tipping point also. All I know is this - we now have Congressman Emmer and Governor Dayton. Who knows what Horner is doing right now. And as much as I like Tom Emmer as my Congressman, I would have still have preferred to have him as my Governor.