A good man; a fine man - but is he electable?

 

Coming up in the primary, MNGOP will have a black man with zero government experience (yet great military and business experience), going up against a black woman with very good government experience (Speaker of the House in MN), and a white guy who through his business (My Pillow) has a ton of name recognition. That is it. Unless somebody drops out, the stage is set.

I pen this article this morning will malice towards none - it is just my observation from my perch at 30,000 feet. Kendall Qualls is the endorsed candidate of MNGOP to run for governor. If he makes it past the primary (and there are some seeds of doubt which have been sown about that outcome), Mr. Qualls will meet Hot Dish Amy in the general election. And based on recent history, the chances of ANYBODY winning a state office in this twisted state - is nebulous at best. 

I have never met Kendall Qualls. Never talked to him on the phone. So, most of what I am posting this morning is either anecdotal or my observations from afar. One of the wraps I have heard from some about Kendall is his toughness. Is he tough enough to enter this arena. We know he is physically tough as he served as a Field Artillery Officer (holding a TS clearance) for some years in the United States Army. We know he is intellectually tough enough, as in business he worked in the healthcare industry and rose through the ranks to become a global vice president of a business unit. But the question remains - is he tough enough to survive the rigors and slings of a primary (with fellow Republicans no less), and then on to the real arena, a cage match with Amy Klobuchar in the general election.

Then comes the real bug-a-boo. I have addressed this before. Amy has been around for just short of forever. Her dad was around even longer. Klobuchar is a well-known (maybe not respected but well known) name. And because of that, not only the legions of Yellow Dog Democrats will come out to vote, as well as scores of uninformed and underinformed voters that turn out to vote every other year, and you have a tough hill for Kendall Qualls to climb. That is why some in the primary are leaning towards a vote for Lisa Demuth, endorsed or not.

If I were on Kendall's campaign team (I was on Jeff Johnson's team twice), I would advise him to go on a blizzard of radio and TV appearances. BE SPECIFIC on how or what he will do to make things better in this state. Amy has already been out there not only promising two chickens in every pot, but also to build 100,000 new houses in Minnesota. Where is the money coming from to do that? Maybe some claw back money from Somalia.

Coming up in the primary, MNGOP will have a black man with zero government experience (yet great military and business experience), going up against a black woman with very good government experience (Speaker of the House in MN), and a white guy who through his business (My Pillow) has a ton of name recognition. That is it. Unless somebody drops out, the stage is set.

If I were a betting man, I would say if the primary were held tomorrow, Lisa might have the edge. Why? It is about time we had a woman (and a strong one at that) run for governor on the red side. And many of the 2A folks love her for standing strong against the gun grabbers during the last session. As far as Kendall is concerned, he needs to get known and show some true grit before August. And as most of us Minnesotans know, time goes fast, as summer does fly by.