Press Release from Mark Dayton's Campaign

Dayton Campaign Releases Two New TV Ads


Today, Mark Dayton's campaign for Governor released two new television ads, which will be running statewide.

You can view the ads by visiting the following link: http://markdayton.org/mainsite/video-archives/2010/06/29/2-new-tv-ads/

WHY I AM NO LONGER SUPPORTING MARK DAYTON

How long should you support a losing campaign? Until it becomes not viable, like in the subcaucus process? Or just until your support is no longer wanted or appreciated? Or until all your efforts are wiped out by all the negative comments all across Minnesota? Is it even feasible to try to undo or respond to all those negative comments? It takes a lot out of you and is very depressing. There were days on end that I felt I was fighting a losing battle. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to keep fighting against misrepresentations and half-truths that never stop circulating about a particular candidate. I'm so tired. My liver is failing, yet I thought it would be so great to do one last good thing. Help get a DFL candidate elected as the next Minnesota governor.

If a campaign doesn't want my support, then I'll just say okay and move on. Which should be fine, except it really hurts. And Mark Dayton doesn't deserve my support. Not at all. I will give it instead to a candidate who doesn't keep doing idiotic things. Someone like R. T. Rybak, Paul Thissen or Matt Entenza.  Maybe I'll back Margaret.

If the Dayton campaign does win the primary, it would get slaughtered at the general election in November. There is no doubt at all about that. Dayton should just drop out of the race for the good of the DFL party. Like he did when he left his one and only Senate term.

I guess we all know which campaign I'm talking about. The one I've been promoting with glorious adjectives of commendation all across the internet and all across the state. On newpaper and magazine comment boxes, in obscure guestbooks and on numerous chatrooms.

At the AFSCME endorsement, we almost finished without an endorsement. There were a lot of members who didn't want to endorse the candidate that the board recommended. There were members who thought this candidate had obvious mental illness. I highly disagreed. I stood up twice to give a glowing report of him. I used all my persuasive speaking skills to exemplify his virtues. One person said he looked really old and reminded her of John McCain. I said, "Honey, if he's old, then more than half of us in this room are in big trouble." I happily spoke long and hard to get him the endorsement. Jennifer Munt, who works closely with Elliot Seide, told me that it was my speaking up that swayed the membership to endorse Mark Dayton. That's how he got that endorsement.

The Republicans keep saying that he's a weird, weird man. I always disagreed. After all, I was his biggest supporter. I believed in what I thought he stood for. I believed in the myth. I'm an idiot. A complete moron.

My son and his wife said, "Mom, if we meet a new friend and we want to know if he's any good, we're going to bring him over to meet you. If you like him, we'll know he's no good."

Seriously. They said that to me. It really makes me doubt myself.

A few blogs back, I posted the YouTube video of Mark Dayton's recent AFSCME speech. I thought he did a great job, so I said so on his Facebook page and gave the link. Poof! Deleted! Gone! Gosh, what was that all about?? Apparently it's because, as Dayton himself said several times, he wants to keep his page clear for his comments against Pawlenty and the Republican agenda. Although some of his Facebook friends told him that should not be part of his campaign, he does not listen. He recently told them they might be better off with another candidate. Indeed.

And now his Facebook page doesn't take any comments at all. He doesn't want the viewpoint of his "friends." He told me that if they don't like what he writes on his page, they shouldn't be on it. Now he wants everyone to go to his new Facebook Fan page. Hardly anyone is, at least so far. Fans are supposed to post discussions on various issues. No one is. I had posted several, but I deleted them all and left the group.

If Dayton gets to be governor, he will definitely be called Governor Dork. He doesn't have good judgement. We don't need another governor with bad judgement.

He's obsessed with Pawlenty to the point where his obsession is not good for him. I can see why he feels that way. Look what the Republicans did to his reputation in Washington. It was horrible. How could it not have affected him? I don't think that many of us even know how deeply. And now he wants to be governor so he can find redemption. That's not a good enough reason to elect him. He wants to campaign because it keeps him busy and that's the best thing for his health. I can understand that. But it's not a good reason to elect him governor. Neither is feeling sorry for him.

There sure are a lot of people who commented about how Dayton used to send Christmas letters every year with a lot of personal information in them about himself and his two divorces. They were very uncomfortable in receiving those letters. I suppose some will be uncomfortable reading this, too. Oh well. It's my blog. A blog is often like a diary. You're supposed to express your feelings, ideas and opinions.

I wrote a comment on the Facebook Progressive Caucus page regarding how Dayton was the best candidate. This was a few months back. One woman spat out that his ex-wife said he was a wimp. I was appalled, especially since Dayton was also a member of that group. I responded that no ex-wife has anything good to say about their ex-husband. That's pretty normal. Yet there have been a couple of occasions now where Dayton hides behind the skirts of his attorney instead of responding to something himself.

My heart is no longer with this candidate. He destroyed that. My logic says he's not the best choice. He's got too much baggage. He might be able to win the primary. Indeed, he's got an excellent chance. Then what? Then we lose at the general election? That's what many of my Facebook friends say. Maybe I should start listening to other people instead of always thinking I'm right about everything. See, I can't trust my own judgement anymore.

Did I like Dayton too much? Well of course. Like I said, I'm an idiot. The worst kind of fool. It doesn't matter. My liver is getting worse. I'm feeling the throes of depression. Everytime I try to do something good I get knocked down. Why bother trying?

I hate this disease. My liver doesn't make nearly enough cholesterol or vitamin D anymore. It doesn't properly process the dietary fat anymore, so look at me now. I will be glad when this life is over. I'll come back in my next life as a beautiful young rich healthy energetic Italian girl.

Well, the Dayton campaign told me that they have given me more than any other person in Minnesota. I have no idea what they are talking about. I'm the one who gave and gave and gave. What did they give? Oh, they talked to me. I know that I was a laughing stock to some of the staffers. They made that clear at MYDFL convention.

And what was up with him blowing up rats in the microwave? Sure, the rats were already dead. He was trying to thaw them out to feed his son's boa constricter. Apparently it's like trying to cook an egg in the microwave. In the shell. Lots of people found out, when microwaves first came on the market, that you can't do that. It was kind of humorous. But rats? He told the media that it took a week or two to clean up the mess. Ok, so he didn't know. You can't hold that against anyone. It's an honest mistake. The part that people wonder about is why he would tell that to the media. Is that an error in judgement? Do we want a governor who does not use good judgement? One incident, sure. Overlook it. But three or four? Or more?

I personally have a history of overlooking everything. I'm a pie in the sky kind of person. My glass was always half full. I spent most of my life looking at the world through rose colored glasses. That must not work because I always end up getting hurt. Really badly.

Maybe I was born to be a catalyst.

So is the Mark Dayton for a Better Minnesota a losing campaign? I would say so. And if they don't lose in August, then we all lose in November. It would have been better had I never become involved in politics. I just wanted to do something good.

I don't think Mark Dayton even wants to be governor. I think he just wants to campaign because he likes campaigning. He likes feeling important. He's sure not doing anything to ensure that he gets elected. Not very many people show up at his Meet and Greets on his 87 X 87 tour.

So goodbye, Mr. Dayton. It's your loss far more than it is mine. I could have helped you win. It would have been fun campaigning with you. Now I'll be campaigning against you. At least my eyes have been opened.

                                                                                                                             

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MARK DAYTON CENSORS BLOGGER

Mark Dayton

Mark Dayton or one of his staffers seached through my Facebook profile. It's like eavesdropping. You might find things you don't like. I don't know what he was upset about, since there were no names mentioned. There were no campaigns mentioned by name either. He somehow just assumed we were talking about his campaign. The reason we were talking about it is because we were wondering why his campaign was not going well and we were concerned about it.

Here's what the comment thread said. It started out wondering why only a few people came to the candidate's Meet & Greets. This is a reasonable question for supporters who are putting their time and money into a campaign. We want to know that the staffers are doing their job. Don't tell us it's none of our business. Perhaps Dayton should find ways to improve instead of rebuking criticism. Perhaps he should hire a motivational presenter to come in and teach the campaign how to be enthused and how to look and act enthused at events.

1st Person:  It doesn't look like very many people come to a certain candidate's Meet and Greets. Just a handful of mostly seniors.

2nd Person:  If it's the same one I'm thinking of, I saw it too....

1st Person:  All the pictures are like that. There aren't any with more than a dozen people. The campaign definitely needs revamping. It needs energizing. Someone on that staff is not doing their job.

2nd Person:  Don't know what's going on, but its NOT working. If I were to say one thing to them: This isn't theory and sitting in a classroom, kids, this is the REAL world. This race is going to get alot tougher.

1st Person:  I know. It's not looking good at all. His main campaign manager never seems to show much enthusiasm.

2nd Person:  Very unprepared and incompetent, but it might look good on a resume one day.

1st Person:  Enthusiasm is so important. I went to one event that he couldn't attend, but he had two staffers or volunteers there. It was the MYDFL convention. The two girls who were there on his behalf did a terrible job. I wanted to shoo them away and do it myself.

2nd Person:  Thats how I feel about the staffers. A race like this needs experienced, seasoned strategists. Makes me sad... :(

3rd Person:  I would love to be at all of them , but as you know I cannot drive, I am their in Spirit ...

1st Person:  I haven't been to any of them either. I'm sure they don't miss me.

4th Person:  Nothing wrong with us seniors. WE vote.

1st Person:  Yes, seniors always get out and vote. Kudos to us! And we're the largest percentage of the voters now.

After the Dayton campaign found this thread, I received this email from Dayton:

Since you asked how you can help my campaign, you can best do so by being consistently positive in your public comments about it -- or else, not commenting at all. In particular, your public criticisms of my staff are most unhelpful and most unwelcome.

My staff members are very dedicated women and men, who are doing their very best to help me win. I am a public political figure, and it is appropriate to criticize or attack me publicly. However, they are not public figures; and it is harmful and inappropriate, when you are critical of them.

Sincerely, Mark Dayton

Notice that when he's censoring, he signs with his full name, first and last, as opposed to his many, many previous emails to me in which he was just Mark when he signed.

And why does he think we were talking about his staff? Again, no names were mentioned. No candidate was mentioned. No campaign was mentioned. If he had kept quiet, no one would have known, and then he could train his staff to do better.

Listen, his staff includes some really great people. I can't say enough good things about their personalities and characters. But it takes enthusisam and motivated people to win a campaign. Is the campaign depressed because the candidate is depressed? The candidate sets the tone for the whole campaign. I can certainly attest to how down in the dumps depression can bring a person. It's like there's a big black cloud hovering around you.

I don't always feel like that though. Only when Dayton is reprimanding me. When he used to smile at me or grin when he saw me, like I did when I saw him or even thought about him, I would grin a great big grin that wouldn't go away. Seriously. It was almost like being back on the West Bank in 1968.

And now look what happened. War. Chaos. Insecurity. Rejection. Bleakness. No serendipity to be found. This is definitely not a viable situation. My stomach has sunk to the ground. I feel nervous, very very dreadfully nervous. Can't sleep, can't eat. My nerves are shot.

And then another email from him:

I welcome your continuing support – which is certainly your prerogative -- as long as you leave my staff entirely out of your comments. You are, of course, entitled to say whatever you want about me. Everyone else does!

No he's not welcoming my support...he's only saying that because it is my prerogative...neither he nor his campaign will even talk to me anymore.

Oh whine whine whine. And here I've been telling people that Mark Dayton never whines about anything. Some of his Facebook supporters disagree. Some think he whines about Pawlenty constantly. He talked about how horrible Pawlenty is that he rarely took time to discuss issues and what he was going to do to fix Minnesota should he get elected governor. A few too many people complained a few too many times. They didn't like that he wouldn't answer them. Instead, he just kept posting news stories about Pawlenty's latest misdeed. It was pointed out by one of his FB friends that we on his FB page already know how horrible Pawlenty is. She wanted to know what he was going to do about various issues should he be elected governor. Some people got so fed up with him that they said they weren't going to support him anymore.

So now he set up his FB wall so that no one can comment on anything. Then he set up another fan page where people are supposed to join that and then make comments about the issues. Except he has over 3,000 people on his Mark Dayton FB page and only 312 have joined his fan page. He'll get more, but not nearly as many. Being a complete dork about FB does not get you more supporters.

I don't know if it's Dayton making all these faux pauxs on FB or if it's his staff. At one point his staff had emailed me and said they don't have anything to do with his FB; he does it all himself. Then some time after that, when one of my posts was deleted, his deputy campaign manager emailed me and said that staff deleted it. Two different stories. Here's the email I received from his Deputy Campaign Manager.

Dear Colleen, Mark shared with me the Facebook message you sent to him this morning. Your subsequent comment on Mark's FB wall, which I also deleted, makes any reply to your message irrelevant.

Notice that she says "which I also deleted." This means that his staff most certainly does have access to his FB page. For him to say they don't, then, is a blatant lie.

And what was it that was so necessary to delete? Why, it was a post in praise of his AFSCME on the Hill speech, which was an excellent speech, full of fire and passion. I was so proud of him for that speech. And my comment included the link to the video of the speech.

Doesn't he want to win the election???

After Dayton attempted to censor me, I shared it with another commenter. Here's what he had to say:

Freedom of speech is a given right. Don't like what's said about you, correct it or get the **** out of the way for someone else who can. You being chastized was most inappropriate. Imagine when the race gets really hot, then what?

And someone else privately sent me this email:

Said it before and I'll say it again: This is not a campaign for someone like Mark Dayton to run by a bunch of wet behind the ears college kids. Period. Where are the folks from his prior campaigns, is what I'd like to know. They were apparently very successful, and now he's got this? Mark's too smart for this. I like Mark alot. I feel like a traitor in my thoughts of supporting Paul, but I will do what I have to, to make sure we have a Democrat as our next governor.

He's either got some huge strategy or has made a huge mistake somewhere along the line. Time will tell. For him to write this to you really isn't appropriate. Keep doing what you're doing... my 2 cents worth.

And my response:

Thank you for your input. I agree that his staff is unseasoned. I think that he should give his supporters the same consideration that he gives his paid staff. After all, those of us who aren't paid are doing it from our hearts. I don't believe in censorship and I'm really surprised that Mark is trying to tell me what to write. If I can't say anything good don't say anything at all? I've said so many good things about him that I feel ridiculous. You're not a traitor in thinking of supporting Paul. Paul can win. I doubt if Mark can win the general election. The Republicans have way too much stuff on him. I feel bad about saying that, but it's true. And furthermore, I shouldn't be voting for someone just because I have a big crush on him. On the other hand, it's better than some people voting merely on name recognition. At least I know that if Mark did get to be governor, he'd be a darn good one.

People tell me that it's his loss. He didn't appreciate all I did for his campaign. He'll never know exactly how much that was. I guess I'm not rich enough for him to notice. I'm no Rockefeller, nor Lodge, nor Cabot, nor Ordway.

I just have strong Mayflower and Revolutionary War roots. My forefathers had surnames like Alden, Howland, West, Peabody, Bosworth, Baker, Burr, and all the earliest names from the earliest settlers. But no Daytons. No millionaires that I know of. How could they be? They all had a dozen kids.

As far as I can tell, all Dayton's millions does for him is make him lonely and ridden with feelings of guilt that he has so much more than others. Well give it all away, then, for crying out loud. I'll bet he couldn't survive without it, though. He wouldn't know how. Besides, he never earned it anyway. He got it handed to him on the proverbial silver platter. Big deal. He's just a spoiled rich kid. A Preppie. Yale. I'm not impressed by any of that. I used to be impressed with him personally, though. A lot.

Okay, so I guess it's all water under the bridge now, except I'm stuck under the water, tangled up in the pilings. I know I will drown soon. I guess I handled the entire Mark Dayton encounters wrong right from the beginning. Everything would have been fine had I not gone off so bad about him deleting my pictures from his FB album. Guess I was really jealous because there were so many pictures of him with others, and him with a woman here and a woman there, but he deletes mine. I was devastated. When I saw that, I burst into sobs. I knew then he didn't like me. Now I know he hates me.

So I guess that's why there's a war now.

Regardless, I am glad to see that there are more people coming to his Meet & Greets now. How do I know? I keep track through the photos on his Facebook page and on his website. It's very hurtful for me to look, but I can't seem to help it.

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DAYTON BUMPER STICKER RIPPER

All you Dayton supporters out there who have Mark Dayton for a Better Minnesota bumper stickers on your vehicles - watch out for the Dayton Bumper Sticker Ripper who is on the loose. I've had three Dayton Bumper Stickers ripped off of my back bumper in the last 1 1/2 weeks. Part of the stickers stuck to the bumper, but more than half of each was missing. One was missing all but a small part of the right side. My reNEW MN and TakeAction MN bumper stickers were not touched.

Who would want to vandalize my Dayton Bumper Stickers? The nerve of some people! Now I'm out again and can't get another one. I'm so frustrated. I wish whoever is doing it would keep their hands off my car. Not that my car is anything special. That is, it wasn't until it was decorated with the beautiful red, white and blue Dayton Bumper Stickers. I wish I could get my hands on the Ripper.

It's probably some Republican. Or maybe even a DFLer who is mad because Mark Dayton won't pursue the endorsement or even have his name on the ballots. Rumor has it that all those undecided votes are Dayton supporters who are going to get him the DFL endorsement whether he likes it or not. (I'm sure he'd love it.) Wow, that will be an interesting state convention if that happens. I'd join that caucus in a heartbeat.

Do you think it would help if I glued a Dayton Bumper Sticker on my bumper with super glue? Boy, the Dayton Bumper Sticker Ripper would sure be surprised when he (or she) found that it couldn't be ripped off. I wonder if someone would be so kind as to send me about three Dayton Bumper Stickers.

Other political experiences today:

I took the afternoon off. First stop was the Riverside Perkins, where I had lunch with some of the Senior Caucus members. That was very enjoyable. Good company away from downtown St. Paul. Guess who showed up? Dave Pinto. He thought there might be some members from Ramsey County. There were. Me. Also at least one other lady. As you probably know, Dave Pinto is running for Ramsey County Attorney. There are three DFL candidates seeking endorsement. They are Dave Pinto, David Schultz and John Choi. I like all three of them. How on earth will I decide? Hmmmm...Pinto talked to me the longest of any of them. He even asked me if I was TigerHawk. He's been reading my blogs at MPP. He said he really liked my blogs. I told him I would have a Meet and Greet for him. I'm also more than willing to have one for Chris Knopf, who's running for State Representative in SD53B, and Sandy Rummel, who's running for reelection as State Senator of SD53. And one for Dayton, if he has the time and inclination. And more bumper stickers.

Pinto couldn't stay to eat with us, but I enjoyed chatting with members of the Senior Caucus. I heard a lot of opinions of who the individual members were supporting. A couple of people said Tom Rukavina because they think that he's the one who can stand up to the Republicans the best. I asked them if they had seen the YouTube video of Mark Dayton giving his AFSCME Day on the Hill speech, and they said no, but they had heard about it. I encouraged them to go watch it if they wanted to hear and see the first candidate in a long, long time who can do a Wellstonian speech better than Wellstone himself did. Seriously. One member said, "If he has improved that much and can stand up and give a rousing speech now, I'll vote for him."

One woman said that she heard Marty Seifert speak in public at some Harvest event. He told the crowd that he harvested pickles. She said that everyone laughed at him for not knowing the difference between pickles and cucumbers.

Another person said that Emmer might be able to get the GOP endorsement over Seifert because Emmer is very good at getting people to like him. Really? I'm surprised. Especially after a senior told me that Emmer had said that you can't be a good, loyal American if you're a Democrat. What a foul remark! 

After lunch I drove to Burnsville. My son works at Crosstown Goodyear. I had called the shop and made an appointment for an oil change. The manager kept it a surprise so Charlie wouldn't know I was coming. As always, he was the good son and was happy to change my oil, level off all the fluids and check the air pressure in my tires. The hard part was trying to get all the rope and the bicycle lock off the hood. That's what holds my hood down when I'm driving. Marcus put so much rope on that it took Charlie half an hour to get it all off. The manager and another employee named Mike came into the garage to watch and laugh. I thought I may as well join in. So we all stood around laughing and chuckling, then left Charlie to finish the job while we went back into the office.

I steered the conversation to politics and asked Mike what he was. He said he was a leaning Republican. I made my DFL pitch. I told him the horrible things Pawlenty has done with his veto of GAMC. Mike said, "So if I don't vote DFL people will die from not having health insurance?"

"Yes," I replied. I then told him about Alan Grayson and his revealing of the Republican Health Plan.

"Who's running for governor on the DFL ticket," he asked. I told him. He said that Mark Dayton's name sounded familiar.

"It should," I said. "He was our Senator from Minnesota." (Mike is probably in his 20's.)

The manager, also a Republican, piped in, "He's the Target guy."

"Ohhh," said Mike.

"Yes," I agreed. "But he's never been in the family business. He was in public service for 35 years."

"But he took the family money," said the manager.

"Well sure," I said. "Wouldn't you? Never look a gift horse in the mouth." (I need to be careful of my metaphors. I think that one is okay.)

The manager and Mike both agreed that yes, they would. After all, it's family.

Darn, all I inherited was a bunch of metaphors! I really enjoy using them, though, so that's okay.

I just happened to have one Mark Dayton for a Better Minnesota business card so I gave it to Mike. It happened to be Katie's. He asked who that was. I explained that she was on the staff and that he should call or go to the website, http://www.markdayton.org/ and sign up for the email updates. He took the card and put it in his wallet. Progress.

We then all went back into the garage to watch Charlie some more. Mike told Charlie that I had told him that if he didn't vote DFL, people would die. Charlie made one of his usual dry remarks. Then we stood around and laughed some more at my car as Charlie pointed out the rust on the underside. He told me not to put money into this car for anything other than what is absolutely necessary. After all, it is 12 years old.

I don't have to convince Charlie to vote DFL. He would never vote Republican. He can't stand what they are doing.

It was a very enjoyable day. Then I got to come home and blog. I love writing. I'm still working on my technique. It seems that no matter how you do it, someone gets offended. I try to add as much humor as possible to avoid offending anyone.

How did I do this time?

Mark Dayton Videos

MARK DAYTON: CANDIDATE INTERVIEW

Mark Dayton is the candidate with the longest proven track record of standing up for justice and equality for all. He's been engaged in progressive politics since 1968. He also has a proven record of winning elections and getting votes in Minnesota. This is a candidate who truly cares about the people of Minnesota and who has lived his life with honesty and integrity. He's got a history of standing by his word and of helping individuals all over Minnesota. Vote Mark Dayton for governor of Minnesota.