(no subject)
Nov. 11th, 2009 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
disneydream06Here is some tongue in cheek advice for Wannabe President, Gov. Pawlenty from my home state of Minnesota....
Now, nobody expects our Republican governor to change his stripes, or to suddenly embrace the DFL Platform. But we do expect him to want to govern competently, to govern fairly, to govern honestly, and to govern transparently. So in that spirit, here are our ten easy ways that Governor Pawlenty can avoid criticism from his loyal opposition:
1. Spend a solid month in Minnesota. With real Minnesotans, addressing the problems that real Minnesotans face. Just one month without jetting out of state to the latest Republican fundraiser in D.C. or Puerto Rico or wherever.
2. Publish your schedule. If you just can’t stay in Minnesota, then publish a schedule that says where you actually are.
3. Say who’s in charge. If you won’t publish your schedule, then at least let us know who’s steering Minnesota’s ship of state while you’re off on the road. Is it Lieutenant Governor Molnau? Is it someone in your office? Is it you, by remote control? Who is minding the shop while you’re away?
4. Engage, listen to, and reason with other leaders, even ones that you may disagree with. The breakfast with DFL leaders last month was a good start, but it takes continued engagement and follow-through. I’m disappointed that you boycotted the multiparty fiscal summit last month, and instead organized your own partisan anti-summit — but I applaud the fact that you’re talking with other leaders now. You don’t have to agree with them, but you should be talking with them. That’s how a democracy works.
5. Speak truth. If you must disagree, do it with facts, not half-baked half-truths, like you have been doing with your opposition to health reform. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, you’re entitled to your own opinion; you’re not entitled to your own facts.
6. To thine own self be true. Or, be true to the Tim Pawlenty who at least pretended to be a leader. Don’t veer to the right for the sake of ambition. And speaking of being true to yourself:
7. Stand up for science! You spent a year chairing the National Governors Association speaking out about the dangers of climate change. You pushed for lower greenhouse-gas emissions, and supported a cap-and-trade plan. But now you’re reversing yourself, and doing it for political reasons — even though you know it’s wrong.
8. Call out your would-be successors when they let politics trump science — like when they deny climate change. Nearly every candidate for the Republican nomination denies the scientific facts of climate change. You know better. They should too. And you should say so.
9. Make a real difference on health care: find a way to restore coverage for the 33,000 Minnesotans that you kicked off of General Assistance Medical Care.
10. Commit a random act of bipartisanship. Reach across the aisle and find at least one idea on which you agree with Democrats. Because if you can’t find even one piece of common ground with your political opponents, then you’re not really the Governor of Minnesota — you’re just the governor of Minnesota’s Republicans. That’s no kind of governor. And it’s certainly no kind of president.
Now, nobody expects our Republican governor to change his stripes, or to suddenly embrace the DFL Platform. But we do expect him to want to govern competently, to govern fairly, to govern honestly, and to govern transparently. So in that spirit, here are our ten easy ways that Governor Pawlenty can avoid criticism from his loyal opposition:
1. Spend a solid month in Minnesota. With real Minnesotans, addressing the problems that real Minnesotans face. Just one month without jetting out of state to the latest Republican fundraiser in D.C. or Puerto Rico or wherever.
2. Publish your schedule. If you just can’t stay in Minnesota, then publish a schedule that says where you actually are.
3. Say who’s in charge. If you won’t publish your schedule, then at least let us know who’s steering Minnesota’s ship of state while you’re off on the road. Is it Lieutenant Governor Molnau? Is it someone in your office? Is it you, by remote control? Who is minding the shop while you’re away?
4. Engage, listen to, and reason with other leaders, even ones that you may disagree with. The breakfast with DFL leaders last month was a good start, but it takes continued engagement and follow-through. I’m disappointed that you boycotted the multiparty fiscal summit last month, and instead organized your own partisan anti-summit — but I applaud the fact that you’re talking with other leaders now. You don’t have to agree with them, but you should be talking with them. That’s how a democracy works.
5. Speak truth. If you must disagree, do it with facts, not half-baked half-truths, like you have been doing with your opposition to health reform. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, you’re entitled to your own opinion; you’re not entitled to your own facts.
6. To thine own self be true. Or, be true to the Tim Pawlenty who at least pretended to be a leader. Don’t veer to the right for the sake of ambition. And speaking of being true to yourself:
7. Stand up for science! You spent a year chairing the National Governors Association speaking out about the dangers of climate change. You pushed for lower greenhouse-gas emissions, and supported a cap-and-trade plan. But now you’re reversing yourself, and doing it for political reasons — even though you know it’s wrong.
8. Call out your would-be successors when they let politics trump science — like when they deny climate change. Nearly every candidate for the Republican nomination denies the scientific facts of climate change. You know better. They should too. And you should say so.
9. Make a real difference on health care: find a way to restore coverage for the 33,000 Minnesotans that you kicked off of General Assistance Medical Care.
10. Commit a random act of bipartisanship. Reach across the aisle and find at least one idea on which you agree with Democrats. Because if you can’t find even one piece of common ground with your political opponents, then you’re not really the Governor of Minnesota — you’re just the governor of Minnesota’s Republicans. That’s no kind of governor. And it’s certainly no kind of president.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-11-11 11:02 pm (UTC)A couple of these points sound like they could apply to the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress. Closed Door meetings with no Republican input...and they expect Bi-Partisanship???
no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 02:35 am (UTC)Pawlenty has really fashioned himself after Herr Bush II. We can't afford another one of him. UGH...
no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-15 01:47 am (UTC)