Good move Tom... We need some more choices for those of us that vote. A little something for everyone.

Without Coleman, I imagine that the GOP will get their wish and endorse a strong Conservative (big C) and ideologically pure candidate. At this point its hard to guess who will get the GOP nod. Although I can see Rybak as the DFL nominee.

This will leave a large swath for Mr. Horner to mine. A strong conservative to the right and a quasi-liberal to the left. Lots of room for Mr. Horner to work the middle, which is where the majority of us reside. He is both articulate and knows policy and the folks help that make it. I wish him the best of luck.

Hopefully it won't be the deepest pockets that win the day but instead, the best "mission statement" or the policies for our state that will influence the next eight years.

Not too far right? Not too far left? Just a nibble in the middle? Sounds like a nursery rhyme...

Little Tom Horner

Sat in the corner

Eating political pie...

He stuck in his thumb

And pulled out a crumb?

"Not much to run on" says I...

My problem with the Independence Party is that they function simply as the "none of the above" option and have no coherent agenda of their own.

Anger against the two established parties is fully justified, but in fact, the Democratic Party has veered so far to the right in the past couple of decades that there is very little room to maneuver between them and the Republicans.

I'd like to see a real leftist (not a fake leftist like Obama or a bogeyman leftist as caricatured by right-wing talk radio, but an unabashed Social Democrat of the European type) running and talking sense about the dangerous direction in which our state and country are headed.

Oh, off topic -- since you seem to be in the David Brooks fan club, I'd like to ask you if I can read this latest by David Brooks (http://bit.ly/55UjjA) as anything other than "Don't bother giving to Haiti (and don't feel bad!) because it won't do any good because the heart of all of the death due to the earthquake is that they they are all lazy witch-doctors who can't be helped untill they take a good lesson or two from America's great Protestant work ethic."

Again, tell me how he is different in essence than Limbaugh or Beck, other than he uses print, uses fancier words, and is perhaps a bit more subtle? And tell me why a liberal I should have a soft spot for him?

The ideological purity tests of the right and left will leave a huge opportunity for Horner. His test will be to make "the middle" a logical, intelligent destination for a plurality of voters. This could be real race!

1. I am not sure he will connect esp. with younger voters. 2. I am not sure he could hold the IP party if there is such a central party. Matt you might find it interesting to know that the protestant work ethic basically centered around coal mining areas for industry.

Jeremy? You aren't really surprised are you?
The IP party is where disgruntled Republicans and Democrats go to get even..

Karin Sandness:
The Independence Party has its own coherent agenda and is not a "none of the above" option. Here are some highlights from their platform.

No Special Interest Money
Serving the interests of all the people should be a higher priority than serving the interests of a powerful few. To assure the IPMN's independence from special interests they prohibit the party and endorsed candidates from accepting contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs).

Education
In a competitive global economy, excellence in education is the most important determinant of our future quality of life. Education begins in the home. Parents, family and all members of the community need to actively participate in the education of our young people. We support innovative and results-oriented schools. With the cost of education consuming half of the state’s budget, we must ensure efficient use of our education resources.

Fiscal Responsibility
Completely and straightforwardly reporting the cost of government is the first step to fiscal responsibility. These costs should not be placed upon the shoulders of future generations. We believe that government should be as responsible with each and every tax dollar as would be our most financially responsible citizens.

Healthcare
Universal coverage and affordable costs can be achieved in the private market by creating competition, eliminating the inappropriate use of insurance, and fixing inappropriate tax incentives. People's behavior choices make more of a difference to health than the health care delivery system; the way we pay for health services must reward responsibly healthy lifestyle choices.

Fair and Open Elections
Campaigns and election processes should be reformed so that government represents the people before special interests. Public participation in the election process should be maximized so that qualified candidates are encouraged to run for public office.

Clean Energy
We believe it is important to decrease America's dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, to protect the environment by promoting the use of the clean energy, and to have access to reliable and affordable energy to support our economy.

Wait, is Tom Horner a former professional wrestler? If not, you have already spent too much time talking about this completely irrelevant campaign. Every second spent on discussing anything other than who the five percent of the vote Horner gets comes from is a waste of time.

Laura, your Independence Party might as well say you support Motherhood and Apple Pie. The only clear statement is on privately run health insurance which totally ignores the VA, medicare and medicaid as a huge part of the existing system.

I have listened to Tom Horner for years on MPR. I could always sense his discomfort with the right wing wacko side of his party, but he could rarely come right out and say so. Better that he run as a moderate in his own party, get his butt kicked in the endorsement process, and hope for the best in the primary.

I have no problem with third parties; the only requirement is that someone should be required to actually be a member of the party before they sign on as free agents right before the election. As with athletics, maybe you should have to sit out a year before becoming eligible.

Although there are valid points made here regarding the Independent candidate's historical impact on our governors race. I would add this. Except for the bases of each party, who determine which candidate it is that we can vote for. I am not convinced that either one is guaranteed a victory.

Yes, at worst the Ind will siphon off votes from the DFL. But it the DFL cannot put up a candidate to get the numbers that would negate that influence, then their support is not very deep and they should take ownership of that fact. The same could be said for the GOP. Although as many here have pointed out it seems to effect the DFL more so than the GOP.

Ventura supposedly won because the voters were fed up with the negative campaigns of the two major parties. Hard to say at this point what the campaigns will look like. It would be fair to say that both major parties will be spending tens of millions of dollars to frame and market their message.

I still believe there is room for a third party candidate with a message and a vision. Whether he or she can translate that into a victory remains to be seen. History says it will be an uphill battle.

Karen S: A "real leftist" would describe John Marty very well (see the Minnesota Health Plan and his legislative record) and Matt Entenza only a tiny bit less. They are both creative but responsible and pragmatic servants of the public good, which to me is what a politician of the left must be.

At the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition's web site (www.muhcc.org) you can read all the DFL candidates' responses to a questionnaire concerning health care. While questionnaires were mailed to all candidates, I believe only one Republican responded.

TakeAction Minnesota has been holding candidate forums and, on January 31, will select three progressive candidates to endorse as their most favored choices for governor. (www.takeactionminnesota.org)

I don't for a moment underestimate the challenge of running for Governor under ANY banner, and certainly the added difficulty of running as an IP candidate. But I also strongly believe that the GOP and DFL are captive to their own allies -- they are more interested in determine who's right than what's right. Here's the only thing I would ask of people now: Listen to all the candidates, ask the tough questions, then make a decision based on Minnesota's best interests. Keep in mind that this year Minnesota has an open gubernatorial seat and no statewide federal race to distract attention from a focus on Minnesota's future. The last time those two factors combined was 1998 when Minnesota elected Ventura. There's a lot of room in Minnesota politics and public policy for discussions that go beyond "no taxes" from the right and "raise taxes on the wealthy" from the left.

I like Tom Horner, although I'm a lifelong Democrat with a capital D (and liberal too). At least, Horner would probably be willing to talk to those in other parties and try to compromise to find some solutions, rather than just bully and refuse to give on anything.
By the way the Protestant (or Puritan) work ethic predates the coal mining activity by a couple hundred years. It came to the U.S. with the Puritans in the 17th century, but even that was predated by a Judeo-Christian work ethic. It was both a moral and a cultural belief, and it helped justify the accumulation of wealth. It was important in the capitalistic society.

I like you Tom Horner, but your run as an IP candidate is only going to ensure 4 more years of destructive policies by the right wing.
How much more can they cut? People are being thrown off of health care, Education is in the Dump and Cities are struggling to keep their Police and fire protection.
The food shelf in my area has tripled the number of people they are trying to feed.
I will not support any candidate that continues to cut services.
I suggest that all of the Candidates spend some time on the street or at one of the Shelters and see the pain Pawlenty and the Republicans have caused.

Interesting comments. Especially interesting to me is the idea that only democrats will vote for a third party candidate.
Did the Dems put Ventura in office? The Democrats have been plagued by third party challenges that siphoned off votes. (Nador, Nador, Nador) Repubs would never have been interested in those candidates so only the Dems. felt the pain of the siphon.
Perhaps with Tom in the race we will see if those squeezed out moderate Repubs really exist.

Would have been good if Maureen Reed jumped into the governor's race instead of the Mn 6th for the House. She'd be a good candidate and governor, and it would allow the Tarryl Clark campaign to keep their resources focused exclusively on Michele Bachmann.

Mr. Horner may have room to define the middle as his, if the Dems stay inwardly focused among their candidates for too long

If Mr Horner isn't officially running yet, why was he at the SD26 candidate forum today introducing himself as 'Tom Horner, candidate for governor with the Independence party?

Now I see why Horner "friended" me on Facebook last week.

Let's face it, Tom Horner is a Republican. His longtime meal ticket has been the Republican party. He has no chance of being elected MN governor. So once again he's serving the Republican party by siphoning off votes so another crackpot, inflexible, mean-spirited Republican can be elected governor. Give us all a rest, Tom.

I think Horner was/is a good center/right candidate and the educated electorate would see him as such. I am curious as to his fundraising efforts and the more transparency the better. I enjoyed both of his recent replies in Minnpost. Now Mr. Horner who would your probable social/human services/education czar be? (I combined the 2 cabinet posts). Please issue some statement on transportation policy. Thirdly I think you would have to have a running mate who would be a game changer and appeal to the youth. best wishes. Use this platform its very good communication.

Matt Ginny, Max Weber's Protestant work ethic had not been tested empirically until recently. A new paper (Dec. 2009) concluded the absence of any differences in the long run performance of Protestant(greater majority Lutheran) and Catholic regions due to the counter reformation and rising literacy. Calvinism played a very small part as it was such a small localized sect.