A candidate has to get his message down to a short sound bite, designed for maximum appeal and designed to draw the contrasts with the opponents that the campaign believes bring in persuadable voters.

On Wednesday, Tom Emmer went on WCCO radio (the John Williams program) and gave a version of his elevator pitch. The campaign liked it enough to post the audio link on its website.

Williams asked Emmer how he will tailor his message for the general election. Came the reply:

“The message won’t change. It doesn’t matter about the party [translation, what he is about to say applies to both Mark Dayton and Tom Horner] the other people running for this office are proposing more government intervention and higher taxes at a time when our economy is stumbling  and struggling. We’re proposing just the opposite: less government intervention, more economic freedom, lower taxes,  get Minnesota working again, bring jobs back to this state. That’s what the next 83 will be all about.”

The interview continued. The subject of balancing the state budget did come up, but Williams didn’t press Emmer for his budget plan. Williams did ask, in a totally non-specific way, about Emmer’s social agenda. Came the reply:

“This campaign is about the economy. People gotta focus on the ball.”