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Aug 9th, 2010


Support Tom Horner and vote in the Independence Party primary on Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A Message from the Horner Campaign

Minnesota’s first-ever August primary election is this Tuesday. Now, like never before, we need to ask our family, friends and neighbors to join us in voting in the Independence Party (IP) primary for Tom Horner and the common-sense leadership Tom will bring to the governor’s office. Let’s remind everyone that Tom is the independent candidate who will bring independent thinking to state government, and drive the point home with a great showing at the polls on Tuesday. Tom will hit the road for a media tour on Wednesday and Thursday. Watch for details soon.

Polling place information

Know a potential Horner supporter who’s not sure where or how to vote? This page at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website has all the answers: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=4

Working for votes

Tom followed the FarmFest candidates’ forum in Redwood Falls — where he discussed his ideas for investing in rural Minnesota — with a weekend appearance at Game Fair in Ramsey, where he was introduced by “Minnesota Bound” host Ron Schara, and with other stops including the Washington County Fair in Lake Elmo, PennFest in Richfield and the Loring Park Art Festival in Minneapolis.

Open letter to MN Forward

Much publicized group MN Forward’s promise to support pro-business candidates of all political stripes prompted Tom to write an open letter to the group’s executive  director, Brian McClung. “Here I am,” Tom wrote. “MN Forward is seeking to support candidates … who are pro-business. … I think I am the MOST pro-business candidate in this year’s gubernatorial race.” Coverage of Tom’s letter included the Star Tribune’s Hot DishPolitics blog and MPR’s Polinaut.

In the news, on the air

You can listen to Tom’s interview with Cathy Wurzer, MPR’s “Morning Edition” host, read Tom’s commentary in Friday’s Duluth News Tribune and MinnPost’s commentary on former Sen. Dave Durenberger’s radio spots for Tom.

Among Tom’s radio appearances last week were AM 1500 ESPN and KFAI in the Twin Cities, KDAL in Duluth and WQPM in Princeton. Today, he was on KWOA in Worthington, KNSI in St. Cloud, KWNG in Red Wing and on MPR for a full hour between 11 a.m. and noon with Midday host Gary Eicthen. The Star Tribune ran video of Tom’s visit to the SarahCare facility for elderly residents in Savage.

Leadership based on what’s right

The get-out-the-vote push is going full bore at the Plymouth office. You can help spread Tom’s forward-thinking message with a contribution to Horner2010. Go to www.horner2010.com and click on the contribute tab. Make a contribution today, and encourage your family, friends and neighbors to vote with you in Tuesday’s primary for the common-sense leadership Tom will provide for all Minnesotans.

———

OP-ED BY TOM HORNER

Tom Horner on What’s the Big Idea: How to Lead from the Middle

By Tom Horner
Opinion column
Star Tribune
August 1, 2010

Excerpts

Minnesota needs ideas from the center, and it needs a governor who is able to lead all of its citizens — conservatives, liberals and moderates.

Four principles drive ideas from the center:

First, create solutions based on desired outcomes. The left and right tell us how big or small government should be. The sensible center focuses on what needs to be achieved, on how we will measure progress and on the roles everyone must play to get us to our goals. …

[…]

The second principle is that government should create a level playing field, then get out of the way. One of many problems with a “tax the rich” mantra is that liberals make no distinction between taxing successful individuals and taxing successful businesses. The right has its own tax policy blinders. The no-new-taxes mantra is so absolute that it blocks tax reform. Republicans can’t increase any tax even as a means to reducing ineffective or unfair taxes.

[…]

Principle three is that government should help people at times in their lives when they are vulnerable. The corollary to this principle is that government is a better guarantor of access than it is a provider of services. Health care is a good case in point. The endorsed Democratic candidate calls for a government-run health care system, while the endorsed Republican believes the poor should depend on charity care. One side says government should do it all; the other says people can’t even depend on government to assure care for the neediest.

[…]

The most important principle and task may be the fourth: financial responsibility. The state’s budget needs to be balanced honestly and transparently. A comprehensive approach should include spending cuts, tax reform (cutting some taxes, increasing others) and government redesign.

Engaging Minnesotans from all walks of life in the tough decisions that await the state in the next four years is essential for our collective success. Only a centrist governor has the policy freedom to promote the ideas that are best for Minnesota.

And only an Independence Party governor can build the broad coalitions — with the help of a cabinet of experts selected because they are the best, not because a political debt needs to be paid — that can get the job done.

Read the full opinion


Independence Party candidate for governor Tom Horner and running mate Jim Mulder at FarmFest

OPEN LETTER BY TOM HORNER

Horner Makes Case for Corporate Support

By Tim Pugmire
MPRnewsQ
Minnesota Public Radio
August 6, 2010

Indpendence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner is trying to convince leaders of the business-back group MN Forward that he deserves their support.

MN Forward is using corportae donations to run ads on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. The group also announced yesterday that it is backing three GOP and three DFL legislative candidates, “who support reforms that strengthen our workforce and improve our ability to create jobs and economic opportunity.”

Horner sent the following letter to Brian McClung of MN Forward:

Dear Brian:

Here I am.


Tom Horner: “Pick me” (Star Tribune file photo added)

MN Forward is seeking to support candidates of any stripe who are pro-business. That’s me. In fact, I think I am the MOST pro-business candidate in this year’s gubernatorial race. Of course, maybe we define pro-business a bit differently. I think a pro-business candidate is one who supports an economic environment in which start-up businesses can flourish, well-paying jobs are being created in the private sector, and Minnesota is seen as a great place for all businesses — those already here and those we want to attract — because it’s a great place to live.

You see, I think the business climate in Minnesota isn’t just about which candidate will cut spending the most or who has the most strident anti-tax rhetoric. But for Minnesota to flourish — for ALL Minnesotans to do well — the state needs the kind leadership that successful business leaders understand: the importance of investing in people and making our state one in which the hard work of all people is rewarded, the talents of everyone are respected and the opportunities for all people are not capped by prejudice.

So here’s my pro-business agenda:

Balance the budget. This will take hard decisions and significant spending cuts. It also will take the discipline other candidates have lacked to say NO to special interests, even if YES might buy some short-term political cover.

Reform a tax system that is out-of-date and suppresses job creation. I am the only candidate who is proposing a comprehensive package of tax reform — reducing taxes on job creation while raising the revenue needed to invest in Minnesota’s future.

Invest in Minnesota’s future. We will be the knowledge state in my administration — a state that makes early learning a priority so that all children enter school prepared for success. We will invest in lifelong learning, from cradle to grave. Along with education, Minnesota needs to once again make smart investments in health and our state’s infrastructure. It was noteworthy that at FarmFest — talking to the drivers of one of our state’s most important industries — I was the only candidate who highlighted the need to invest in rail and 10-ton roads. A great harvest (or great manufactured products or great anything) loses its value if we can’t get it to market.

Make applied and basic research at the University of Minnesota and our other institutions of higher learning a state priority. Minnesota must be a leader in innovation, new ideas and cutting-edge technologies. If we follow my tax proposals, research becomes the engine for ideas to come to market creating Minnesota businesses and Minnesota jobs.

Revitalize our communities. I’ve proposed a five-point plan to strengthen Minnesota’s rural communities, making sure that every person in every community has the opportunity to prosper.

Streamline the regulatory and permitting process. In my administration, every permit request will be resolved in six months. Guaranteed.

Attract the best talent pool in the nation. Ultimately, Minnesota’s greatest strength — and our greatest pro-business asset — are our people. We need to be a state that welcomes diversity.

That’s my agenda, and I’m eager to compare it to the Minnesota agenda of any other candidate.

Sincerely,

Tom Horner

———

Related reports on this site


Tom and Libby Horner and family — Amanda, Kevin, and Christopher

Strib: Horner ‘Serious Contender’ (Sept. 12, 2010)

Tom Horner at the State Fair (Aug. 30, 2010)

‘Eyeballs’ — Tom Horner TV Ad (Aug. 23, 2010)

Tom Horner Speaks in St. Cloud (Aug. 16, 2010)

Vote Tom Horner Aug. 10 Primary (Aug. 2, 2010)

Horner 2010 Gains Momentum (July 19, 2010)

Horner Campaign at Granite City (June 26, 2010)

Tom Horner Rises in the Polls (June 8, 2010)

Tom Horner’s Statewide Swing (May 12, 2010)

For more information about Tom Horner’s campaign for governor, visit www.Horner2010.com.

———

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — August 9, 2009

The Personality Profile of Vice President Dick Cheney (Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, August 2009)
Poster presenting the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Vice President Dick Cheney, by Jaclynn Beier and Carl Haefemeyer, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University; research supervised by Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., director of the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, August 2009.

Cheney Profile in the Works

One year ago today, I announced the impending release of the results of a study of the political personality of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

———

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — August 9, 2008


Family photo at the trailhead in St. Joseph after a 20-mile campaign swing through the Sixth District along the Lake Wobegon Trial, on the first leg of a 100-mile walking tour to meet constituents. From left to right: Pam, Tim (13), Elizabeth (9), Matt (11), Paddy (2), and Aubrey.

On the Campaign Trail: Day 26

Two years ago today, on the 26th day of my 2008 campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I kicked off my 100-mile walking tour of the Sixth District from Freeport in the northwest to Stillwater in the southeastern corner of the district, on the Wisconsin border. I also posted a public service announcement to help draw attention to the sacrifice of National Guard citizen soldiers serving in Iraq and the families they leave behind.

Veterans and volunteers hold U.S. flags during a June 14, 2008, memorial service in Bloomington for Minnesota National Guard soldiers who were killed in Iraq.
Veterans and volunteers hold U.S. flags during a June 14, 2008, memorial service in Bloomington for Minnesota National Guard soldiers who were killed in Iraq. (Photo credit: Jae C. Hong / The Associated Press)





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