Susan Gaertner Interviews — MnpACT and Minnesota Brown
MnpACT interviews Susan Gaertner as part of their 2010 governor candidates series. You can watch the whole video here.
Dave Mindeman gives a brief summary of the event on his blog. In general, he praised her candidness and her general progressive stands. His major caveat is, as many people say, her role in dealing with the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Susan Gaertner is a good progressive candidate. I think she would make a great governor. But the RNC issues will be a drag on her candidacy…if she can resolve that issue to everyone’s satisfaction, she could do well. Her candor is refreshing.
It might also explain why she ended her part of the forum with what she claims will be her only “pledge” of the campaign…..
The Republican National Convention will NOT return to Minnesota.
Be sure to both read the excellent MnpACT summary, as well as watch the full video to better learn about Gaertner and her views.
And Minnesota Brown also snagged an interview with the Ramsey County Attorney. It’s a very personable, upbeat interview, and Aaron ends with this summary:
Susan Gaertner is a sharp, refreshing candidate who could struggle to break out of the pack because of her lack of name recognition and local government background. If she succeeds in visiting every corner of the state before precinct caucuses and impresses future delegates, she could catch fire and become an extremely tough nominee for the GOP to beat. However, the curse of gender and identity politics means that if House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher runs, much of the oxygen could be sucked out of Gaertner’s campaign. Regardless, Gaertner deserves the attention of future delegates.
So, can Gaertner, as she claims, position herself as the next Amy Klobuchar: the tough woman prosecutor?
Gaertner’s role in the aftermath of the Republican National Convention completely disqualifies her as a “progressive candidate” or as a candidate in any democracy. No candidate is perfect, of course, but some actions go completely beyond the pale. How could you claim, for example, that a candidate could be “progressive” when that candidate has repeatedly justified threats against the most basic of our democratic freedoms. Gaertner has continued to push charges against the community organizers known as the RNC-8, despite the fact that no real evidence ties any of them to any illegal act at all. All the wild accusations have been coming from the feverish imagination of Ramsey County sheriff Bob Fletcher, whose own cronies are either in jail for corruption or under investigation by the FBI. Gaertner has also repeatedly justified the numerous illegal actions by Fletcher and others, saying that those actions were completely appropriate. How can it be appropriate for officers of the law to lay siege to the city, dressed as storm troopers with all identification hidden? How can it be appropriate to make mass arrests of bystanders, journalists and medics? How can it be appropriate to paper spray without provocation or block legal assemblies or intimidate citizens attempting to seek redress of their government. These are actions that threaten the very core of a democracy and Susan Gaertner’s support of these actions disqualifies her from public office.
I think that you hit on the biggest challenge, Charley. Sure, she can position herself as the next Klobuchar — the tough female prosecutor. But it will be a lot harder to do when the people she was prosecuting were the people she now needs to push her to the endorsement.