Traveling North to Roseau (Roseau Times-Region)

With a gubernatorial candidate traveling north to Roseau

By Jeff Olsen, Roseau Times-Region

People occasionally scratch their heads when Mark Dayton’s name is mentioned.

Yes, he’s a legend.

He had the perfect job in the U.S. Senate representing the people of Minnesota and he gave it all up—the prestige, power, and money—to return to Minnesota after he decided not to run for reelection in 2006.

Dayton knows people still talk about that decision, and he has a perfectly logical explanation for it.

“After watching the mess in the Senate the past year, I’m glad to be back in Minnesota,” he said, speaking by cell phone as he returned to the Twin Cities on Sunday evening.

He’s on a different mission this time, trying to win the DFL nomination for governor of Minnesota.

So, why is he running again?

“I like people and I like solving problems,” he said.

It’s easy to forget who he is.  And what he once had.

Mr. Dayton is about as unassuming as a doorman at some fancy hotel.

He is possibly one of the richest commoners ever to run for political office in Minnesota or anywhere in the nation.  But he certainly isn’t the best loved millionaire in the state.

And for good reason.

He wants to tax the rich, which is in contrast to the present governor.

“I’m going to raise taxes on the rich and only the rich,” he said.

“Tim Pawlenty and George W. Bush have given the rich too many tax cuts, and they haven’t produced any jobs for Minnesota.”

On Sunday evening, as he was returning to the Twin Cities from the College of St. Benedict near St. Cloud, he mentioned that he’d recently met a farmer from Roseau while he was campaigning in Red Lake Falls.

“He showed me his property tax bill, and it had more than doubled in one year,” he said.  “Everybody has seen their property taxes go up—farmers, homeowners, and businesses.”

He wants to change that.  And it will start with the richest Minnesotans paying more taxes.  Oh, the rich won’t want him golfing in their foursome at some swanky country club anytime soon.  Not with his “tax the rich” emphasis.

But Mr. Dayton insists that it’s the right thing to do.  He insists that the rich should pay more taxes.

He not only talks the talk; he walks the walk.

“I donated my entire U.S. Senate salary to the Minnesota Senior Federation,” he said.

Do the simple math.  Take a U.S. Senator’s annual salary of $140,000 and multiply it by a six-year term, and that equals $840,000.  That’s not chump change by any means.

The money went to help the elderly travel to Canada to purchase cheaper medical prescriptions.

He just might be the happiest sounding, mildly depressed candidate ever to seek elective office.  They should all be so mildly depressed.  He was asked whether his recent revelation to the media that he has suffered from mild depression throughout his adult life has drawn any negative comments or reactions.

“People have been very understanding since I went public,” he said, mentioning that his work has never been affected by his mild depression.

He has been on the road every day for the past 40 days or so in his goal to visit all 87 counties in 87 days.

He would arrive in Roseau this past Tuesday, his 46^th county to date.  This week’s northwest jaunt includes the counties of Marshall, Kittson, Roseau, Lake of the Woods, and Koochiching.

“I drive part of the time,” he said.

Sometime after 7:30 pm on Sunday evening, he said goodbye because he was almost home.

He was asked if he could call back tomorrow.  Some candidate promise the moon.  He promised to call back after 8:30 on Monday morning.

And he did call back shortly after 8:30 on Monday morning, already en route to Thief River Falls.

He was informed that Roseau County is a Republican stronghold.

“It’s part of Minnesota,” he said.  “I’m a Roseau hockey fan, and I’m a Warroad hockey fan.”

He recalled being in Roseau Memorial Arena a few years ago and doing the color commentary for the opposing radio stations from Roseau and Warroad.

“I had to remember who was us and who was them,” he said with a laugh.  “I know that rivalry.”

He recalled being in Roseau during the flood of 2002 and riding in an Army National Guard humvee in the floodwater.

He knows the area, some of the people, and several and city and county officials from the flood of 2002.

What does he want people to know about him now?

“My campaign theme is Mark Dayton for a Better Minnesota!” he said.  “Tax the rich, put the money into public education, and create more jobs.  That’s it in a nutshell.”

He was asked about the reception he’s received as he traveled across Minnesota.

“I’m meeting mostly with Democrats, and they’re very positive,” he said, noting that he gets some tough questions on occasion.  The 1960s all-state goalie for Blake High School fields questions like he once deflected or stopped incoming pucks

“Some come in high left and some come in low right,” he said.  “I just try to be prepared for all of them.”

He admitted feeling bad about the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, which lost in the gold medal game to the Canadians.

“They’ll go back to their regular jobs,” he said, “and the U.S. men will go back to the pros and big salaries.”

Scratch him and Mr. Dayton is a commoner.

He was asked about the recent proposal to add a half-cent to the state sales tax to help offset costs for the counties.

“The only tax I want to raise is the tax on the rich,” he said.  “A sales tax is a regressive tax and hurts the poor.”

He was less than 24 hours away from Tuesday’s visit to Roseau.  He and his aides travel in a Ford Explorer that gets between 16 and 18 miles per gallon.

Why drive a Ford?

Mark Dayton puts his money in products that help those closest to his heart.

“I buy a Ford because it’s the only auto company that still makes vehicles in Minnesota,” he said, adding that the St. Paul Ford plant is still in operation.

He was in Roseau this past Tuesday, just another of the many stops in the long grind to win the hearts and minds of the voters.