Thanks, But No Thanks?

Usually when a candidate for political office receives an endorsement from a leading newspaper it would be a cause for celebration for the campaign. But I have to wonder how excited the Independence Party's Tim Penny was about receiving the Minneapolis Star Tribune's endorsement for governor on Sunday. The news hardly caused a ripple in the Minnesota political scene since most of the attention has been focused on the senate race after Paul Wellstone's tragic death on Friday. And the endorsement of the paper doesn't exactly help Penny convince voters that he's a moderate alternative to the conservatism of Republican Pawlenty and the liberalism of Democrat Roger Moe. Sure the paper claims it supports Penny because he's a "centrist" but anyone who leans even slightly to the right of the political spectrum may view the endorsement from the notoriously liberal Star Tribune as the kiss of death for Penny. Since Penny needs to draw voters from both the Left and the Right to win the race this endorsement may actually hurt more than it helps. I expect the Pawlenty campaign to use it to show that Penny's claims to moderation are an illusion and to shore up his base among conservatives who may have been considering voting for Penny.

The endorsement also speaks volumes about the pathetic state of the Moe campaign. This was his endorsement to lose as the Star Tribune almost exclusively favors Democrats particularly those who have well established political careers and recognition as Moe does. Getting the Star Tribune to support him should have been a gimme and although receiving the endorsement would not likely have helped his campaign too much (since most would have assumed it all along) not receiving the endorsement could be a crushing blow to his campaign. There has been speculation that Moe might benefit from the sympathy vote arising from Wellstone's death but in a column by Doug Grow yesterday Moe was concerned that without Wellstone campaigning beside him he will be challenged to energize Democrats and bring out the vote. An understandable concern since Moe's bland personality makes Al Gore seem engaging and charismatic.