Fraters Libertas

Dayton At the Bat

Senator Mark Dayton, commenting on the accomplishments of his Senate career:

"I stand ready to be used in whatever constructive way I can to get this matter resolved, while recognizing I have a limited ability to do that."

Well, it’s good for a man to recognize and admit his limitations. Especially one as accomplishment limited as Mark Dayton. And the MN GOP needs to get that sound bite ready for the 2006 campaign.

To be fair, that quote is in specific reference to Dayton’s mediation efforts among the Minnesota Twins and the cable/satellite providers, who have thus fair refused to air their games. As any sentient Minnesotan not living under a rock is painfully aware, Victory Sports (which is owned by the Twins) owns the broadcast rights to the games and has been demanding an exorbitantly high fee from the broadcasters (on the order of $2.25 per subscriber per month) in order to secure the rights. The broadcasters have rightly objected to this de facto forced rate increase for subscribers, the Twins haven’t budged in their demands in six months, and a stalemate has settled.

This star crossed tale of big sports money mongering has been a hot topic in the newspapers, on the news, and on the talk shows for months. A time period which included the broadcast denial of an entire Minnesota Gophers basketball season (another Victory Sports property). We all know the story. We all know the issues at hand (money!) and we’re just waiting for one of the parties to blink.

Enter Mark Dayton, with his prestigious US Senate tie clip, to save the day. The Senator called a high level meeting yesterday with all the interested parties and emerged with this news:

The good news is the differences seem to be entirely about money," said Dayton, referring to the fact operators have balked at Victory's per-subscriber asking price. "It is not a matter of principle or technological impediments. The bad news is they don't seem to be close to an agreement.

So, the good news is that someone explained to Dayton the reason why he called the meeting in the first place. (I can imagine Dayton’s opening question was “Why are you people in my office again?”). And yes, that is good news. For him. The bad news is a little more broadly felt. He doesn’t know what to do about a solution. Well Senator Dayton, thanks for holding a meeting anyway, I’m sure the catered lunch was delicious.

But, that is Mark Dayton’s style. Throughout his tenure in office, we’ve been tantalized with several media predictions of a new, invigorated Mark Dayton, sounding his barbarous yawp o’er the political landscape. Back in January of 2003, there was a Star Tribune article, including this quote

"I'm no shrinking violet," Dayton said. "I wouldn't have got here if I didn't have something to say. I'm just getting started."

Then 8 long months later we get this from the City Pages:

There is evidence though, that Dayton, heretofore known as a quiet legislator, has finally decided to make some noise in and outside of the Senate chambers.”

Now 5 long months later again, are there finally signs the man might be starting to rev things up? I don’t want to get hopes up too high here, but it appears he now understands the specifics of an issue. And given Dayton’s past performance, that’s like 90% of the battle. Now that Mark Dayton is involved in the negotiations, don’t be surprised if we’re all watching Twins baseball by the All Star Game. Of 2007.