Dayton Talks Shop: Clinton ’08, Dayton ’10, U.S. Attorneys

In one of a series of interviews last week, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton sat down with me to talk shop on a variety of topics.

Colleagues Big E and Matt Martin have covered some of the major topics with  Dayton:  he is working hard for Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2008 presidential primaries and has made public his intention to run for governor in 2010. 

Luckily, I made sure to ask the former senator a few questions my colleagues did not.

On Iraq:  “Iraq is the ‘central front in the war on terror’ simply because President Bush said so.  That ‘central front’ is a creation of the Bush Administration’s failed foreign policy.  Where were those moderate Republican congressmen [who recently went to the White House to argue with President Bush about Iraq policy] when their votes could have made a difference?”

On Tom Heffelfinger, Rachel Paulose and the ongoing U.S. attorney scandal:  “We had no indications before this year that something was wrong with the U.S. Attorney’s office.  Rachel Paulose had essentially been in office since February of last year, and we had nobody telling us she shouldn’t be a U.S. attorney.  On paper, it looked like she was young but had good credentials.  At the time I didn’t see a reason to disqualify her.”

On his gubernatorial aspirations:  Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum.  I wanted people to know that there was more than one candidate that’s going to run for that office.  I think the general public may not be paying attention at this point, but the activists are always receptive.

On the possibility of Tim Pawlenty being picked as John McCain’s VP candidate:  “I don’t see how he’s not burnishing his credentials to be in a position to be picked.  I give the legislature credit for saying ‘look, the rich should pay their share’, but with Tim Pawlenty so adamant about not raising taxes, he has to be afraid of Grover Norquist…I can’t see any other reason.”

On former Hennepin County Attorney candidate Andy Luger and the possibility of Luger running for Congress against Jim Ramstad:  “I hadn’t met Andy before starting to work alongside him for Hillary Clinton, but I’ve been very impressed — he’s smart, savvy and an excellent campaigner.  Mike Freeman is a close friend, a political ally, but I think Andy would have been a great county attorney, too.  I think Jim Ramstad fits that district well, he’s done a good job positioning himself and he’s been there a long time, so obviously it would be an uphill climb.  No one wants to run to be an asterisk in the history books.”

On other 2008 elections in Minnesota:  “I think 2008 is going to be another good year for Democrats.  Tim Walz is going to hold on to his seat, and I hope we can get a strong challenger for Michele Bachmann…the key, I think, is to hold the House in Minnesota.”

On the U.S. Senate race: “I don’t have a choice in the race just yet — may the best person be the nominee, and I’ll be there to support them.”