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In what is already a very large gubernatorial field, how does House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher distinguish herself?
"It's a style thing. I'm the candidate who's been able to bring people together across party and ideological lines (labor and business) to get things done in the state. The biggest problem we face right now is the unstable budget deficit situation - I have experience to be able to get elected Governor and begin work immediately to put together a budget proposal -- that has to pass about twelve weeks after I'm elected -- which balances the budget and represents our shared values as Minnesotans."
 I caught up with the Speaker as she was on her way between events. It's been a high-octane summer for all the DFL candidates, but Anderson Kelliher had plenty on her plate early this year, including a contentious budget battle at the top of the state's government and a Governor who -- at times -- seemed more interested in national political posturing than getting things done the right way for Minnesota.
Kelliher said that continuing budget instability is the single biggest issue facing the state. "It continues to put a situation where we're breaking promises with Minesotans. We want to keep our promises - equitable education, closing the achievement gap, working toward a system of health care for everyone in state. We need to stabilize this budget to do those things."
I asked her about the nationally hot-button issue of health care: "I believe we're going to have to solve health care issues more on a state-by-state basis. I believe we are moving toward a universal system; we need the feds to help us, and hopefully they still will with the current reform bill - on recission, pre-existing conditions, allowing us to be more innovative with pools and self-insurance. I think we need to expand MinnCare as a premium-based program to small businesses. These costs drag us all down when those dollars aren't put into retirement savings or turned around in local communities around the state."
Do her proposals mean making the case to Minnesota that new revenue streams will be needed? "It's primarily a tax burden issue. Folks who have been doing well over the last few years have not been paying their fair share. Those who make over $250,000 a year have been paying less as a percentage of their income than those who make less. The issue there is about fair and progressive taxation, and we need to make the system more fair. We can't just keep pushing this down to local level, and we're going to have to do a lot of hard work on this. We need to start with income tax side of things. The legislature has continued to propose making tax system more fair, and Governor Pawlenty has been a roadblock."
As for the course of the campaign itself, I asked if she would run in a primary without the endorsement; she said no. On the topic of asking for a delay from her local party in handing out an endorsement, she told me that she is not running for her House seat again (meaning a potentially huge endorsement race in the district), and that Majority Leader Tony Sertich is ready to take the reins of the DFL House Caucus, but that much work remains to be done in next year's session.
I'd previously criticized the Speaker for how the 2009 session ended -- but as with other issues, time moves more quickly in political circles, and "what's happened lately?" is a really important question. She is positioned well for the endorsement race, likely picking up a big chunk of elected officials (read: convention superdelegates) and going into the race as an experienced statewide figure. There are certainly worse places from which to start a run at the corner office.
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