Editorial counterpoint: Jeff Johnson: Why I will be a better governor

When Minnesotans vote on Nov. 4, you won't just be choosing between competing ideas about the role of government in our lives. Of course, those ideas matter — a lot — but when you cast your ballot, they aren't the only things you should be thinking about.

The first and most important role of the governor is to make sure that the basic functions of government work predictably well and that government is making things better, not worse. The governor needs to know what is going on and what is supposed to be done about it, and needs to make sure that government officials are competently executing the laws.

Gov. Mark Dayton does not meet that test.

Time and again — and on the most important issues facing Minnesota — Dayton has been a bystander in his own administration, and Minnesotans have paid a steep price.

Dayton put a stake in the ground on three major initiatives: the implementation of MNsure, the passage of a major tax increase and the negotiation of a taxpayer-funded new stadium for the Vikings.

In the end, it turns out he was entirely unaware of the details surrounding these initiatives.

MNsure has been the highest-profile failure. Dayton promised easy sign-ups, lower rates, and the ability to keep your plan and your doctor. Not one of those promises was kept.

Dayton insisted that MNsure was doing "phenomenally well," until he finally admitted that it was the biggest disappointment of his term. His explanation for the failures was that he was "unaware" of the problems.

No governor should be "unaware" of an impending disaster of his own making.

Dayton similarly failed to follow the negotiations on the very tax bill that he had championed for over two years — he even shut down the government in an attempt to pass the bill at one point.

Once the bill had passed, however, he found out that he had signed a bill with taxes he claims not to have known about, including a new tax on Minnesota farmers. It also included a new $90 million office building for state senators, who work only part-time.

His explanation? He was unaware that these things were in his own signature bill.

Minnesota has big problems to face, and we can't afford to face them with a part-time, disengaged governor.

It's time for new leadership in Minnesota.

As governor, I'll first fix Dayton's messes.

I will then work day and night to position Minnesota to be a global leader in the 21st-century economy.

I'll do that by focusing on the basic functions of government and getting them right.

Minnesota's middle class is getting squeezed, no matter what the governor keeps saying. Too many people are having trouble finding good-paying jobs to replace the ones they lost a few years ago. Too many people are worried that they may lose the good-paying jobs they have now.

And too many people are worried that their kids may not do as well as they have.

That's not the Minnesota I grew up in, and that isn't the Minnesota I want to pass on to my kids.

I am running for governor because I know we can do better for ourselves — and especially for our kids.