By Mike Kaszuba

Wearing a Minnesota Vikings cap and surrounded by a sea of fans outside the Metrodome, Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner led the cheers Sunday for a new, taxpayer-funded stadium for the team. "This is another issue where it really comes down to leadership," said Horner as a large crowd of fans streamed by him heading into the Metrodome for the Vikings first home game of the season. "We can save the Vikings, we can build a new stadium. "We can do it in a way that says to all taxpayers, we'll be fair," he added. "If you don't want to pay for a Vikings stadium, my plan says you don't have to do it. We'll protect education, we'll protect health care, we'll protect infrastructure." After he spoke, Horner posed for pictures with fans, including one who wore a Vikings helmet with horns, carried a shield and held a sword. Another fan who posed with Horner, Ben Theis of Chaska, described himself as "Super Fan Ben" and wore a makeshift "super hero" costume, with purple tights and bright yellow boots. "If you want a Vikings stadium, I need your vote on November 2," Horner yelled to the fans. "And the last message -- Skol Vikings!" The crowd gathered around him roared its approval. Most of the fans inching by Horner however seemed unsure of who he was, despite a small group of supporters who held Horner campaign signs. One man, wearing a purple Vikings jersey, moved past and said, "I don't like American politics." But more than a few cheered as they filed by a tailgate party that Horner held near the Metrodome before the game. "Real positive," said Jim Mulder, Horner's running mate, as he cooked sausages on a grill. "They'd like to have a stadium." As Horner finished his speech, Tom Fauskee of Minneapolis stood nearby with a large sign that read "No Welfare for Billionaires – Fund Social Services Not Stadiums." As Fauskee gave interviews to reporters, one Vikings jersey-clad fan walked by and shouted "Get out of here, dumb ass!" Fauskee simply smiled. Fauskee said he was struck by Horner's support for a new stadium, especially since Horner's former public relations firm, Himle Horner Inc., has had contracts with the Vikings to help push for a stadium. Horner was essentially lobbying, said Fauskee, for "one of his former clients." "It's more than a touch of irony," he added. Sunday's speech and rally outside the Metrodome, where the Vikings have played for nearly 30 years, marked Horner's most visible attempt to make the stadium issue part of his campaign. Horner said his plan would have the Vikings pay 40 percent of the project's cost, commit the team to a 40-year lease and use a series of stadium user taxes to pay for the cost. Horner said he would not use income, sales or property taxes to pay for the proposal. Of the three candidates for governor, Horner has gone the furthest in providing details for a new stadium. DFLer Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer have both said generally that they favor a new stadium for the Vikings, but have provided few details on how they would fund it. Cory Merrifield, the founder of SavetheVikes, a fan group that is pushing for a new stadium and helped organize Horner's rally Sunday, said the group would also help Dayton and Emmer should they want to host rallies outside the stadium before a game. "If nothing else," said Merrifield on whether Sunday's rally for Horner was a success, "it'll put some pressure on Dayton and Emmer to step up."