politics

As the final leg of Minnesota's gubernatorial campaign opened Wednesday, Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner moved quickly to portray himself as the "common sense" alternative to DFLer Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer.

But just as quickly, both sides worked to cast Horner as largely irrelevant -- a potential spoiler unable to win the race on his own.

Horner, a well-connected public affairs consultant, gave a broad glimpse of his fall campaign strategy and said he intends to appeal to "the 60 to 70 percent of Minnesotans who have been pushed to the sidelines" by Dayton's liberal philosophy and Emmer's conservative rhetoric. Horner plans to raise roughly a third of the $2.5 million in campaign money he needs by the end of this month. He minimized Dayton's and Emmer's popularity by saying the two candidates resonated only with "partisans" who participate in the primary.

"This cannot be a debate over the status quo," said Horner, who held news conferences in St. Paul and Mankato before finishing the day with a fundraiser at the Nicollet Island Inn in Minneapolis. "It can't be a discussion over, if we just cut the status quo, Minnesota will be OK, or if we just increase the status quo through tax cuts and making government fair, Minnesota will be OK.

"The status quo isn't working," Horner said.

Republican Party state chairman Tony Sutton, who on Wednesday unveiled the first in what likely will be a series of attack ads against Dayton, smiled and said there would be no similar ad campaign against Horner.

"I don't think he's going to affect us," Sutton said. "I think he'll take more out of Mark Dayton's hide than our hide." Sutton predicted that Horner would win no more than 6 to 9 percent of the vote in November. He attempted to liken Horner to DFLers, saying that Horner was an advocate of "big government" who "simply thinks he can manage it better."

At a DFL unity rally at the State Capitol, Dayton barely mentioned Horner, while repeatedly criticizing Emmer. Dayton told the large gathering that the DFL primary turnout was more than 24 times larger than the Independence Party totals. Picking up the refrain of Horner's primary challenger, Dayton said that Horner needs to "show us your special interest clients." Horner, a co-founder of Himle Horner Inc., a Bloomington-based public relations company, has declined to release his client list.

As he left the Dayton rally, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, a DFLer, declared that Horner "won't be the determining factor in the election."

Dan Hofrenning, a political science professor at St. Olaf College, said Horner probably has the best matchup he could hope for because Dayton and Emmer give Horner "more space in the center" of the political debate. But Hofrenning said the Independence Party has experienced a "steady slide" since former Gov. Jesse Ventura was the party's candidate.

Hofrenning said that Horner may also have trouble connecting with voters, because his message essentially translates to "vote for me, I'm thoughtful."

He disagreed, however, with Sutton's view on where Horner would find his votes. "I would expect him to take slightly more Republicans than Democrats," Hofrenning said. "Horner is a descendent of the moderate to liberal Republican tradition that includes [former U.S. Senator] Dave Durenberger and [former Gov.] Arne Carlson."

Mike Kaszuba • 651-222-1673