Olson: Whose model is better for Minnesota, Trump or Walz?

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For the next 11 months, whenever Gov. Tim Walz talks about fraud, for some it will be too little, too late.

That’s going to be the response and campaign battle cry from every Republican seeking to ensure Walz leaves office after two terms.

Want to know what Republicans plan to do about grocery prices, property taxes or gun safety? Well, let’s talk about fraud, they’ll say.

“We literally have the Democrats handing us what I would argue is the greatest controversy to run against in the last 20 years,” GOP operative Preya Samsundar told a colleague last week.

Translation: Republicans believe the human services fraud is their magic carpet ride to the statewide victories they’ve been unable to win on merit or ideas.

Walz cited O’Malley’s history, chief judge for the state Office of Administrative Hearings, former BCA superintendent under GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and FBI agent.

For nearly a decade, O’Malley worked for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, trying to restore integrity amid the mess left from clergy sex abuse scandals.

When O’Malley stepped to the microphone at his introduction, he was strictly business, offering an observation and a point of clarity.

The observation: “No one has any tolerance for fraud. It’s a widespread problem in Minnesota and across our country. It erodes trust and must be addressed head on. Minnesotans deserve to know that their tax dollars are being put to good use, and they deserve to know that they can trust our public institutions.”

Then he said, “Know that I’m not here to serve [Walz]. I’m not here to serve any individual, and I’m not here to serve a political party. I’m here to serve Minnesotans.”

Will it be too little, too late? Will Minnesotans decide they’ve had enough of Walz, toss him out and lay down the red welcome mat for the MAGA acolytes who want to succeed him?

The Republicans have chosen their lane. Their response to the O’Malley announcement was swift and withering. Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Kristin Robbins of Maple Grove issued a single sentence, “The Walz fraud prevention program should be his resignation.”

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said Walz “wants to sweep all his failures under the rug.”

Republican U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer isn’t running for governor, but he said Trump had “stepped up” where Walz had failed.

The word fraud is a crisp word, a spry, highly weaponized cudgel. But what happened in Minnesota is so complicated that we still can’t agree on the scope. A Minnesota Star Tribune article recently tallied the total to $217.7 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who convicted dozens in the schemes, said he expects the final tally to be in the billions.

One thing about Walz is that he isn’t a glib, smooth talker who glosses over issues. He wrestles with decisions. He knows that the recent fraud imperils the ability of government to improve lives.

“We are a state that chooses not to let people go hungry or homeless or uneducated,” he said Friday. “However, that generosity has been taken advantage of by an organized group of fraudsters and criminals. Minnesota’s long-standing high standards of integrity of public funds go hand in hand with a culture of generosity. You can’t have one without the other.”

Even now, in the fight of his political career, Walz is still trying to elevate government’s ability to do good. Meanwhile the Republicans’ aim is far less complicated or solution-oriented. Screaming about fraud isn’t a remedy.

But even as they pound Walz, the Republicans who would lead this state must be compelled to explain how they balance support for Trump with the best interests of Minnesotans, and the pursuit of integrity in government.

This president has engaged in a campaign to bomb boats carrying suspected drug dealers off the coast of Venezuela while freeing a convicted drug dealer, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández.

This president wants to hand out a $12 billion aid package and counting to soybean farmers after he destroyed their ability to sell the crops with the tariffs he slapped on China.