Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, meeting with President Obama Tuesday as part of a delegation from the National Governors Association, took note of his campaign pledge to raise taxes on the wealthy, something Obama also campaigned on and won. "I started my campaign in the fall of 2009, talking about this," Dayton told a few Minnesota reporters after the meeting. "At that time, there was broad skepticism, including from people in my own ranks who thought it was going to be the kiss of death." One of the reporters recalled Walter Mondale's disastrous presidential run in 1984, when he promised to level with the people about the need to raise taxes. "So the fact that I did win and bucked the tide," Dayton continued, "showed that it was possible." Did that influence the Obama campaign? "I'm sure others made their own independent judgments," he said. "I don't presume to think that I'm influencing presidential campaign decisions."
