Families at Lake Orono in Elk River were taking in the summer sun and a stiff afternoon breeze on Friday when the politicians rolled into town.
On the last leg of their 20-city "Freedom and Prosperity" tour, nearly a dozen GOP candidates emerged from a packed campaign bus to a crowd of signs, supporters and curious beachgoers.
The star of the show, gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, wore a permanent smile as he maneuvered through the pack, releasing regular belly laughs while hamming it up with strangers like they were college chums.
When things turned to politics, children returned to the water and Emmer discussed many of the limited government tenets he has made a centerpiece of his campaign.
But like any candidate for governor these days, Emmer's focus quickly became the state's budget dilemma. A day after DFLers sparred over their specific tax plans, Emmer argued that his opponents are buried too deep in the weeds, looking for Band-Aids instead of targeting the root of the problem.
"The budget is only a symptom of the real problem," Emmer said, balking at the focus on "line-item" budget cuts. "The real problem is the economy."
In an interview after the event, Emmer said his plan is to relax the regulatory and tax burden on businesses as a method of boosting the private economy – the only way he thinks the state can have long-term budget stability. This would be on top of reassessing the purpose and efficiency of "every aspect of government."
"[My opponents] are talking about just raising revenues and they're spending hours talking about what taxes can we tweak?" Emmer said while riding the tour bus from Elk River to Minnetonka. "The problem is everyone has become myopic. The budget is a huge problem and it must be balanced. But it can't just be balanced by taking out the accountant and starting the line item here and line item there."
