Q & A with the candidates

Perched on stools in the convention center hall's main stage, the candidates spent early Saturday afternoon fielding questions from the delegates they're trying to woo.

On the question of levying a "temporary surtax" to help with the state's budget problems, Rukavina, Kelliher, Marty and Rybak all talked around the idea of raising income taxes.

"I think we need to be done with the band aids," said Kelliher. When they were asked about their electability, Rybak drew the loudest applause during the question and answer session, saying that he was the answer for how DFLers could reach all of Minnesota, and quoting his own campaign song, "I've Been Everywhere, Man." Thissen, meanwhile, said he could best reach the whole state because of reports that Republicans feared him most among all the DFL gubernatorial candidates. Asked to explain Why DFLers have for so long been unable to win the governor's office (20 years and counting), Thissen said: "This is really the question, isn't it?" Kelliher said grassroots organizing will be important, but articulating a "vision" will be paramount for DFLers. "You need to get [to] people at, 'Hello'," she said. On the final question, about how the candidates would help farmers, Kelliher talked of signing a executive order as governor to "buy local."