Mark Dayton may have been a lousy Senator but he thinks he’d make a great governor.
As the minutes ticked down toward noon Wednesday — the end of his one-term Senate career — the departing Democrat said he is considering a run for Minnesota governor in 2010.
The announcement came as he recounted his frustration with Congress, acknowledging he had not been “as effective as I hoped to be when I arrived.” For that, he blamed what he called the seniority-driven politics of the Senate, where he was in the minority party for the past four years. “The Senate or the Legislature is a very reactive institution, and I think I’m much more effective personally and professionally being more proactive,” he said.
Republicans reacted to a potential run for governor with incredulity, noting Dayton recently gave himself an “F” for his Senate performance. “Mark Dayton has received national recognition by Time magazine as one of ‘America’s Worst Senators’ and has himself acknowledged that he deserved an ‘F’ for his ineffectiveness in the U.S. Senate,” said Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey. “With a track record like that, I find it beyond belief that Mark Dayton would think he has what it takes to be our governor.”
Being a poor Senator doesn’t mean you can’t be an effective governor; the two jobs have little in common. Great athletes seldom make great coaches or sports executives. Great military commanders are often poor staff officers and vice-versa. It’s rare to have the skill sets to excel across the board.
