GOP needs candidates

GOP needs candidates

The Republican Party of Minnesota must bring viable statewide candidates to the table. Recently, in 2010, Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer lost in a year that Republicans took control of the Minnesota Senate for the first time in three decades.

At least Kurt Bills loss can be chalked up to President Obama’s win in the state. Wait… Bills lost by a greater margin than Romney?

That’s alright. We can just blame Amy Klobuchar. She has the highest approval rating of any politician in the entire country. The only problem with this logic is it assumes Klobuchar is popular because of who she is. I would argue that she is popular because others haven’t proved they are better.

It should not be overlooked that Bills was doomed from the start. He lacked name recognition in a state where having the last name Andersen will boost your performance by at least one or two percentage points. He also lacked money. As a grassroots candidate he had to be able to get enough small donations to stay afloat. This works great for Ron Paul who is able to draw from all over the country, but Bills is not that charismatic.

Minnesota is not a far-right state. The Republican Party must nominate moderate conservatives. I am a great proponent of smaller government, but if the choice is between a same-size government and a growing government, I will settle for the same-size government.

Senators Franken and Klobuchar are far-left and they both serve to rubberstamp a liberal agenda. Minnesota needs politicians that reflect our state. Bills was a longshot. Maybe we should emphasize electability a little more.