Capitol Retort: Sanders, targets, sirens, bounce-backs

Editor’s note: Welcome back to Capitol Retort, our weekly review of issues in state and national news, with a rotating cast of local characters. Answers have been edited for length and clarity but not unity. Any instances of agreement are accidental.

Question 1: Minnesota now has three members of Congress backing Bernie Sanders. No other state has more than one. What, if anything, does that tell you about politics in Minnesota? 

Amy Koch, former Senate majority leader: We’re always different than people expect. We will go our own way. We were the only state that [U.S. Sen.] Marco Rubio won. Jesse Ventura, Paul Wellstone, Rod Grams—we go all over the map. We will not be pigeonholed. But if Tom Emmer endorses Bernie, then call me back. Game on.

Don Betzold, former DFL state senator: The senator won the caucuses, got the most votes in the caucuses, so I think some of the representatives are just going along with what they think the constituents want. Ellison was the most logical, because if you look at the makeup of his district, he’s just going with his constituents. I think Nolan could’ve gone either way, but he’s more liberal so it doesn’t surprise me. I think they’re just going with their convictions.

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston: They’re just like me—I’m feelin’ the Bern too. I’m supporting Bernie Sanders. I hope he’s the DFL, er, the Democrat nominee, and we’ll take it from there. I’m feelin’ the Bern.

Ryan Winkler, former state representative: Minnesota Democrats went very strongly for Bernie Sanders, and Minnesota politicians know voters expect them to listen to what voters say.

Question 2: The state House and Senate majority caucuses’ budget targets are very far apart. Will anything happen this session?

Koch: Yes, most importantly because there’s an election coming up in November, and that will always spur them. The Senate’s targets were fairly aligned with the governor’s, as is to be expected. The House is going to be very careful with the money. They’re focusing on transportation and tax relief. That’s what they’re hearing from their constituents. But the budget is done last year, so it’s not like we’re going into shutdown. They’ve funded everything they’ve needed to budget for the biennium. They have to get some things done in order to go face the constituents in November. So, it will happen.

Betzold: It’s all linked together—the transportation bill, the tax bill, the bonding bill. It depends on who wants what out of the session. The House Democrats don’t want anything to happen, to make the Republicans look bad. They can withhold the votes on the bonding bill. But the DFL Senate wants to get things done. I’m frankly skeptical that anything will get done. Those deals have come together in the past, but it’s looking bad.

Davids: I’m saying, go big or go home. I am very hopeful that we can put a tax bill together that leads to a transportation bill that leads to a bonding bill. I think we can do it. We have to be very careful that we don’t draw lines in the sand, that we sit down and visit. I really believe Sen. [Rod] Skoe [DFL-Clearbrook] and I could get a tax bill ready in about 2½ hours. What I’ve been hearing from Sen. [Tom] Bakk [DFL-Cook], to just do a bonding bill and nothing else, that’s not acceptable.

Winkler: I think a bonding bill less than a billion dollars will pass, and nothing else of significance will happen this session. Because nothing has to.

Question 3: Hennepin County tornado sirens went off by mistake at 6:10 a.m. last Tuesday. First, are you up by 6 a.m., and second, do you do anything special to prepare for tornado season? 

Koch: I was already gone to the airport by 6 a.m. I missed the sirens because I was already boarding a plane — I don’t know what you do with your mornings. (Do you have a nice setup in your basement for taking shelter?) No, I don’t. I just have a condo loft in Minneapolis. So, I don’t know, watch “The Wizard of Oz”?

Betzold: I have two cats that want to be fed, usually by 5:30 a.m. They get me up whether I want to be or not. And I just pay close attention to the weather forecasts all the time. That’s about the most preparation I do.

Davids: Normally by 6:10 in the morning I’m ready for my first nap. I’m an old farm boy, used to get up to milk cows, so [I was] up early. I’ve kind of just continued that. Tornadoes are very serious. I heed the warnings very seriously when they come about. We’ve got a place in our house where you can go and hopefully be safe. Everybody should review that and make sure they have a place to go.

Winkler: I am often up by 6 a.m. to get kids ready to go to school. They made me an early riser. And (on tornadoes) make sure your basement door isn’t locked.

Question 4: The Twins are having a record-poor start. What’s something you’ve bounced back from? 

Koch:  I have no answer for that one. I can’t think of a single damn thing. And yes, the Twins will come back. Of course they will. And you know what? They’ll be stronger. It’s a cliché but it’s true. It’s the hard stuff that makes you tougher. Not that I would have any clue.

Betzold: I ran for the Minnesota Senate in 1990 and lost in a primary election to the incumbent. But the next morning, I was raring to go again. It was a two-year term, I ran against the same incumbent in the reconfigured district two years later, and this time I won. And 60 percent of the new district, I’d never run in and neither had the incumbent. It was very difficult for both of us, but it was just a matter of working hard.

Davids: In 2006, I had a 45-vote, two-year vacation. In other words, I was defeated by 45 votes. In 2008, which was not exactly a good year for Republicans, we were able to come back. We were victorious, and been back since. The whole thing is, don’t stop believin’. The Twins? I’m not gonna stop believin’.

Winkler: I’ve bounced back from being a Vikings fan. To not having big expectations. Avenue of Broken Dreams.

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