Evacuatin' Dayton still scurrying

Someone once said that if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton has taken that to the extreme.

It all started six years ago while serving in the U.S. Senate, when Dayton feared for the safety of himself and his staff upon receiving a top secret intelligence report. As such, Dayton decided to close his D.C. senate office for the following few weeks. Never mind that the 99 other Senators didn't see fit to follow suit despite having access to the very same intelligence report. Dayton was a lone wolf in his insistence that evacuation was the proper strategy, yet never gave a coherent explanation as to why.

Now, in light of the former Senator's behavior over the past few weeks, that so-called isolated incident in 2004 appears to have been the beginning of a bizarre trend of ducking serious inquiries.

It started last month after the completion of a gubernatorial debate with fellow candidates Tom Emmer and Tom Horner. Upon the debate's conclusion, Sioux Falls, SD news station KSFY was granted permission to speak with each of the candidates. KSFY informed each campaign that they would inquire about illegal immigration as well as Minnesota's budget shortfall. Emmer and Horner complied. But for some unexplained reason, the Dayton camp did not cooperate. This made ZERO sense. I mean, it's not like KSFY was going to ask about Dayton's unexplained erratic behavior or the gaps in his resume. I mean, illegal immigration and state budgets are pesky little things called pertinent questions, especially when asked of a man who yearns to be chief executive of an entire state.

Then today it was reported that Dayton settled a lawsuit brought by a former Senate aide who claimed he was fired upon informing then Sen. Dayton he was suffering from a heart condition. Now when it's alleged that the lawsuit was settled with taxpayer money, it's only fair that concerned citizens be given the full story.

But as WCCO-TV political guy Pat Kessler reported, Dayton once again was less than complicit.





And here I thought Democrats were the party of transparency. Sorry. Won't make that mistake again.

-------------------------------------------