Here’s why: Emmer’s next big job: appealing to the middle:
His campaign will have to broaden from a smattering of die-hard activists to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans in the political middle, not deeply beholden to either party. He's got company in that quest. The same pledges and promises candidates make that turn on the party faithful may raise doubts among general election voters. To secure her endorsement, DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher promised to sign a universal health care bill, while DFL primary challenger Mark Dayton has pledged to raise income taxes on the state's wealthy. Meanwhile, both parties need worry about the coming candidate from the small Independence Party, who will pitch that he represents the middle ground.
Emmer appears to be to the right of Pawlenty. State government, he says, should shrink by a full 20 percent and the welfare system dismantled. He considers Arizona's controversial new immigration law that has local police checking immigration status a "wonderful first step."
When Emmer tries to moderate his message, the Tea Party will cry seduced and abandoned! Dolchstosslegende!
And he will have to try. One big one he’s going to have to try to explain is his authorship of a bill to amend the Minnesota Constitution to permit the nullification of federal law in Minnesota. Here’s the bill:
An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the amendment is adopted, a section shall be added to article I, to read: Citizens of Minnesota are sovereign individuals, subject to Minnesota law and immune from any federal laws that exceed the federal government's enumerated constitutional powers. A federal law does not apply in Minnesota unless that law is approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of each house of the legislature and is signed by the governor. Before voting to approve a federal law, each legislator must individually affirm that the legislator has read the federal law and understands it. Citizens of Minnesota enjoy inherent, natural, God-given rights as reflected in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution. Minnesota citizens have the right to seek redress for any alleged violation of these rights committed by the state of Minnesota exclusively through a jury trial in a Minnesota court and through enactment of a change in Minnesota law.
Here’s the money quote:
A federal law does not apply in Minnesota unless that law is approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of each house of the legislature and is signed by the governor.
Expanding his support from people who think this is a good idea to even a plurality of Minnesota voters will be a, well, titanic task.
Of the several posts on this subject here, new readers might especially enjoy these:
In which Rep. Emmer gets a civics lesson
The Minnesota Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act
A thump of the tail to Aaron for starting this discussion at Drinking Liberally.
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