Posted: 7/31/06
People come and go in politics, just ask Matt Entenza
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Thereís very little mourning in politics.
People come and go.
The machinery doesnít falter.
This seems the case with former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul.
Entenza, as most people know, withdrew from the Attorney General race after it became known he had hired an opposition research firm about 18 months ago to see what Attorney General Mike Hatch had been up to.
Entenza had trouble explaining why he had done this.
He said he had merely wanted to learn more about the workings of the office, an explanation which even to the tone deaf sounded strained.
Still, his withdrawal from the race left people wondering whether there wasnít something else out there ó the second shoe that didnít quite drop.
Sure, turning researchers loose on a fellow DFLer seems a little tacky ó or even slightly paranoid.
But it hardly seemed like reason enough to drop out of the race.
There is the conflict of interest question concerning Entenzaís wife, Lois Quam, a wealthy health care executive whose company that she works for is currently being investigated by the Attorney Generalís Office.
Perhaps it just all proved too much.
Entenza was gone.
The machinery began to whirl.
Some five DFLers file for attorney general ó two later dropped out.
Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, former congressman Bill Luther, and Solicitor General Lori Swanson all look to replace Entenza.
Kelley perhaps seems best situated to get the endorsement when the DFL State Central Committee meets on Aug. 12.
Kelley, who failed to get the partyís gubernatorial endorsement, came away from the state convention in June looking good.
He gave one of the best speeches heard at the convention and gracefully bowed out to give the endorsement to Hatch.
Luther, who served four-terms in Congress, has been out of office for four years and carries the albatross of having lost an election.
In the 2nd District, Lutherís last election also serves up memories of No New Taxes Sam Garst and the attempt to divide the conservative vote.
Swanson is not a political figure.
The rumpus in the attorney generalís race seemed to threaten to spill over into the governorís race for a moment when Hatch complained to the Minnesota News Council about inquiries made by metro daily reporters into a daughterís past relationship and other areas Hatch deemed irrelevant.
The complaint seemed to suggest a coming storm but the storm never broke.
It might be interpreted as a protective father standing up for his children ó something like Harry Truman did when a music critic lampooned his daughter, a warbler, and the president basically threatened to beat the critic up.
But editorially the ìStar Tribuneî is usually friendly to Democrats.
So the sense of lingering expectation hasnít wholly diminished.
Still, if the DFL political travail of the past weeks were unavoidable they also came a good time.
Itís summer. Thereís a heat wave.
The average person likely hasnít been watching events at the Capitol too closely.
Come November, it will seem half-remembered like a hot weather daydream.
And not a lot of insiders are shedding tears.
Capitol Roundup
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