I left my US home in Minnesota about a year ago, in large part because I wanted better schools, better social services and a better future for my kids. (And luckily I was even able to sell my house, unlike many.)
One of the key reasons I knew Minnesota was not a place for my kids to grow up and come to adulthood was that the Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, to the applause of a majority of Minnesotans, was stripping everything good that had been built to make that State, otherwise a cold Birmingham Alabama, into a livable place. What were those things? Minnesota Care, or decent schools for all, or a quality, well-funded land grant institution spearheading progress in medical research and spinning off profitable private business as a result (Medtronic, Boston Scimed, Alliant, Saint Jude, 3M Medical) and quality public services which made people want to stay in the state even though the climate is the crappiest of any major city in the USA.
Not only was Pawlenty actively gutting the Minnesota Miracle but he was so nice about it that your average Minnesota nice thought he was an okay guy and first elected then re-elected the guy.
And he has destroyed the State. Unemployment, well below the national average as he took office, has recently been a few notches above as he kicked more and more working families off the rolls of State-subsidized health insurance. Roads and bridges go unrepaired and universities underfunded, making motorists unsafe and children, our future, unable to afford attendance at 4-year post-seconday institutions.
Of course, destroying the state is simply a roadmap to success in GOP politics and unsurprisingly, as (mis)Governor Pawlenty announces that he (thankfully) won't be running for a third term to finish running the State of Minnesota into the ground, he is coy about his Presidential ambitions:
No third term for Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
While announcing this afternoon that he will not run for re-election next year, Pawlenty pointedly refused to address intense speculation that he's laying the ground for a White House run in 2012...
With a growing national profile within the Republican Party, Pawlenty has for months been consistently coy about his future, whether it would include a re-election campaign, a presidential run -- or both...
"I don't have any plans beyond serving out my term. I'm not ruling anything in or out..."
For months, Pawlenty has been routinely mentioned as a likely presidential candidate in 2012, but has consistently demurred when asked if he plans to make a run.
I saw the writing on the wall years ago and got out when it became clear it was time. As for y'all, good luck with Mr Pawlenty, and get ready. He's shown what he can do. Good, though not particularly astute people like the guy. A lot. The kind of people who voted for Bush but then voted for Obama for "change". Because they are "independant".
Get ready America because Mr. Pawlenty will do for your state what he did to Minnesota.