by Dan Burns

Aug 3, 2020, 10:00 AM

Why no bonding bill?

From when this year’s bonding bill mess was going on:

A deal is not in the interests of Republican House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, who is hoping to win back the speaker’s gavel. His caucus’s position is that there’s no bonding deal unless Gov. Tim Walz gives up his emergency powers. This works for Daudt in two ways: First, some in his base are convinced the pandemic has been exaggerated to hurt President Trump, and many more that Walz is a monarch in need of toppling. And, if they don’t do the infrastructure bill, Republicans can say the government is dysfunctional and in need of a new House majority.
(Minnesota Reformer)

538 has Dems with an 8-point national generic ballot lead. There’s no reason to think Minnesota voters aren’t generally in the same place.

It’s possible that Daudt is acting here under specific orders from the American Legislative Exchange Council. But my gut, and the following, say no.

But Daudt’s GOP counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, signaled support for the bonding bill, even though senators did not get a chance to vote on it.
(Star Tribune)

It seems that Rep. Daudt honestly believes that his is a magnificent, winning strategy.

It’s a fraught endeavor, to try to assess the wholly irrational – for example, what goes on in right-wing politicians’ heads – by rational means. Can it really work, to use fact and reason to try to understand “minds” that are bereft of either? On the other hand, what choice do we have, when trying to figure things out?

So, I certainly don’t claim to be able to explain, with confident precision, exactly what’s going on in Rep. Daudt’s head. But, remember how confident this state’s Party of Trumpers were, after November 2016? It was just a matter of time before they would “turn Minnesota red,” and just in time for redistricting, no less. None of that has happened – in fact, the exact opposite looks quite likely – and my guess is that in light of that Rep. Daudt is acting out of pigheaded stubbornness, delusion, and, beneath it all, vague, inchoate, but very real despair.

To be clear, I’ve been an irrational idiot. I’ll even go so far as to say that I’ve been one many times. But I was generally hurting no one but myself. Kurt Daudt is screwing the entire state of Minnesota.