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Article: To state's sorrow, Pawlenty and Legislature missed a bet.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- May 20, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Brandl
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature just blew the opportunity of a lifetime.
Politicians don't have all that many chances to make significant change. Interest groups tend to keep politicians on the straight and narrow. For politicians who kowtow, the groups provide adulation, elbow grease, money and votes.
(Kowtow isn't quite the right word. To be a politician is to have an exquisite ability to rationalize, to see one's own interests and the public good as coincident with the positions of influential lobbying organizations. I've been there.)
Politicians who eschew such alignment make life tough for themselves. ...