By: Peter Hutchinson
Team Minnesota's Candidate for Governor

I was in Mankato on Wednesday and started the day at Dotson Foundry. What a great experience. Dotson is a very high tech operation. Molds are produced and metal poured every 30 - 50 seconds. The plant runs 24/5. Every step employes technology. After a tour I got to sit down with the workers to talk about what it is like to work there and how things have changed. It was real clear that the incorporation of computers has been the biggest change but since the company invested plenty in training the workers it has succeeded. In fact at Dotson investing for change is part of their core strategy - and it works. Their business is growing while other foundries are suffering. The workers had plenty of questions. A lot of them see politics as broken and want a change, and they are very worried about health care. As we were about to leave one of the workers who had asked several questions let it slip that he had already voted for me.

Mankato Mayor John Brady was our host and guide for our day. He set up the visit to the foundry and the whole rest of the day. He has been mayor for less than a year and is an enthusiastic supporter of his city and our campaign.

From the foundry we went to South Central College. Here is another organization positioning itself for change. They started out as a tech school exclusively and have made the move to incorporate a full community college curriculum - and use it to feed their larger neighbor Mankato State University. Their biggest edge however is in executing customized training programs for employers. They have doubled that part of their work in the last few years. They too are investing for change.

We made a quick stop at the Fillin' Station a terrific coffee house in downtown. Then on the the Wagon Wheel a classic dinner, with great food, low prices and tons of people. What a hoot. Talked
all the way through lunch to every person in the place. Lots of interest, lots of support, and several voted already cast for us.

Finally we went to City Hall to meet with the city manager and department heads. They were very frank about the problems they face in local government as a result of the poor (my word is toxic) relationship with state government. I overviewed my proposal to expand the Governor's cabinet to include folks from local government so that decisions are never made without directly including them.

Days like Wednesday are the best. Meeting Minnesotans where they live and work and being reminded what an honor it is to seek their support and trust.
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By: Peter Hutchinson
Team Minnesota's Candidate for Governor

Wow! Things can sure change fast. Look at this flap over Judi Dutcher and E-85. It is out of control. Sure she probably should have know what E-85 is, but she did not lie or commit a crime. In fact she told the truth. Pawlenty jumped on it of course saying that Dutcher is unfit for office. Coming from a guy who 4 years ago was fined for breaking the law, that's the pot calling the kettle black. I know Judi pretty well. She is no dummy. In my mind, Pawlenty is out of line, but he is getting what he wants - our attention diverted.

Then there is Hatch. He couldn't resist the temptation to respond. He did the right thing in defending his running mate, but he went too far. He lied to the press about when it all happened saying it was the end of the day and she was tired when in fact it was in the morning. Now he is stuck with the lie trying to explain his way out of it. As a friend once said to me, when you're explaining, you ain't gaining.

But here is the bigger issue. Hatch has no ethanol plan - at least not anywhere on his web site. His so called energy independence plan is 27 single spaced page and 217 footnotes without even mentioning ethanol. By contrast our plan is specific about the promise and problems of ethanol and how it fits into our energy future.
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By: Peter Hutchinson
Team Minnesota's Candidate for Governor

One of the most exciting things about campaigning is finding yourself in places you would never expect. That happened on Monday October 23. There I was at the Minneapolis Convention Center to greet thousands of Muslims as they left morning prayers celebrating the end of Ramadan, which is called Eid al-Fitr. We were alerted to this possibility by a Muslim supporter who assured us that it would be appropriate and welcome. Ramadan lasts a month. During that time Muslims may not eat from sun up to sun down. It is an intense period of prayer and reflection, showing commitment to the faith. The event at the Convention Center included the last prayers before breaking the fast. Following the prayers, Muslims enjoy a meal with family and friends and celebrate. My daughter is an Arabic speaker. She taught us the traditional greeting, which is "Eid Mubarak." It means "Happy end of Ramadan."

So there I was with my campaign "trading cards" in hand and the appropriate greeting in mind as the prayer ceremony ended. Through the doors people came in huge numbers - men separated from women. As the first man approached I uttered Eid Mubarak. He looked a bit quizically at me, then broke into a huge smile, returned the greeting and shook my hand. He asked my name and took a card. And so it began. For the next hour I shook hands with hundreds of delighted people - glad to see me there, glad to see me willing to reach out in their language. I know I wasn't saying it quite right, but they sure appreciated the effort. The most amazing thing though was how many people knew who I was, what I was running for and that I was an independent. They had seen me on TV, heard me on the radio, and read about me in the paper.

There were a lot of great lessons in this experience. Minnesota is a wonderously diverse place. All people appreciate being appreciated. And people are getting the message even if you do not know about it!
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By: Peter Hutchinson
Team Minnesota's Candidate for Governor

Campaigning often means doing things you have never done and never dreamed of doing. Like making a TV commercial. That's what I did last night.

This was a 60 second ad. It took 6 hours to do.

I arrived at the location - a restaurant - at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I had seen the basic outline of the script but none of the details. Details are everything. That's why there were about 40 people there. The smallest group - 4 in all - were the actors. The rest were people operating the cameras, doing sound, lighting, setting the stage, moving stuff around, and all of us extras. Plus the director and other people in charge.

These folks all know their job - and they do it. They are specialists who come together for one night to work as a team to get this job done. It is a temporary, results oriented and very disciplined team.

The script is really a set of pictures with a few words. The pictures are to give the director a sense of what it should look like - the words are for the actors. The whole thing is done as a series of 8 - 10 second 'scenes.' First the stage is set. Then the director and camera person see what it looks like and agree on things like the angle and width of the picture. Then the actors come in to rehearse lines, movements, positions etc. At that point all of the other specialties check out their piece of the deal. Is the lighting right? Can the words be heard? How does it look on the screen? Finally it is time to record the real thing. Take one. Not quite right. Try this. Fix that. Take two. Getting there. Lean in just a bit more. Give it a little more energy. Get that shadow off his face. Take three. That was great. One more time to be sure we've got it right.

This goes on over and over. With each change in action. Not always in order. That has to do with where they need the camera to be. Shoot everything you need from one position. Then change to another and shoot everything you need from that position.

By 10:30 pm I am tired. I am in most of the scenes - speak maybe 200 words - and this has taken nearly 6 hours. The people who should know say that it all went great. I guess we will see pretty soon. Right after the editors, sound effects folks, title specialists and who knows who else gets their crack at it.

I can't wait to see it. Here's a clue - watch out for the glass of water.
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By: Lucy Gerold
Team Minnesota's Candidate for Auditor

We wake up in Fergus Falls and go to the AMC (Association of Minnesota Counties) district meeting at the Ottertail Government Center. There are 50+ people there. Again, I and the Independence candidates are well received. They are eager for my brochures and talk to me on the break. One guy says that he has been a commissioner for 40 years, he really supports the Independence Team. He remembered Peter’s quote from last spring’s meeting about dismounting the dead horse. He loved it.

We go downtown and find a bakery, hand out cards. While I was handing out cards, Emily was also. At a table of 3 women, one woman asked whether “Lucy is running as a Democrat or a Republican” and another woman said “she is running with the Independence, I have seen her on TV”. Then we went to the Viking Café for breakfast. It is a very cool old diner. We have breakfast and hand out cards to the 50-60 people that are there. As I leave one table I overhear a woman say to her 2 companions “I am going with the Independents all the way.” Another guy said “the Independence is much better than the Democrats, I am with you”. Another guy was talking to Emily and had asked if I wasn’t the deputy chief who had been suspended by McManus. I joined the conversation and he said he followed the whole thing in the paper and thought it was all so wrong and he would be voting for me. We talked to the owner of the diner who said the diner had been in his family for 38 years.
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