Email: Sen. Senjem’s Freudian Slip

Sen. Senjem’s Freudian Slip
	After Governor Dayton’s State of the State speech, conservative Minnesota State Senate Majority Caucus Leader Dave Senjem reacted to Dayton’s vision. “We weren't called incompetent to govern or anything like that, so that kind of rhetoric was absent and thank goodness it was. I think he extended a spirit of cooperation to us, and we'll certainly reach back to him and certainly work with him towards a successful session."

Hmm. Where to begin?

Whenever I hear someone refute an unalleged allegation—in this case, “you’re incompetent to govern”—I immediately assume the affirmation. In other words, when Leader Senjem goes out of his way to deny that conservative policy leaders are incompetent to govern, that tells me that, at some Freudian level, Leader Senjem believes that conservative caucus members are incompetent to govern.

To be fair, coming off of eight years of the Pawlenty Administration, conservatives can govern. I whole-heartedly disagree with their public policy orientation and believe that many of Pawlenty’s choices have dug Minnesota deeper into a hole but, clearly, Pawlenty met the minimum governance standard. The world did not end during Pawlenty’s terms and the sun rose after his final day in office.

I would, however, like to correct Leader Senjem. The legislature’s role is to legislate, not to govern. Sure, broadly, governance can refer to our entire tri-partite system of government, that unique separation of powers structure designed to ensure that not too much can go wrong too quickly. Specifically, Governor Dayton’s job is to govern; the State House and State Senate legislate. Legislating is a big, important job—a pillar, in fact, of representative democracy—but the legislature isn’t the executive branch. Leader Senjem’s comments suggest something different.

If Minnesota’s public policy leaders are serious about toning down the rhetoric and focusing on shared values leading towards legislative session accomplishments, this would be a good place to start. If Minnesota’s elected leaders focus on what really matters—education, jobs, healthcare—Minnesota moves forward. If the distractions, bickering and sniping continue, Minnesota falls behind. And, I really mean it.

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