Earplugs

You're going to need 'em if this little number is indicative of the governor's race the rest of the way.

These days, the Willie Horton ad is beginning to look like a cute warm-and-fuzzy.

This, by the way, is one of those situations that underscored the Hatch vs. Pawlenty battle that's been taking place at the Capitol since 2002. It was Hatch who first publicized the situation. Which was followed by Pawlenty demanding an investigation.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

Two years. It's a wonder it's taken this long to crank an ad out of it.

One of the interesting aspects of political ads,of course, is the innnuendo while maintaining deniability. Clearly the ad did not say that Pawlenty intentionally sent sex offenders to nursing homes. But the use of the word "idea" at the beginning certainly is meant to leave the implication, as in, "hey, I had an idea today...let's send a bunch of sex offenderrs to molest old folks in nursing homes."

There's intent, then there's just negligence and stupidity. Either conclusion, presumably, would be desirable by the folks who produced the ad, which was the DFL Party, not the Hatch campaign.

Close race, I guess.

(h/t Laura McCallum)