Why a Bump!

I mentioned in the post below, that the results of the latest Humphrey Institute poll was taken before all the fuss about Scott-Howell's website access. Some, especially those on the Right, were either laughing uncontrollably, or simply scratching their heads when I said:

There is no way of knowing at this point how much more of a bump Amy has received from her strong leadership and integrity displayed during this recent period.

I'll point out why I see an overall plus out of this for the Klobuchar Campaign. Let's go back in time.

About a month before the last Gubernatorial election, there was accusations of improper collaboration between the party and the campaign regarding TV commercials. A state review board validated the charges and issued consequences. From MPR:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty has now accepted full responsibility for campaign practices that a state review board found illegal. The decision could represent a substantial setback for Pawlenty, who also announced he would temporarily suspend television ads while his campaign assesses its options. But Pawlenty vows he'll vigorously press the campaign until the end.

Just one day after the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board ruled against the Pawlenty campaign and the state Republican Party, Pawlenty gathered supporters around him to accept the board's decision.

But TPaw went beyond that, he took internal action as well.

Pawlenty says he's fired the Washington-based media consultant who acted as the illegal link between party and the campaign. In addition, he's temporarily suspended television advertising while the campaign assesses it's financial status.

So while Candidate Pawlenty was displaying honor and integrity, what was the opposition doing, myself probably included, whining:

Others are pushing for even stronger penalties. DFLer Roger Moe's campaign manager, Bill Harper, says Pawlenty's punishment should go beyond the board's order and that Pawlenty should return hundreds of thousands of public subsidies he received as a condition of accepting the spending cap.

"But he has not addressed the more than $400,000 in taxpayer money that he voluntarily received with the understanding that he would play by the rules. That money needs to be returned immediately to the general fund," said Harper.

So what we have here is a candidate's campaign who was caught in wrongdoing, and when faced with a final decisions, accepted the action, respected the action, and moved on, while the opposition tried to twist it into more then what it was.

We all know how that story ended.

The main difference between that experience and the current issue is that the Klobuchar campaign didn't hide behind an investigation and wait to take action. Amy displayed true leadership by taking immediate and appropriate action. She dismissed Ms. McGuinness and contacted investigators in a timely manner to get to the root of the reality before her. She took responsibility and apologized to Mark Kennedy and the campaign. True leadership, true integrity!

Minnesotan's are a very forgiving people. The understand people make mistakes, and they evaluate how those individuals handle the diversity when those mistakes are made. Now the tables are turned, for it is the DFL candidate who is showing the highest level of character, and those on the Right are, well, whining like I was.

I suspect things will turn out the same why for Amy as they did for Tim.

But that's just me!

Flash