Minnesota needs leadership.
Today there are many Minnesotans who do everything right — work hard, follow the law, live within their means — and still cannot get by. That is a tragedy, and we need good leadership to help them.
Leadership sets the right goal and it delivers results. It is about having the will and perseverance to achieve a goal regardless of the obstacles. It involves taking positions, weighing tradeoffs and making tough decisions, which risks offending people.
Recently, Amy Klobuchar released her “Transforming State Government Plan.” It focuses on accountability, transparency, and competence in government, principles that most Minnesotans support and that Republican candidates for governor have been speaking about for months. While it is a welcome backhand to the Walz Administration, it stays narrow, seeking to carve out the safe middle and avoid offending anyone. It reads like it was written by a Beltway consulting group expert in triangulating. It also begs the question: where over the past years has Amy Klobuchar’s voice been on these issues, and when has she ever accomplished what she now advocates?
Meanwhile, the state is in a fix. Job growth continues to lag. Educational outcomes decline. Crime remains a concern in many neighborhoods. State spending, along with fraud, has exploded, while more Minnesotans and their businesses vote with their feet and leave the state. These are serious issues and addressing them requires more than a safe policy paper. It requires leadership that sets a clear goal and follows through.
We should have one overriding goal: to prioritize and serve the hard-working people of Minnesota. These are the people who built this state and still carry it forward. They work hard, take responsibility for their actions, and love their state. They live in every neighborhood, come from every background and vote for both parties. These Minnesotans are the cornerstone and to serve them, we must restore the fundamentals. Strong economic growth through tax, regulatory and permitting reform that creates more and better paying jobs. Excellence in education by reducing mandates and a focus on mastery that brings Minnesota schools back into the top 10. Public safety by enforcing the rule of law so Minnesotans feel safe in their neighborhoods. Those are the priorities and we must focus on them like a laser.
But leadership must also deliver results. It is not enough to have the right goal. That requires showing up every day and battling to achieve the goal, through hell or high water. It requires making difficult choices and trade-offs. People might get offended.
Good leaders are hard to find and they are not defined by good intentions or feel-good plans. You can find them by their record of leading and their will to get things done. Who has set clear goals, made difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions, and consistently delivered tangible results? Who successfully has led organizations through challenge and change?
It is not Amy Klobuchar. Look at her record and her plan.
Minnesota can get back on track. But it will take leadership to do it.
Patrick Knight is a former Marine Corp officer and manufacturing company CEO and current Republican candidate for governor.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not represent an official position of Alpha News.
Patrick Knight
Patrick Knight is CEO of Good Sense Foods.
