It’s difficult to determine how much Zach Dorholt’s dismal debate performance last night will affect his race against Jim Knoblach. Still, for people watching the debate either on TV or from the City Council Chambers got proof that Zach Dorholt is an empty suit. The gravitas gap between Dorholt and St. Cloud businessman Jim Knoblach was frequently on display.
When Sylvia Scheibel asked how jobs were created, Dorholt had the first response, which was a jaw-dropper:
Through demand. Demands build toothpaste. Companies don’t build toothpaste.
That’s absurd thinking. Did demand create laptop computers, iPhones or MP3’s? Did the stimulus create a growing economy? That was the foundation of President Obama’s stimulus bill. GDP didn’t start picking up, if you can call it that, until after the Federal Reserve started pumping $1,000,000,000,000 a year into the economy through quantitative easing. Even then, economic growth has been anemic, the worst recovery since WWII.
Earlier in the debate, Dorholt talked about how Minnesota had to “invest more money” to match skilled workers with the needs of Minnesota’s businesses. Later, Dorholt reversed himself, saying that, under DFL control, the Higher Ed committees “did a good job” in matching businesses with the skilled workers that they needed. It’s impossible to do both.
Saying that Dorholt isn’t an impressive speaker is understatement. Saying that he’s a better orator than he is a policy wonk is accurate. The best thing I can say is that he’s a typical politician. That isn’t the type of trifecta I’m hoping for.
Jim Knoblach was clearly the most informed candidate in that matchup.
Technorati: Debates, League of Women Voters, Zach Dorholt, Jobs, Higher Education, Skills Gap, DFL, Jim Knoblach, Economy, MNGOP, Election 2014
Last night I had the opportunity to place a question before the candidates. Because my original question about volunteerism had already been discussed, I had to pivot to a business question. “What two things would you do when elected to improve the jobs picture so that businesses will be able to hire more employees and have better jobs not just part-time jobs.” I asked them to refrain from the usual “education” answer. But the two Democrat candidates, Dorholt and Wolgemott, insisted in filling up their time with education talk. Both at worthless regarding creation of good private-sector job opportunities.