tom horner, we begin with you. >> i want to follow-up on that point. there is a reason why every major newspaper in the state, why every former governor, what partisan republicans and democrats have said that this is the year they are going to vote independent. and in some cases, the first time they are going to vote for a non-member of their party. i have offered the leadership, the vision. i am the one who says how we break the gridlock. i have a career of stability, the temperament to need, the experience to bring people together. when we see the most partisan kind of interests being played to by representative emmer and senator dayton, we are paying the consequences. minnesota is up for sale to the highest bidder. this is not about minnesota being a better state. it is about how minnesota becomes the best state, and that is why i'm asking for your vote november 2. >> tom emmer. >> thanks for having us tonight. i would say to people watching -- there are three people running to be governor of the state of minnesota. there are only two messages. my c

three-way race, against a conservative republican considered too conservative for the state and, tom horner who lacks a substantial political organization, plus, the incumbent, out going governor tim pawlenty, a two-term republican and this is one of those rare places where the democrats may actually benefit from the anti-incumbency mood and pawlenty left the president a not so welcoming message when he arrived criticizing the budget deficits, health care reform, the unemployment rate, with minnesota slang in his words, not so much. juliett. >> wendell goler, live in minneapolis. thanks. >> rick: former governor sarah palin is looking to put her stamp on the midterm election and she and other g.o.p. heavy weights holding a victory 2010 sprint to the finish rally today. it was in orlando, florida. phil keating is standing by live in orlando, good to see you. how was the turnout today? >> reporter: 2,000 people according to organizers, which is about the same size as the victory rally last weekend in anaheim, california. which also featured sarah palin and michael steele, the g.o.p.'s r.n.c.

tom horner has talked about lowering the sales tax.want to know is, where were you compromise? where are you willing to go to the state capital and sit d

please tell me well, gubernatorial candidates tom emmer, tom horner and mark dayton to msu. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> they evening. -- good evening. on behalf of the debate minnesota foundation, we welcome you to tonight's debate. debate minnesota supporters are from different political backgrounds. some of them are here with us tonight in the audience. they share concerns about the impact of negative advertising and money in politics and the lack of civility and our political discourse they propose that we take a lesson from abraham lincoln, stephen douglas and kerry are issues back to the public square -- and carry our issues back to the public square. we believe that the best way to restore civility in the election process is through substantive, content-based discussions between candidates, the people, and their communities. >> we will begin with 2 minute opening statements. they have drawn numbers to determine the order. each candidate will have two minutes with a one-mi

independent party candidate tom horner owned a public relations firm and was managing editor of "the son of," newspapers. he graduated from st. thomas, where he teaches. he is from minneapolis. he and his wife have three children. >> you have not a chance to meet the candidates. let's get right down to the issues and we will begin with the biggest issue -- balancing the budget. we face a projected nearly $6 billion budget deficit. each of youakssk what you plan to do to balance the budget. mr. emmer you plan to balance the budget to spending cuts. mr. dayton you plan to tax snowbirds. what i want to know is, where were you compromise? where are you willing to go to the state capital and sit down with the legislature and find an area, even if it is one of the important areas you of blood, where you would compromise? a couple of days ago, governor pawlenty told me that he wished the government shutdown have lasted longer so he could have extracted more budget concessions. would you go to a government shut down if you needed to to expand your principal of smaller government and more spe

we have a former senator, tom and, tomrepublican co horner, who is pretty much funding his own campaign. on the climate is about 3% lower i want to vote for the , but he wants to raise taxes. we have no taxes on food or clothing in the state. he wants to tax them both. host: you said you want to vote for him and then you said, "but." which we are you going? -- which way are you going? caller: i think are going to vote for the former senator. guest: this is one that democrats are seen as a key pick up opportunity because governor pawlenty is not running again. he is expected to run for president in 2012. i think the caller said that -- and he admitted that he was one of the worst senators in state history. but this is another one in the governors' races were you do have a third party candidate. the is a former republican turned independent. and he said he left the republican party because he did not like the way things are going. he is largely expected to siphon some more votes. dayton has been leading there in the polls. host: and is he consistently leading enough that it is pretty comf