Liveblogging the Governor's Race 4

Sue Jeffers arrived at Stub & Herbs about 30 minutes ago, and now as results are coming in she's sitting with a Coke and relaxing, satisfied at the job she's done. She thinks the same issues everyone else has been citing here tonight--taxes and fees and stadiums--will earn her plenty of votes. She faults Tim Pawlenty for refusing to debate her.

"He should be able to stand up and defend that record," she says. "It's bad when your sitting governor won't debate a political neophyte." Turning to Laura, a young supporter who just called Pawlenty a "weenie," she asks, "Is that the right word."

That neophyte thing seems to be the draw for the crowd--now 30 or so--gathered here. Enge, who wears a leather biker vest over a black t-shirt with Michael Savage's mantra "Liberalism is a mental disorder," says, "Sue's never been a politician. That's what I like about her. Most of us just bitch. She's doing something." (Enge has driven his truck, a flag-covered pickup, in several of Jeffers' parades.)

Even Jeffers admits she didn't really plan on this path. "Two years ago I had a pretty nice life," says Sue Jeffers. "I ran a business, I played golf and went to basketball games. You've got to be really frustrated to throw that away" and go up against established politicians and "the political machine."

Final question: what percentage of the vote would make her satisfied?

"51 percent." She pauses, rethinking: "Yeah, 51 percent."

[Cross-posted at Minnesota Monitor.]