Will he come in to play?

The media has completely ignored it, but on the ballot for Governor will be a candidate running under the "quite raising taxes" label. Polls indicate the race between Mike Hatch and Tim Pawlenty is to close for polls to call, and it very well could come down to less then 2 or 3%. Could Walt E. Brown fair as well as Sam Garst did in 2002 running under a similar label, and receive over 4% of the vote, the vast majority coming from fiscal conservatives? Even at half that total Mr. Brown could very well be the deciding factor as Tim Pawlenty has been no friend to the anti tax fiscal conservative, despite his no new taxes campaign promise.

Might Brown also trim Peter Hutchinson's support? I believe a large segment of Hutchinson support is coming from fiscal conservatives and/or traditional protest voters. While I think he will end up closer to 10% then 5%, Hutchinson is being counted on to deliver at least 5% retaining major party status for the Independence Party, as the success of Tammy Lee is meaningless in that battle. If Walt Brown cuts a percent of Hutchinson's support it might get dangerously close to that 5% level.

Fiscal conservatives wishing to make a loud statement election day should have a chance to confirm that Walt Brown is what he says, hopefully the media provides that service to the voters soon enough so they can make an educated decision, and not a last minute decision in the voting booth.