Incumbent Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has achieved national recognition for the job he's done in Minnesota, and has even been mentioned as a potentially viable candidate for the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination. His reelection had been widely expected to be a coronation as late as late spring, but his Democratic challenger, Attorney General Mike Hatch has run an aggressive campaign and rode the anti-Bush winds of this midterm, which seem to blow hardest off the Great Lakes, to a dead heat.

Until lately, that is. It all began when his running mate didn't know what "E-85" was - it's 85% ethanol, a major agricultural product in the state. Hatch has shown increasing signs of stress over the whole issue, and has been taking it out on the press, as John Hinderaker of Powerline reports:

Hatch has been around for a long time, and he reminds me a bit of Richard Nixon. Hatch is reasonably able, but seems ill-suited to politics. He is not very likable, frankly, and seems to struggle constantly to restrain his volcanic temper. Yesterday, Hatch may have doomed his long-cherished hope to become governor when, in a burst of anger, he called a reporter from the Duluth newspaper a "Republican whore."

Hatch denies the comment; he said this morning that he thought he had called the reporter a "Republican hack." But no one believes Hatch's denial. The sad fact is that in recent days, Hatch has been coming unglued. On a tour of southern Minnesota, he made a number of what he admitted were "very inappropriate" comments to reporters. Hatch was angry about news coverage of the fact that his running mate, Lieutenant Governor candidate Judi Dutcher, admitted in an interview that she didn't know what E-85 is. This became a cause celebre in southern Minnesota, where ethanol--E-85 is a fuel containing 85% ethanol, which is made from corn--is a huge business. Both Dutcher and Hatch seemed to melt down over this incident, although, if you've seen the YouTube video of Dutcher's long explanation--it involved a waitress whose coffee machine was hissing, or something like that--you'll probably agree that Dutcher is at least cute when she melts down.

Read the rest at the link above. Attacking the press directly rarely turns out well. As Mark Twain cautioned, "Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel."

UPDATE: In Friday's debate, Hatch backed off his denial, saying he didn't remember using the word "whore," but staying short of outright denial. The newspaper will not say whether they have the exchange on tape, but stands by the story and quote. Hatch decided, evidently, not to test that possibility.