Guv-hopeful Thissen accuses rival Kelliher of hijacking his message

The race to the governor's mansion is getting ugly - or at least a little redundant.

Minnesota governor-hopeful and the statehouse's resident boy genius Paul Thissen is accusing DFL-rival Margaret Anderson Kelliher of hijacking his slogan, "Say Yes to Minnesota's Future." In a recent e-mail, Kelliher writes:

For too long, Republican leaders in our state have been the party of no... Together, we can say yes. Yes to opportunity, yes to ideas, and the future.

Gia Vitali, Thissen's campaign manager, was apparently shocked by the likeness of the messages and quickly shot out an e-mail to reporters:

When I read Margaret Anderson Kelliher's recent email, I did a double-take. It appears that the Kelliher campaign has appropriated the language and message Paul Thissen has been promoting for the past 6 months. While we are glad that Speaker Kelliher agrees with Representative Thissen, it's sad that she hasn't defined her own message and vision for Minnesota's future.

A representative for the Kelliher campaign brushed off the similarities in an interview with the Pioneer Press.

Vitali says she has yet to hear any sort of response, but Thissen and Kelliher talked about the similar word choice last night.