Horner, Dayton, Emmer on Minnesota's broadband role

A lot of people think it's the public infrastructure issue of the 21st Century. Economic development authorities, especially outstate, will tell you their communities will die on the vine without it. The federal government is putting a couple hundred million dollars into it in Minnesota as we speak. You can get into some heated arguments around the state about the marketplace, competition and community action for the public good. Seems like a ready-made issue for serious policy discussion. In July, a Star Tribune editorial called for high-level campaign debate on the topic. After the Blandin Foundation's forum on broadband in Brainerd last week, Peters asked University of Minnesota-Crookston professor Jack Geller why that didn't happen. First he made the obvious point that in a race dominated by how to make the state's financial ends meet, it's tough for anybody to talk about new investments. But he also noted that not very many in the press have asked the candidates about it.