So what is a single conservative guy interested in? Conservative women.

Now that we have your attention, check out Scott Schneider’s website “Conservative Single Guy.”  Like most conservative women, Pat has never played up her gender as a qualification for public office, and neither does Schneider’s website, which features email interviews with conservative women across the nation.

“It is my aim and my intention with this blog to shed the light on the daily achievements of the American conservative woman and to finally give her a proper due,” writes Schneider.

Pat’s interview is posted below. Also, check out “Conservative Single Guy” and read Schneider’s interview with Minnesota’s own Twilla Brasse of the Citizens Council on Health Care.

Here’s Schneider’email interview with Pat.

Pat Anderson has been a force in Minnesota politics for nearly 20 years. Already well known for her fiscal and policy battles with MET council chairman Ted Mondale (son of Walter Mondale) when she was on the City Council of the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan from 1991 to 1998, she was elected mayor in 1998 and served in this capacity until 2002. The local magazine, City Pages declared her the “Best Mayor of 2002″. She ran for State Auditor and won in 2003, making a name for herself as a fiscal hawk and “The Taxpayer’s Watchdog” until appointed to be commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations by current governor Tim Pawlenty in 2007. A wife, mother, and entrepreneur, Pat has run successful businesses and has raised two adopted children in addition to her own. She recently was among a great field of Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidates and now is running for State Auditor. I interviewed Pat and asked her some questions about theme of her campaign and the direction that she believes the Republican Party will need to go in, in order to recapture the conservative heritage shaped by the Ronald Reagan era.

1. You recently dropped out of a crowded Republican race for the governor of Minnesota and decided to run for State Auditor. How well is this decision playing out for you and do you think that the Republican nomination for governor is in good hands with the remaining field of candidates?

The decision to enter the auditor’s race is not one I made lightly, but when I made the decision, I made it without hesitation. We face serious financial times. The outcome of the next election – at all levels of the ballot — will determine whether Minnesota remains a high-tax state or restores the fundamental principles of constitutionally limited government.

Minnesota is a caucus state. I was running a strong third (of nine candidates) in the Governor’s race. For months, there had been a push by the donor community to get a “big name” candidate such as former Senator Norm Coleman into the race. Because of this, the campaigns were essentially stalled – both in fundraising and in picking up major endorsements. On top of this, Minnesota’s campaign finance laws limit the amount of money you can spend in state races. This law meant that money spent on my gubernatorial candidacy after January 1st would count against my State Auditor limits should I decide to switch back to my old seat. Those limits are very low. I had to make a decision immediately after the first of the year.

State Auditor is a position I have held. It’s a position I know and love and is incredibly important, especially in these times. I felt it was imperative to win this back and I thought I had the best chance to making that happen. I am confident we will be successful.

With my switch to State Auditor and the gentlemen running 4th, 5th and 6th also dropping out to run for their legislative seats again (remember – there were nine of us originally), the race for governor is now down to two candidates; Rep. Marty Seifert and Rep. Tom Emmer. Both men boast conservative credentials and similar positions on the major issues, similar to my positions when I was in the race. Both would make excellent Governors. As of today, they are dead-even in their delegate counts.

2. Can you describe for me the position of State Auditor, what the job entails, and how vital it is to the function of a responsible government?

The Minnesota State Auditor is a constitutional officer independent of the Legislature and the Governor. The primary function of the State Auditor is to ensure local units of government are spending taxpayer dollars correctly and wisely. We have oversight of over $20 billion in taxpayer dollars spent in cities, counties, school districts and other local entities. The State Auditor also oversees all state and local pension funds, publishes reports on revenue and spending and investigates allegations of misuse of public funds. The State Auditor cannot pass or veto bills, but she can sponsor legislation, and she can use her office as a bully pulpit to influence public opinion.

The State Auditor is looked to for opinions on legislation that affects local units of government. Everything from local government aid formulas, county and school district mandates, even the effectiveness of JOBZ (tax incentives to business that locate designated geographic areas) and TIF districts (Tax Increment Financing). An active State Auditor who zealously guards her independence will be out in front of the curve, collecting and analyzing data and framing the issue in terms of what’s best for Minnesota; she is the Taxpayer’s Watchdog, and she allows neither the Legislature nor the Governor to play politics with Minnesotans’ money or their futures.

The Office of the State Auditor has an Audit Practice Division that performs approximately 150 financial and compliance audits and reviews approximately 400 single audits per year. The Pension Division reviews investment, financial and actuarial reporting for 730 public pension plans. The Legal/Special Investigations Division investigates allegations of theft or misuse of public funds. The Government Information Division collects and analyzes local government financial data, which is assembled in regular reports provided to the Legislature and the public. It also conducts a Best Practices Review of local government operations. The Office of the State Auditor also provides an Education function, working with Minnesota’s local governments helping them to be successful stewards of public funds.

The State Auditor serves on the State Executive Council, State Board of Investment, Land Exchange Board, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Public Employees Retirement Association, and Rural Finance Authority Board.

As you can see from this broad range of involvement, the State Auditor has the opportunity to have significant influence on Minnesota government. Given Minnesota’s budget problems and the need to reform the role and relationship of state and local government and the animosity between the Democrat-controlled Legislature and a Republican governor, an independent, active State Auditor is key to making the necessary reforms to make Minnesota competitive in a 21st Century global economy.

3. You are running against incumbent Rebecca Otto, Democrat, for the State Auditor position. Where do you see that Rebecca has failed in her position and what kinds of changes would you make to rectify these failures?

Rebecca Otto has been a very passive state auditor and a very partisan one as well. When she announced she was running for reelection, she touted as her major accomplishments bigger computer screens, telecommuting, better forms, technology updates and helping local government with energy costs. That’s it. She has been virtually absent from the public eye and has done little except the bare minimum of what’s required by the law. The office’s audits are now behind, jeopardizing local government’s ability to qualify for federal funds.

During my term as State Auditor (2003-2007) I sponsored major pension reform including the Minneapolis teacher’s merger, a cap on benefits for state funds, and a rewrite of the entire fire relief code. I passed legislation allowing the State Auditor more leeway to privatize audits. I moved several offices and downsized. We made huge news several times busting “bad guys” for swindling local governments. We did three best practices reviews, started first ever school spending reports, did several special studies (LGA, Superintendent Comp, OPEB (retiree health care)), and busted the Minneapolis Police and Fire fund for misappropriation of public money to the tune of tens of millions – a lawsuit recently settled in favor of the city of Minneapolis. And these are just a few of the things.

The irony of my office’s support of the city of Minneapolis in the Police and Fire fund lawsuit is that my support for the lawsuit, the right thing to do for the people of Minnesota, gave credence to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a leading DFL candidate for governor. That is how the State Auditor must operate: She must first consider what is best for Minnesotans, not what might be best for her political party.

In contrast, Otto has been a very partisan State Auditor. Instead of exercising the independence of her office to push for necessary reform of state government, she has used her office to push the Democrats’ agenda of raising state taxes. In a recent opinion piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, she used the City Finances Report published by her office to justify the need to raise state taxes in order to reduce property taxes. The data in the report, however, does not support that conclusion (which I show in a rebuttal piece that will be published in the Star Tribune this week). What the data do show is that reduced levels of state aid to local government under Gov. Tim Pawlenty did not prompt local governments to skimp on essential public services; it motivated local governments to be more efficient in their spending. Today overall government spending is down and our cities are making better choices on how to use tax dollars.

When local government must set priorities, it acts more responsibly. Further boxing Minnesota into the “tax the rich/no new taxes” debate is not a vision for a better Minnesota that can compete in the 21st Century. Our elected officials need to lead, not throw partisan stones in the same old “tax the rich/no new taxes” fight that got the state into its current mess. The State Auditor ought to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

4. How has your previous experience as Eagan, MN mayor and State Commissioner helped to shape your vision of what a fiscally responsible government should be?

There is no substitute for executive experience when seeking an executive office. Legislative experience (Otto served one year in the legislature) is a lesson in single-subject focus and compromise. Legislators operate one bill at a time, striking the “best deal” to get a bill passed (or defeat it). An executive must look at the big picture, and judge legislation in the context of an overall policy strategy. An executive negotiates to achieve a specific objective, not just to “get something done.”

As the former mayor of Eagan, I can tell you that increasing the independence of counties, school districts and cities to determine their own development and destinies — putting the responsibility for local development on local shoulders — is the best way to encourage the fiscal responsibility state officials complain is lacking at the local level. My experience also taught me that every local government is different. What worked for me in Eagan might not work for a community on Minnesota’s Iron Range or in the rural areas of the state. That is why local control of both services and the revenue to provide those services is such a necessary reform.

My experience as Commissioner of Employee Relations under Gov. Tim Pawlenty is unique among all the candidates running for office in Minnesota. Everyone talks about making government more efficient and “smaller,” but most of the time they mean reducing somebody else’s part of government, not their own. I was Commissioner of Employee Relations for about 18 months. During that time I eliminated unnecessary positions and merged essential functions into other agencies where they made more sense. I closed down the department, laid myself off and left government smaller and more efficient and effective than when I entered it. Not many office holders can say that, but most importantly, that experience taught me what it takes – procedurally and as a matter of political will – to actually eliminate whole departments of government.

5. If you are elected to the position of State Auditor, how would you show the State of Minnesota that you are a true servant of the people?

My idea of “serving the people” is ensuring that state government provides the essential services it is obligated to provide by the state constitution, but then getting out of the way and letting individuals decide for themselves how best to pursue their own happiness. A state official first and foremost has an obligation to the Rule of Law and observing the constitutional limitations on government authority. We serve the people best when we honor that obligation.

Specifically as State Auditor, you are the only elected official whose job is to be a watchdog for the taxpayer. You serve the people by being an active watchdog in endless pursuit of eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.

6. What do you see are some of the failures of the Republican Party in Minnesota to stick to the conservative principles that make up the Party Platform? What are some suggestions you would make to your State Party leadership to fix these problems?

The problem for Republicans is to distinguish between the planks of the party platform, which are objectives and outcomes that we as individuals would like to see come about, and the principles that underlie small “r” republican government, which because they are based in individual liberty, sometimes lead to conclusions that we as individuals might not like. For example, we have a plank that expresses the small “r” republican idea of choice in education. As a party we support the idea that money should follow the student and families should be able to use education dollars provided by the state at both public and private schools. Following that plank in the platform is a long list of items that we as big “R” Republicans think should be part of public education. Now I agree with virtually all of those items, but as small “r” republicans who believe in choice we should not be advocating for imposing educational mandates on others. We should stick to the threshold principle of school choice and make that our cause.

Another issue is following free market principles. If we truly believe in the market, then we should not be in the corner of either the regulators or big business. Our goal should simply be to create an even, fair playing field; not giving tax breaks and special favors to industries or causes we like. We become as guilty as the left when we do that, and the people can see right through it.

The public doesn’t like big spenders in either party. But it’s especially hypocritical for conservatives to do it. I believe this was the main reason we lost elections across the country in 2006. Republicans in Congress learned the hard way – trying to buy votes through entitlements leads to our destruction both as a party and as a country.

7. How confident are you that the Party nationwide has grasped the importance of the sentiment of the electorate and grassroots and will show it in the next election cycle?

I sent an email to about 15,000 Republicans across Minnesota. The message was intended for all Republican activists, not just party leaders. The Republican Party is a grassroots party and leadership should reflect what party members are thinking.

Specifically to your question, I think that most people understand that the Republican Party has to stand for fiscal responsibility, but they haven’t really grasped what that means. In Minnesota we are still stuck in a partisan debate among Democrats who want to “tax the rich” and Republicans who insist on “no new taxes” and moderates who think that a “balance” is the right answer. Each has a narrow perspective that hinders the opportunity for real reform. Our current Governor, Tim Pawlenty, has been playing goalie the past four years against a very liberal legislature. We now have a situation where Democrats want to be Robin Hood and Republicans fear change.

Fiscal responsibility is more than saying “no”. It means making sure we are making sound economic decisions, taxing consumption rather than productivity, fully funding any entitlement programs we authorize, and not spending taxpayer dollars on things which are not the proper role of government. It means limiting government and living within our means.

At the federal level, it means not running deficits, funding any and all entitlement programs and staying out of areas that are the purview of the states. Republicans have historically been just as guilty as Democrats on those fronts. That’s what needs to change. Republicans need to stand on, and act on, our principles. If we don’t, we will lose because the voters will simply continue to see us as “Democrat-lite”.

Do I believe Republican leaders understand this? Well, frankly I’m not sure we really have any Republican leaders right now. Most of the old ones were wiped out and it’s probably for the best. I do think the activists understand the precipice we are on as a party and a country. So far, they are taking things into their own hands and nominating candidates who they believe will stick to their principles. They understand what I talked about in my email. Should we be honored to win this fall, the key will be to govern as we campaigned. If we fail, the party and the country are in big trouble.