State Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton took the political low road again this week, calling DFL Gov. Mark Dayton "a bored dilettante" whose recent behavior has been "erratic."
"There is a madness to his method," Sutton said Thursday, as the GOP unveiled its daytonshutdown.com website.
He rammed home the point with this gem: "This is no time for dangerous, unpredictable behavior from a bored dilettante who is throwing a temper tantrum for not getting his way."
Sutton's obvious allusion to Dayton's past mental health issues only solidifies the GOP hit man's reputation for tiresome personal attacks.
The "dilettante" reference was cheap campaign rhetoric, but not nearly as objectionable as alleging that "madness" is driving the governor's decisionmaking.
A GOP news release on the website launch also said that party leaders were concerned that the governor is in "professional and personal shutdown mode."
And party Deputy Chairman Michael Brodkorb got in on the act by dredging up Dayton's regrettable 2004 decision to shut down his U.S. Senate office in the face of terror warnings.
OK, we get the point.