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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Dayton blasts Pawlenty over trip abroad

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Former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton is ramping up his campaign for governor in 2010 by taking a shot at Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

DFLer Dayton said today that the Republican governor should reimburse taxpayers for the costs of his weekend trip to Germany. Pawlenty attended the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy. He traveled with a delegation that included members of Congress, military and security officials and others.

Dayton claims Pawlenty's trip has more to do with running for president than his duties as governor.

"If he wants to go away on a weekend to try to make himself look better qualified for president than Sarah Palin, he has a right to do so," Dayton said. "But he ought to pay for it out of his own campaign committee, and not pretend this has anything to do with his official responsibilities."

In response to Dayton's comments, Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said there's nothing to reimburse, because there were no additional costs to taxpayers. McClung explained that the governor used frequent flier miles to travel to Washington. He said the delegation had fixed costs with or without Pawlenty's participation.