All politics is local? Think again

10/11/2005

Jackie Crosby,
Star Tribune
October 11, 2005


St. Paul may have a reputation for its colorful and sometimes quirky political leaders, but never has a mayor’s race captured the attention of so many politicians on the national scene.

On Monday morning, U.S. Sen. John Kerry came to St. Paul to raise money and rally supporters for DFL-endorsed candidate Chris Coleman.

Ten hours later, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was headlining a fundraiser for the incumbent, Mayor Randy Kelly.

“The only time I can recall any extra attention being paid to the St. Paul mayor was when Charlie McCarty was in office [1970-1972],” said Stan Turner, who is news director for Minnesota News Network and who covered St. Paul City Hall for KSTP-TV in the 1970s.

“It was a three-ring circus, and he was the ringleader. But the mayors since then haven’t really raised that much dust. Kelly’s embrace of [President] Bush has given rise to all of this.”

Koch, who spoke at a home on Summit Avenue, followed several other nationally known politicians who have lent their name to Kelly’s campaign, including Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Democrat, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican.

Until the Kerry rally at Macalester College, which drew about 750 people, Coleman’s marquee supporters had all been drawn from a local pool.

They included retired St. Paul Police Chief William Finney, former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer and former Vice President Walter Mondale.

“It’s clearly not your traditional mayor’s race in St. Paul,” said Erich Mische, chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, an adviser to Kelly’s campaign, and a lead strategist on both of Norm Coleman’s St. Paul mayoral races. “It goes to show you the stakes different people place on the race, given your point of view.”

Fight for party’s future

The stakes, according to political activists and many longtime DFLers, is a fight over the heart and soul of the party. DFLer Kelly thrust himself into the national spotlight and alienated many in his party when he endorsed Bush in 2004. Chris Coleman, who supported many of Kelly’s initiatives while on the City Council, has campaigned as someone who will “reclaim the city” and restore the liberal progressive ideals of living wages, affordable housing and a tax structure that supports paying for public safety, after-school programs and recreation centers.

“The DFL very much wants to have a DFL mayor again,” said former St. Paul Mayor Jim Scheibel. Scheibel endorsed Coleman last week but said he was torn because he applauds Kelly’s work on chronic homelessness and affordable housing. “There’s a fight for what the party stands for. There’s a lot of people who say the party stands for progressive values, and John Kerry represents that. Some people are saying it’s not enough just to say you’re a Democrat anymore.”

Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who lost to Bush last year, told the crowd to “throw away ... labels” and “think about what’s important for the city” during his 15-minute address on public safety and education. His talk focused as much on building up Chris Coleman’s platform as it did on laying the groundwork for the 2006 Senate race in Minnesota.

“What happens here in St. Paul is important to the country,” Kerry said. “It’s important to building toward 2006. It’s important to fixing the problems we have nationally.”

Koch, a Democrat who, like Kelly, supported Bush in 2004, said when Kelly’s campaign called, he had to come to Kelly’s side because he was “being attacked for doing what I did.”

Kelly’s endorsement of Bush has dogged his mayoral campaign and was cited as a factor when he came in second in the September primary by a nearly 2-1 margin. Kelly held a news conference two weeks ago to urge voters not to take their anger over his endorsement to the polls on Nov. 8.

Koch and Kelly met for the first time over lunch on Monday. In his 11-minute speech to about 50 Kelly supporters, Koch defended his own decision and said the voters should not judge Kelly over the endorsement of Bush.

“If you are the mayor, you want to have friends everywhere and in high places,” he said.