Coleman kicks off his re-election campaign

03/26/2008

Incumbent senator says he will contrast his pragmatic approach and measured partisanship to his leading opponent's fiery rhetoric.


By PATRICIA LOPEZ,
Star Tribune
March 26, 2008


Surrounded by Somali immigrants, veterans, his family and an array of Republican stalwarts, Sen. Norm Coleman formally launched his re-election bid in St. Paul on Wednesday, declaring himself to be a "voice of optimism in cynical times."

In his speech, Coleman set out the themes of his campaign, casting himself as "Minnesota's Mayor in Washington," reminding listeners of his 32 years of public service, including posts as solicitor general and two-term mayor of St. Paul.

Once the hand-picked candidate of the White House to run for Senate, Coleman called himself a "proud Republican" but was careful to note the times he has broken with President George Bush. He is, by pattern and temperament, he said, "a uniter." As mayor, he said, "I simply brought people together to work very hard... We didn't point fingers, we joined hands."

Coleman's chief rival, DFL Senate candidate Al Franken, has criticized Coleman's ties to Bush and on Wednesday, Franken campaign manager Andy Barr said Coleman will not be able to distance himself. "Where we are today, how we got there, a lot of it is about Coleman being a rubber stamp for George Bush," Barr said.

Coleman brushed off those criticisms as he talked to reporters on Wednesday after his speech. "This race is about tomorrow," he said. "Al's running against yesterday."

Coleman said that while he had "raised the partisan flag, absolutely," he had always done so in a way that allowed him to continue working with the other side.

"The Senate is not just a debating society," he said. "In the end, you're measured by what you do." Coleman pointed to his work with Minnesota's Somali immigrant community, veterans and international adoptions, as well as his role in speeding federal funds for the rebuilding of the I-35W bridge and work on renewable energy, college Pell grants, low income heating assistance and an increased minimum wage.

Coleman has also come under fire from critics for, among other things, his continued support of the Iraq war and extension of the Bush tax cuts.

Lobbing his own volley at Franken, Coleman said that the art of the political critique was in "how you do it. I don't do it with expletives." As a satirist and comedian, Franken has often used blue language in his frequent broadsides against Republicans.

Making a bid to extend his viability beyond the shrinking numbers of self-identified Republicans, Coleman said he had chosen a path of public service that was "plain, not Hollywood; peaceful, not divisive; generous, not mean-spirited and just, not political. Isn't that what we all want? Republicans, Democrats, and Independents?"

Early in his tenure, Coleman voted with the Bush administration as much as 98 percent of the time, and in 2004 was called "one of the leading voices of the Republican Party" by party leaders, although he has moderated both his ratings and his rhetoric in recent years.