Endorsement: Lori Swanson for attorney general

10/30/2006

Jeff Johnson’s crime focus is good, but he voted to cut cops, courts.

Star Tribune Endorsement
Published: October 22, 2006

We live in a new gilded age. One symptom of the deep imbalance in American life is the epidemic of corruption sweeping Congress. Not since the late 19th century have corporations, trade associations and other moneyed interests held such a commanding grip on government policy, further widening the gap between the successful and the struggling. Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein describes a “self-reinforcing loop” of big money that perpetuates the political and financial power of those who already have it.

That’s a roundabout way of saying that ordinary Minnesotans, those outside the money loop, need an attorney general attuned to their interests. Lori Swanson best fits the bill. Her experience as solicitor general and as deputy to Mike Hatch makes her the best-prepared candidate in this race. While Hatch has sometimes overreached and unfairly antagonized business interests, his office has, on the whole, performed admirably as the law firm for the people and their government. Protecting consumers from constant streams of scam artists, high and low, remains the core work of the office, and more so now in the age of the Internet.

Swanson, the DFL candidate, strikes us as bright, fair, tough-minded, politically moderate and extremely organized. She seems to have no desire for the grandstand. Ambition for higher office is not apparent. If she is elected, however, and Hatch becomes governor, Swanson must make clear her independence from him.

Jeff Johnson, her Republican opponent, is a capable, likable and respected suburban legislator who is also well suited to the job, but whose views on policy place him outside the mainstream.

Consider his vote in 2004 to strip all state funding from the University of Minnesota for accepting private donations for stem cell research. Or his bill to restrict policyholders from suing their insurance companies. Or his vote against disclosure of compensation packages paid to HMO and health insurance executives, the very issue that rocked UnitedHealth Group last week.

Johnson makes much of the crime issue, accusing Hatch of cutting staff and deemphasizing his crime-fighting role. But criminal division staff, criminal appeals, murder cases handled and sexual predators committed have all risen since 1998. In any case, the attorney general is not the state’s top law enforcer (that’s the commissioner of public safety), but lends aid, when asked, to small counties needing help with prosecutions.

Johnson is right to highlight crime as a serious threat. But as a legislator he repeatedly voted to cut funding for public safety, including state aid used for local police and courts.

John James, the Independence Party candidate, is a respected lawyer, former revenue commissioner and an expert on taxes and environmental law. But with voters in a mood for sharper choices, his analytical campaign hasn’t gained traction.

The Green Party’s Papa John Kolstad is an accomplished musician, small-business owner and a top authority on health insurance. Excluded from debates, his contribution to the race has been unfortunately minimal.

Of these contenders, Swanson is the best choice to look after the legal needs of ordinary people.