Pawlenty’s inaugural: Splash-free

01/02/2007

The one-day event for Minnesota's governor will be instrong contrast to recent elaborate occasions.


By Dane Smith, Star Tribune
Last update: January 01, 2007 – 10:20 PM


Gov. Tim Pawlenty's second inauguration will be one of the most abbreviated and low-key in recent history.
Most previous incoming governors have had weeklong festivities featuring gala balls, parties and special ceremonies. Pawlenty himself had a week's worth of events four years ago.

Back in 1999, Gov. Jesse Ventura staged an over-the-top rock concert at Target Center after almost two weeks of inaugural shindigs.

Gov. Rudy Perpich held a whole week of celebratory events and even had a special musical fanfare composed for his 1987 inauguration.

Pawlenty's inaugural activities will be confined to today and will consist of a morning church service, a ceremonial swearing-in at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater along with new DFL constitutional officers, and a dinner and dance at the Minneapolis Hilton.

"Modest but very well done is a fair way to characterize it," spokesman Brian McClung said. "We're having an inaugural day rather than an inaugural week. We've got a lot of work to tackle, and we're going to get right down to business."

A general nationwide trend toward less lavish gubernatorial inaugurals has been noted for several election cycles, but even this time around there are variations.

Florida's Gov.-elect Charlie Crist, a Republican also being sworn in today, has canceled his inaugural ball, declaring last month that such extravagance was inappropriate during "a difficult time for a lot of Floridians."

But California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, also a Republican, is staging a two-day event later this week with more Hollywood flash than was evident four years ago, when he took office in a low-key manner in the wake of a bitter recall election and with his state facing a historic fiscal crisis. (He'll probably be on crutches, still recovering from a broken leg suffered while skiing.)

Democrats Jim Doyle in Wisconsin and Chet Culver in Iowa are staging multiple-day events, with celebrations in several communities.

South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds is hosting a single day of festivities on Saturday, but it includes two formal balls and an informal public dance.

Pawlenty, a Republican, has projected a tone of humility and conciliation since his narrow victory over DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch in November, when DFLers made big gains in the Legislature and constitutional offices. He's more of a survivor than the leader of a new political vanguard with a broad mandate.

"This reflects the beginning of a second term, and we want to mark it with the new constitutional officers, to make it very classy and thoughtful," McClung said.

Secretary of State-elect Mark Ritchie, a DFLer who defeated two-term Republican Mary Kiffmeyer, said he is pleased with the cooperative spirit of Pawlenty's inaugural team.

"It's a good way to set a mood, having the swearing-in done together," Ritchie said. "We are serving the same citizens and swearing the same oath and sharing a vision of wanting Minnesota back on the leadership path."