U.S. Senate candidates hold casual debate

08/25/2007

Among topics the DFL candidates discussed on "Almanac" Friday night: Iraq, gay marriage, a gas tax increase and the environment.


By Rochelle Olson,
Star Tribune
August 25, 2007



The three DFL candidates for U.S. Senate who want to oust GOP incumbent Norm Coleman participated in their initial debate Friday night, providing a first, brief glimpse at how they might seek to differentiate themselves.

Trial lawyer Mike Ciresi, who led the state's fight against Big Tobacco, hammered on the theme of leadership, saying that for 35 years he's been fighting for Minnesotans through his legal work.

"What you want is leadership," Ciresi said. "I want to go to Washington to shake things up."

Al Franken, a comedian and author known for playing the self-esteem challenged Stuart Smalley on "Saturday Night Live," took aim at Coleman himself, attacking what he said was the senator's allegiance to the divisive politics of the Bush administration.

"Minnesotans want change," Franken said.

Franken talked of his 3,000 volunteers and endorsements from labor. "What we need to win is a grassroots, people-powered campaign."

Jim Cohen, a longtime environmental activist and the least known of the three, said he's the best choice to oppose Coleman because of a long-term commitment to public service, the environment and his ability to bridge the ideological divide.

"What is really required is someone who has been fighting on these issues for average people for years and years," Cohen said.

Discussed a mix of issues

The three men took to the couch on Twin Cities Public Television's weekly public affairs show "Almanac" for only 22 minutes in a relatively relaxed chat session, moderated by hosts Eric Eskola and Cathy Wurzer.

The debate touched on style, a gas tax increase, withdrawal from Iraq, gay marriage and the environment, but didn't reveal any striking policy differences.

Eskola asked Ciresi and Franken to answer their critics. The former has battled the notion that he's a "money-grubbing trial lawyer" and the latter has been called "divisive and mean-spirited."

Ciresi said, "When you're a leader, people take shots at you." He went on to say that his Minneapolis-based law firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi has put more than $20 million into the state through charitable giving.

"I've been getting results for Minnesotans and middle-class Minnesotans for over 20 years," he said.

Franken said, "I've been writing about the right-wing scare machine for years, and they don't like me."

Franken said that as a senator, he would work to "bring folks together" by fighting for universal health care and education. "We actually had the world behind us on 9/12," Franken said, adding that Bush squandered that goodwill.

When the Franken criticism came up, Ciresi interjected, "I like Al."

No name-calling

Although the candidates each sought to score, the general tone was pleasant.

Ciresi said that "name-calling has no place in politics" and that he wants to focus on health care, education and the environment. "I'm not going to call Norm Coleman names; I will attack his policies," Ciresi said.

On the question of whether to raise the gas tax a nickel over each of the next three years, Franken said he would "keep it on the table." Cohen said it makes sense to pay now and save later.

Ciresi said the gas tax is one way to finance infrastructure improvements. "Policy has consequences," he said. "We're living off our grandparents' investment."

All three now oppose the war in Iraq. Cohen said he wants all the troops out by April 2008. Ciresi said he wants them out by May 31.

Franken said he initially felt torn leading up to the war. "I really didn't believe that an administration would mislead us into the war. When that became clear, I became a very vocal critic against it," he said.

On gay marriage, only Franken said an outright yes to legalization.

Cohen said he favors civil unions. Ciresi said he favors civil unions and doesn't want to "impose on religions they have to marry gay people."

On global warming, Ciresi said there are all kinds of ways to fight it, and his firm had just purchased wind energy. He suggested investing in new technology.

Cohen called for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent over the next 30 to 40 years by using more renewable fuels rather than oil and gas.

Franken cited former Vice President Al Gore who has said there isn't a silver bullet to end global warming, but there is silver buckshot. "It's wind," Franken said. "This is a windy state."