RESPONSE-Barkley
Dean M Barkley (barkley@Free-Net.Mpls-StPaul.MN.US)
Mon, 31 Oct 1994 10:11:13 -0600 (CST)
Question #1: This race is close to being a referendum on the future of the
United States government. The people of Minnesota must choose whether to
"stay the course"; whether to accept a new "contract with America", or
whether to reject both of these options and search for something else.
What is your recomendation? Why?
Barkley: I recommend that we reject both these options and search for
something else. Neither the Rod Grams nor Ann Wynia option address today's
fundemental problem of government being disconnected from the citizens it
is supposed to serve. In fact, Grams and Wynia perpetuate and even enforce
this disconnect.
Today's deep voter dissatisfaction is the direct result of people being
left out of the process. People know that with big money special interests
financing the Democrats and Republicans, individuals really don't matter
like they used to. Congress and the two major parties focus on what their
big money donors want, not what the people want. Grams and Wynia are
perfect examples, spending their special interest money on TV ads designed
only to make one look worse than the other. They engage in blatant
hypocrisy and misrepresentation of their opponent with no concern for the
morality of such actions. There is no talk of the issues and sadly, no
opportunity for authentic voter interaction with these candidates.
The imported Washington consultants running the Grams and Wynia campaigns
seemingly regard voters as people to be sold, not people to be served.
Except for this E-DEBATE (and bless you for making this possible) the
handlers have yet to place their candidates within reach of the public.
Grams and Wynia only address friendly audiences and only debate
pre-arranged questions at pre-staged events. They have consistently
refused to appear in any debate where I am present and have only appearred
where I am excluded.
At the October 28 League of Women Voters debate, even the audience was
staged. The League refused independent voter requests for tickets and
those seeking only to sit in the audience were physically denied entry by
uniformed guards. Grams, Wynia, the two major parties, big-money special
interests and even the League of Women Voters are now involved in
defeating the democratic freedoms our nation's founders fought to protect.
If this race is, as your question suggests, close to being a referendum
on the future of the United States government, we need only look again
to our nation's founders and my candidacy for a new (actually old) way.
Our constitution embodies the principles that connect people with
government. Technology, mass communications and fast moving money have
fundementally altered American life from what it was in our nation's
early days. But they have not altered human nature and basic power
relationships. While our government has grown massive and our nation
drifted from our founding principles, those principles remain relevant
today.
Future good government and our very liberty depends upon our ability
to reconnect with our government. As a U.S. Senate candidate, I am
walking that talk. I accept no special interest money, I am pledged
to a two-term limit, I will debate any candidate in any forum. In
developing my public policies, I have gone to the people, not the
Washington think tanks. If I am your U.S. Senator, I will remain
connected with the people, my sole source of support and advice.
Dean Barkley