NOTE: The Minnesota E-Democracy Project cannot adequately keep up with the political & election coverage from the Minnesota Daily. The four articles below are a small sample of what's available. We strongly suggest that you visit the Daily's Gopher server -- a link to it is available in the first paragraph of Steve's message below.
From: "Steven L. Clift" <clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu> Reply-To: "Steven L. Clift" <clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu> To: mn-politics@MR.Net Subject: Minnesota Daily Election Articles - 9/26/94 Message-Id: <2e8cc1d52cd9002@gold.tc.umn.edu> Date: Fri, 30 Sep 94 20:57:27 -0500 Enclosed is the text of four articles from the Minnesota Daily (the University of Minnesota's student newspaper). They make their paper available through the UofM mother gopher at: gopher.tc.umn.edu /News/Minnesota Daily Are there any U students out there who would be willing to monitor the Daily for election articles, get them from their Internet server, and post them to MN-POLITICS? Please volunteer! Steven Clift P.S. I know that we have a class or two from St. John's/St. Benz on the list. Perhaps people up their might want to post election articles from their school paper or let us know what issues are important on campus this election. MINNESOTA DAILY Headline: U Republicans prepare for November elections Publish Date: 09/26/1994 Aaron Osterby Staff Reporter This year's group of College Republicans wants to have an impact on local races, but its members aren't trying to bring Gov. Arne Carlson to campus. It's not because Carlson doesn't have support in the group but because the University isn't friendly ground for the governor, CR treasurer Jennifer Halko said. ``In all honesty, I don't think he'll have trouble winning the elections, but the University is not a good place for him to show up,'' she said. Campus voters may be disappointed by the governor's veto of state funding for parts of the University's budget. ``The University needs to do things about their money saving,'' Halko said. ``There's lots of waste. Carlson really wants the University to work more efficiently, but unfortunately (students) are the ones who are going to pay for it because instead of the University working more efficiently, they're just going to raise tuition.'' Halko is working on getting Republican congressional candidate Dorothy Legrande elected but said the candidate has little chance of winning. She said the campaign is small and Legrande is relatively unknown compared to fifth district-opponent Rep. Martin Sabo (D-Minn.). ``She's running against an incumbent that's been in the office for 16 years, and no one else would run against him.'' Halko said even though Legrande will probably lose, she's had a good time working on the campaign. ``It's really interesting for me because you get to meet a lot of people. And, because the campaign is so small, she knows my name,'' Halko said. ``She doesn't have a lot of funding behind her, but she's going to run again next time if she doesn't defeat him this year.'' Legrande and Independent-Republican House candidate Douglas Nemec, a second-year University law student, share some financial backers, Halko said. Nemec is running in District 59B, which includes the University's East Bank campus. Halko doesn't think Nemec has much of a chance either. ``He's so young that he's probably just throwing his name into the ring right now,'' Halko said. ``He's going to go on with his schooling, and then people will know him by the time he's going to be serious competition.'' College Republicans will help the Minnesota Student Association and the University-Democratic Farmer Labor party with a voter registration drive. Halko said group members will hand deliver registration cards to dormitories, sororities and fraternities. ``(CRs) have been labeled as rednecks, anti-homosexuals and everything like that,'' Halko said. ``I want to change that. I want people to know that College Republicans cover a wide spectrum.'' Headline: U-DFL hopes to register, motivate student voter Publish Date: 09/26/1994 Aaron Osterby Staff Reporter College Democrats are gearing up for the November elections, hoping to mobilize an often-apathetic student body. University-Democratic Farmer Labor party members are planning a voter registration drive and will co-sponsor several campus debates, said coordinator Brian Shekleton. Members also want to throw rallies in cooperation with the DFL campaigns for governor and U.S. Congress. The congressional races have less direct impact on the University so the gubernatorial contest will be the one to watch closely, said U-DFL member Jason Medin. He added that Gov. Arne Carlson's veto of funds earmarked for the University during the last legislative session will not play well with campus voters. ``I'm hoping for a big voter turnout to get students involved.'' ``We've had a lot of really excited people cross in front of the Campus Christians to get to our booth in Coffman,'' Shekleton said of the Welcome Week U-DFL display. The group plans a campus voter registration drive in coalition with the College Republicans, the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, and the Minnesota Student Association. Their goal is to register 5,000 University voters, Medin said. The U-DFL supports John Marty for governor and Ann Wynia for senate. Both candidates have the state DFL endorsement. Students can make a difference in a campaign and on election night, but a really good time to get involved is in the spring instead of in the fall when school is just beginning, said Dave Lee, the party chair for the University's district. ``Precinct caucuses are definitely better for the students since they're in late February or early March,'' Lee said. ``For some it can be a very rewarding experience.'' Caucuses are small meetings for neighborhood residents to endorse candidates for local offices and to get involved in party politics. Lee added that students interested in politics can volunteer for any of the campaigns since they will need much more help as November approaches. An association of Minnesota college Democrats from other colleges and universities will convene on campus in October to coordinate election strategy. Ellen Stranke, a coordinator for the convention, said college Democrat groups try to get students involved in campaign work in late September and early October. Above all, U-DFLers are hoping that students have their say in the 1994 elections. ``We want to get out the vote so people see that the University exists,'' Shekleton said. Headline: Clinton supports Wynia campaign Publish Date: 09/26/1994 Aaron Osterby Staff Reporter In his third visit to the state this year, President Clinton pushed his own political message and urged voters to elect DFL Senate candidate Ann Wynia during a Minneapolis fund-raiser Saturday. Wynia is a former University regent who resigned last spring to begin a U.S. Senate campaign. She beat out her Democratic challengers and is now running against IR nominee Rod Grams. ``I came to ask you to help Ann Wynia get to the Senate,'' Clinton told more than 1,000 ticket-buyers and journalists gathered in the Minneapolis Convention Center. ``After 20 months I can say that we're making progress, but we need help with the partisan rancor in Congress.'' The Minnesota race is hailed as a key contest for the Democrats, who hope to maintain control in the Senate. They currently have a slim 56-44 majority. ``We consider Minnesota to be on the absolute top of the list,'' said Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.). The $100-per-person Convention Center rally and a $1,000-a-plate reception at the Minneapolis Club, both attended by Clinton, raised $300,000 for Wynia and the DFL. DFL gubernatorial candidate John Marty didn't go to the reception but showed up at the rear of the Convention Center arena to field questions from the media. Marty, who limits individual campaign contributions to $100, denied criticisms he was snubbing Clinton on his Minneapolis visit. ``I wasn't making any point about not going to the event,'' Marty said. ``I just didn't want to go. It was simply a matter of discomfort with the big-monied interests. It's the same big money that I object to.'' Other national party members joined Clinton to support Wynia, including Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm. He presented local DFLers with a $50,000 check. During her Convention Center speech, Wynia called the unfinished superconducting supercollider a pork-barrel project and said some elements of the space program were wasteful as well. If elected, Wynia said there may be issues she and the president will disagree on but added they both support ending governmental stalling and foot-dragging. She said she wants a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, the body in charge of legislation affecting America's farmers. After a man collapsed in the crowd during Clinton's speech, campaign staffers and audience members helped him to his feet, and he left the floor. It seemed the man wasn't seriously ill, and Clinton quipped that he ``appreciated his support for the urgency of health care.'' Bill Luther, the DFL candidate for Minnesota's open House seat, came to the rally to support Wynia and to promote his own bid for the seat Grams gave up. Event organizers seemed pleased with the turnout -- the paying crowd numbered in the hundreds. During the Convention Center rally, Grams staged a $1 a plate counter-rally on nearby Peavy Plaza. He served more than 300 supporters pizza and peanuts while he lambasted Clinton, Wynia and the DFL. Headline: Clinton protesters face charges after officers arrest 10 Publish Date: 09/26/1994 Dana Anderson Staff Reporter While President Clinton traveled to the $1,000-a-plate DFL fundraiser Saturday at the Minneapolis Club, protesters outside the club shouting ``Stop the war on the poor!'' battled police for turf. Officers arrested 10 protesters, including two University students. The Welfare Rights Committee initiated the demonstration to protest U.S. government policies the committee says hurt the poor. Other activist groups joined the committee, including the University's Progressive Student Organization, and community groups Women Against Military Madness, Up and Out of Poverty Now! and Love and Rage. Clinton's welfare reform proposal and the Haiti invasion were rally points for the groups. ``The Haitian invasion is really a way for Clinton to pursue his business interests,'' not to free the Haitian poor, said Laura Schere, a University graduate student and Love and Rage member. The group of 20 to 30 protesters was forced first from its chosen spot on the corner of Eighth Street South and Second Avenue South, then to the opposite corner and finally a half-block from there. ``This is not our doing,'' explained K.L. Oldfather, the Minneapolis police officer in charge at the scene. ``Secret Service ordered this.'' Passersby and Clinton supporters were allowed to stand on the corner of Eighth Street South and Second Avenue South after the protesters were ordered away. Waiting to catch a glimpse of the president, University Law School graduate Tony Branch said he understood both sides' concerns. ``I wouldn't want anything that could potentially hurt the president to be near him,'' he said. ``But, obviously, people have a right to express dissonant views. You look for a balance.'' As police moved the group farther from Second Avenue, the street the president's motorcade was to travel en route to the club, leaders from each organization met to discuss a united plan of action. Barricades in hand, police warned them to comply or be arrested. Frustrations reached a crescendo. Protesters refused to retreat. Four-letter words flew and the arrests began. University students Stefanie Yorek and J Burger, both PSO members, were among those arrested. They said they were charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey and obstruction, and must appear Thursday in court. Burger said he was surprised when police suddenly rushed the protesters. ``I've never seen them act like that,'' he said. ``We didn't plan to be illegal or anything.'' He added that he and the others arrested were held for eight hours, until the President left town. ``Like we were supposed to be some kind of threat,'' he said. Both Yorek and Burger said police used unnecessary force in the arrests. ``I didn't move fast enough for their tastes,'' Yorek said. ``The police officer came up behind me, put his arm around my neck, shoved his fist in my back and knocked me completely off balance.'' After the arrests, the number of protesters continued to grow to about 50. Several leaders gave speeches under the watchful eyes of 20 Minneapolis police officers standing in front of the barricade. ``(The government) is not going to be able to sweep the social crisis in this country down the block like they did us today,'' shouted one Love and Rage member. ``This taught me a lesson I didn't really want to learn about dissent in this country,'' Yorek said. ``I learned not only does the government disagree with what I believe, which I already knew, but they don't even think I have a right to express what I believe.''