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Empty victory for a hollow man How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a Senate seat.
Salon.com ^ | Nov. 7, 2002 | By Garrison Keillor

Posted on 11/08/2002 5:13:50 PM PST by AlwaysLurking

Empty victory for a hollow man How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a Senate seat.

http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/11/07/minnesota/index_np.html By Garrison Keillor

Nov. 7, 2002 | Norm Coleman won Minnesota because he was well-financed and well-packaged. Norm is a slick retail campaigner, the grabbiest and touchingest and feelingest politician in Minnesota history, a hugger and baby-kisser, and he's a genuine boomer candidate who reinvents himself at will. The guy is a Brooklyn boy who became a left-wing student radical at Hofstra University with hair down to his shoulders, organized antiwar marches, said vile things about Richard Nixon, etc. Then he came west, went to law school, changed his look, went to work in the attorney general's office in Minnesota. Was elected mayor of St. Paul as a moderate Democrat, then swung comfortably over to the Republican side. There was no dazzling light on the road to Damascus, no soul-searching: Norm switched parties as you'd change sport coats.

Norm is glib. I once organized a dinner at the Minnesota Club to celebrate F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthday and Norm came, at the suggestion of his office, and spoke, at some length and with quite some fervor, about how much Fitzgerald means to all of us in St. Paul, and it was soon clear to anyone who has ever graded 9th grade book reports that the mayor had never read Fitzgerald. Nonetheless, he spoke at great length, with great feeling. Last month, when Bush came to sprinkle water on his campaign, Norm introduced him by saying, "God bless America is a prayer, and I believe that this man is God's answer to that prayer." Same guy.

(Jesse Ventura, of course, wouldn't have been caught dead blathering at an F. Scott Fitzgerald dinner about how proud we are of the Great Whoever-He-Was and his vision and his dream blah-blah-blah, and that was the refreshing thing about Jesse. The sort of unctuous hooey that comes naturally and easily to Norm Coleman Jesse would be ashamed to utter in public. Give the man his due. He spoke English. He didn't open his mouth and emit soap bubbles. He was no suck up. He had more dignity than to kiss the president's shoe.)

Norm got a free ride from the press. St. Paul is a small town and anybody who hangs around the St. Paul Grill knows about Norm's habits. Everyone knows that his family situation is, shall we say, very interesting, but nobody bothered to ask about it, least of all the religious people in the Republican Party. They made their peace with hypocrisy long ago. So this false knight made his way as an all-purpose feel-good candidate, standing for vaguely Republican values, supporting the president.

He was 9 points down to Wellstone when the senator's plane went down. But the tide was swinging toward the president in those last 10 days. And Norm rode the tide. Mondale took a little while to get a campaign going. And Norm finessed Wellstone's death beautifully. The Democrats stood up in raw grief and yelled and shook their fists and offended people. Norm played his violin. He sorrowed well in public, he was expertly nuanced. The mostly negative campaign he ran against Wellstone was forgotten immediately. He backpedalled in the one debate, cruised home a victor. It was a dreadful low moment for the Minnesota voters. To choose Coleman over Walter Mondale is one of those dumb low-rent mistakes, like going to a great steakhouse and ordering the tuna sandwich. But I don't envy someone who's sold his soul. He's condemned to a life of small arrangements. There will be no passion, no joy, no heroism, for him. He is a hollow man. The next six years are not going to be kind to Norm.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

About the writer Garrison Keillor is the creator and host of the nationally syndicated radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," broadcast on more than 500 public radio stations nationwide. For more columns by Keillor, visit his column archive.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: coleman; keillor; minnesota; salon; senate
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To: samtheman
Yes,Garrisson is hard to take --but I read an article in the
Pioneer press 2+ years ago--when Hillary won a radio award
for reading on air to children--He nailed her and all the
demos at the time. Insinuated her going to prison! saying she
was fat! and the charm bracelets on her wrists looked like
handcuffs! priceless..will try and dig up article (might have
been a reprint from the Times?)
241 posted on 11/13/2002 4:45:07 AM PST by mj1234
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To: metesky
You forgot Headstart.
242 posted on 11/13/2002 5:10:14 AM PST by ventana
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To: a keillor neighbor
You mean you live up on Moscow on the Hudson, too? You poor thing.
243 posted on 11/13/2002 5:12:39 AM PST by ventana
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To: John W
Mr. Keillor had his own "interesting family life," you may or may not recall.

He's a disturbing spectacle. Looks like he had a decent upbringing (which he fiercely resets), is quite creative and able, and has a wonderful, whimsical, dry sense of humor -- over a seething caldron of bitterness, resentment, guilt, ignorance, hostiliyt, and what we'll charitably call "personal weaknesses."

Dan

244 posted on 11/13/2002 7:19:36 AM PST by BibChr
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To: Congressman Billybob
brilliantly talented when he is talking about, or writing about, ordinary people in ordinary circumstances.

I suppose it's a matter of taste. I've always (going back to early 1980s) found his comments on APHC, not to mention his more recent written columns, to be smarmy, saccharine, superficial, and nauseating. And his voice grates. When he first came on, my parents called me up raving about him. "He's so funny", etc. I tuned. I listened. I puked. Barf Alert before the term was invented. He may have once lived amongst folk in "ordinary" circumstances but I think he never understood them.

245 posted on 11/13/2002 7:36:08 AM PST by ArrogantBustard
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To: a keillor neighbor
Welcome to our virtual little pillory Free Republic!
246 posted on 11/13/2002 7:47:57 AM PST by tictoc
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To: a keillor neighbor
...prodigious hollow judgment...

That feature was best shown in the bitter attack screed by GK that this thread is discussing.

Is the standard of discussion in MN Democrat circles to beat them in the scandle-blogs if you can't beat them at the polls?

I considered the article bitter, vile and intemperate and what consideration I had for GK's performance ability is now over shadowed by this demonstation of his Streisand-like "progressivism".

247 posted on 11/13/2002 8:04:36 AM PST by KC Burke
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To: AlwaysLurking
SALON.COM is still operating?

Here, I've got 5 Lbs of Cheese for your WHINE you crying bunch of socialist ba$tids.

Norm Coleman will be a great Senator, and I look forward to having him represent Minnesota.

Now, if we can get Mark "wellstone worshipper" Dayton out we'll be doing great.
248 posted on 11/13/2002 8:13:30 AM PST by Johnny Gage
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To: AlwaysLurking
He backpedalled in the one debate...

Garrison, there were two debates. For the first one, Fritz backpedalled so much that he didn't even show up.

249 posted on 11/13/2002 8:21:27 AM PST by Cooter
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To: AlwaysLurking
Oh my, it looks like some air got by Garrison's cork. He's turned to vinegar.
250 posted on 11/13/2002 8:25:31 AM PST by muddyboots
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To: AlwaysLurking
And that's the news from Lake DemoSwamp!
Where all the losers are whining,
And all the winners are (still) gloating!

God bless Norm Coleman!

251 posted on 11/13/2002 10:53:30 AM PST by rightwingreligiousfanatic
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To: Tribune7
Damn, and Norm tried soooo hard to get the vote of the 60's radical, now limosine liberal, ivory tower-elitest posing as common man-o-the-people, bitter white and old, peter-pan socialist, government-subsidized performing artist demographic. Oh well, maybe next time!
252 posted on 11/13/2002 3:51:55 PM PST by autumnal
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To: autumnal
It just occurred to me. Nobody would listen to Keillor any more if we, the taxpayer, weren't paying them to. He's b*tching because he's worried about his job. :-)
253 posted on 11/13/2002 4:06:15 PM PST by Tribune7
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Comment #254 Removed by Moderator

To: Tribune7
I hope is job is in danger. But, You give him far too much credit. He'd actually have to be able to read the writing on the wall for that little insight. He so insulated and out of touch with Americans, Minnesotans, his own listeners, what have you, that he it would not occur to him that his oh so important job would ever be in jeopardy!;)
255 posted on 11/13/2002 4:27:38 PM PST by autumnal
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To: autumnal
You're probably right.
256 posted on 11/13/2002 4:31:55 PM PST by Tribune7
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To: AlwaysLurking
least of all the religious people in the Republican Party. They made their peace with hypocrisy long ago.

They had to dear, you guys told them a public servants sex life doesn't matter, remember? Make up your mind, does it or doesn't it?

257 posted on 11/13/2002 4:35:51 PM PST by ladyinred
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Comment #258 Removed by Moderator

To: Heff
A popular myth - Churchill never said anything like that, and in fact his political journey was in the opposite direction.
259 posted on 11/13/2002 8:14:37 PM PST by algop.com
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To: AlwaysLurking
As a Coleman-Pawlenty supporter, I have to admit I'm heartened by the spate of recent entries in the Peter Jennings: "Voters Had a Temper Tantrum" Whine Contest. In their supercilious rationalizations for defeat at the hands of an unwashed electorate, Garrison Keillor and a host of dyspeptic letter writers to the Twin Cities dailies are telling me the Democrats would rather keep plodding the road to political perdition than repair their retrograde ideology.

Happy trails to you, unhappy warriors

260 posted on 11/14/2002 2:24:44 AM PST by rhema
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