Posted on 12/03/2002 1:56:50 AM PST by rmmcdaniell
If you thought the 2002 election cycle was interesting, wait until you hear who's thinking about stirring the pot a bit by mulling a Senate campaign for 2004.
Crystal Dueker, a Republican nudist-rights advocate who briefly ran for the Senate in 1998, tells HOH that she's considering a challenge to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) in two years.
Dueker said she will defer to former Gov. Ed Schafer (R) if he decides to run for the Senate, but she will not let Dorgan get a free ride if Schafer bows out. "If no one will run, I will be running," she vowed.
Dueker said that Dorgan is vulnerable because President Bush, who's expected to be on the ballot in two years, carried the state with 61 percent of the vote in 2000.
"The moderate base thinks Dorgan is independent, yet the record shows he votes more with Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy than he does with Zell Miller and [John] Breaux."
She added that Dorgan "must have a challenger," and it very well could be "a moderate woman like me."
"Moderate" is a relative term, however, given the fact that Dueker has won publicity over the years for her battles against crackdowns on public nudity.
In fairness, Dueker says she wants to base her campaign on serious issues like reform of the estate tax and sensible Social Security reform. "Blonde hair and a flirty attitude are great door openers, but my mind is full of data to blast the opponent away with the facts on the issues," she noted, adding that "as the straight-A student who was highest in my class, these guys underestimate me" all the time.
But other issues tend to overshadow Dueker's legislative agenda. After her failed bid the last time around, she joked that her slogan was, "Crystal Dueker supports the right to bear arms, as well as bare legs and breasts."
After having the old campaign motto repeated to him, Dorgan told HOH, "I'm not commenting on that in a million years."
I think we get your points.
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