MINNESOTA’S LOSS
According to GOP sources, many inside the Republican National
Committee had come to see the Minnesota Senate seat held by the
late Paul Wellstone as unwinnable in the final
weeks leading up to November 5. “The tracking polls showed
Wellstone inching ahead, beyond the margin of error deadlock he had
been locked into with Coleman,” says an RNC pollster. “Things could
have trended back down for him, but Wellstone seemed to have found
his footing.”
Republican Senate candidate Norm Coleman didn’t
perform well in the two candidates’ last debate, and his campaign
seemed to be running out of gas. The two men had been stuck in a
virtual dead heat for several weeks in late summer and early
September.
Wellstone had seen a surge in campaign contributions and
appeared on his way to winning a third term, despite vowing to
Minnesota voters he would serve only two terms. A year ago, as the
RNC sized up the 2002 races, Wellstone was viewed as the most
beatable Democrat in the Senate. It’s a testament to his
oft-underestimated political skills that he emerged two weeks
before the election as seemingly unbeatable.
POWER GRAB
Walter Mondale appears on the verge of committing
to run in place of Paul Wellstone in the Minnesota
Senate race. As of early Sunday morning, after speaking with just
about every major senior Democratic Party official, the former vice
president seemed more open to running — and probably winning —
the seat.
What is unclear is whether Mondale is open to serving out the
full six-year term. According to one Democratic National Committee
staffer late Saturday night, the rumor mill had Mondale serving at
least two years of the term before stepping aside. “He’s hoping
that his son would be appointed to the seat, that he would have a
chance to keep it in the family,” says the DNC staffer. “There are
no guarantees, but given that state, the power of the Democrats and
the Mondale name, it wouldn’t be out of the question.
In 1998 Mondale’s son, Ted, finished fifth in the Minnesota’s
Democratic gubernatorial primary with 7% of the vote. It was thus
perhaps no surprise that Democratic polling of likely party voters
late Friday and Saturday suggested that at this late date
Ted Mondale wouldn’t beat Coleman. But the senior
Mondale would.
“Ambassador Mondale beats Coleman easily in our polling, by at
least six percentage points. That’s better than Wellstone,” says
the DNC source. “With guys like Lautenberg and Mondale on the
bench, it makes you wonder why we didn’t use these guys more often
over the years. These are the two men who are going to save our
political bacon. We hold the Senate thanks to them.”
FOOD FIGHT
Bill Clinton created quite a stir recently down in
Little Rock, when he showed up at a popular eatery with a party of
12, found the table he wanted already occupied and had an aide
demand that the seated party be moved. The offending diners agreed
once they realized who wanted their seats.
“You’d think he’d be nice enough to thank them, or perhaps send
us back a little something to show his gratitude,” says a diner who
witnessed the turn of events. “They got nothing, and then Clinton
was so busy talking on the phone and socializing, I don’t know that
he even ate anything.”
Not even a few big bites between phone calls?
