Who Is Norm Coleman?: Meet the Republican in the Minnesota race

Now that Minnesota Democrats have nominated a candidate to replace Paul Wellstone on Tuesday's ballot, voters in the state can focus on the two men who propose to represent them for the next six years in Washington. Much has been written and said about former vice president Walter Mondale, of course; he is a national figure. Outside Minnesota, however, his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, is much less well known.

So who is Norm Coleman? For one thing, he's the answer to a trivia question: Who would be governor of Minnesota today if it hadn't been for the freak appearance of Jesse Ventura? Four years ago, Coleman lost that race by a slim margin. He might have tried for the office again this year, but for the intervention of the White House. President Bush urged him to take on Wellstone, and the national party pulled strings to clear the primary field for him.

Coleman, who was the mayor of St. Paul for eight years, looks like the actor Willem Dafoe. His Brooklyn accent stands out against the Scandinavian inflections heard throughout the state. He's most at home in a business suit — "My agenda as mayor was the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce," he says — but he'll have to rack up healthy margins in the plaid-flannel reaches of rural Minnesota if he's to prevail.

Conservatives have viewed Coleman with some suspicion — six years ago, he actually endorsed Wellstone for reelection. He was still a Democrat then, albeit a right-leaning one who was growing alienated from his party. The trouble began shortly after his first mayoral victory, in 1993, when he got snared in a bitter contract dispute with a municipal union. His support for a school-choice pilot project in St. Paul made waves as well, though the program never became a reality. He also refused to issue a gay-pride proclamation ("It's not the job of government") and found himself isolated because of his views on abortion ("Being pro-life in the Democratic party is akin to having leprosy").

The last straw was Wellstone's opposition to welfare reform. "It's what finally convinced me to switch parties," he says. Today, Coleman runs on a record that makes it sound like he was in the GOP from the beginning. He reminds audiences constantly about how he balanced budgets and didn't raise taxes for eight years as mayor. He's for military action against Iraq, the "personalization" of Social Security for young people (he rejects the term "privatization"), free trade with just about everybody (including Cuba), gun and gaming rights ("One of the biggest differences between me and my opponent is that I've got a fishing license"), and making the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Coleman moderates a few positions, too. He says his favorite Supreme Court Justice is Sandra Day O'Connor. He's against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He would not have voted to remove Bill Clinton from office had he been a senator in 1999. Yet these seem like minor departures from a set of standard positions that would make him a reliable friend of conservatives in the Senate.

Recent polls have shown Coleman trailing Mondale, but not by much. One week ago, before Wellstone's death, this race was a toss-up. It remains one today.

He comes across as a very intelligent, likable person. Quite articulate. I was impressed with him, far more than with Forrester actually. It seems he still has a chance. What I can't understand is Brit Hume's gung ho endorsements of Mondale all week, and acting like he's already won! Anyone have a clue about why he is doing this?

I haven't watched Brit Hume this week, interesting that he would endorse Fritz. I've seen Norm Coleman also on TV, he does come across well. I was impressed that he wouldn't say anything negative about Wellstone's memorial, he is just out there campaigning on the issues.

A good and fair article. Norm is not a firebrand conservative or anything. But his switch from Democrat to Republican was hardly the cynical and unprincipled move his opponents like to pretend. His pro-business, anti-tax, pro-life politics simply had no place in the Minnesota DFL party.

When he switched parties, many assumed he'd never be able to be re-elected as mayor in (heavily Democrat) Saint Paul. He proved that wrong. But others said his real motivation for switching was because he had a good chance to win a Republican primary in the next gubernatorial election, and virtually no chance in the DFL primary. That was certainly true.

Norm's politics make him a natural fit as a Minnesota Republican - a party controlled by mainstream establishment politicians. He was a terrible fit as a Democrat in Minnesota - a party increasingly controlled by its radical left wing.

Norm is not the greatest conservative in the world, but he's a solid Republican, and infinitely better than Wellstone or Mondale (And incidentally, he's quite a bit more conservative than Jesse Ventura, whom many Freepers seem to think is a closet conservative. He's not. Norm would have made a MUCH better governor.).

Brit doesn't come out and openly endorse Mondale but he might as well, he is just gushing away about what a great and ethical man he is and all sorts of memories he has of long-ago campaigns. He sees him as an icon who can't be defeated. Not being in Minnesota it's hard to know if that's true. He always seemed boring and without convictions to me and his legal and corporate work since 1984 should be questioned by someone in the media. Not enough time?

Today I shook hands with Norm Coleman at our local cafe (think Lake Wobegon and the "Chatterbox Cafe") here in rural Minnesota. The place was packed and Norm Coleman and Tim Pawlenty and others were fabulous. They are so full of common sense - and sensitivity to the Wellstone tragedy as well - things that go unreported by the liberal press. I can only hope that I shook hands with my future Senator and Governor. GET OUT AND VOTE!!! (p.s. - I have my first political lawn signs out!)

His support for a school-choice pilot project in St. Paul made waves as well

He also refused to issue a gay-pride proclamation ("It's not the job of government")

and found himself isolated because of his views on abortion ("Being pro-life in the Democratic party is akin to having leprosy")

WOW! Those three issues alone would sure have me voting for Coleman, gladly!

Too bad I can'tt live in Minnesota. OTOH, Doug Forrester, though not as attractive a candidate as Coleman, needs my vote here in New Jersey.

As far as I know there will be media coverage of President Bush and VP Cheney. There has been coverage that they are "coming".. It has been said that there will be tv coverage to "make up" for the Wellstone rally/memorial. We'll see. I haven't heard about Guliani. On the early evening news I saw a clip of Mondale speaking at a college - and I thought "wow, I bet those kids are thinking he is old and boring" because that was how I saw it (and I'm 55!)

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