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Campaigning during a crisis
By Art Hughes
Minnesota Public Radio
September 26, 2001
Part of MPR's online coverage of Campaign 2001
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Since the terrorist attacks in New York, political campaigns for the top offices in the Twin Cities have taken on a more somber and less combative tone. Candidates have to walk a fine line to promote their political agendas while also appearing sensitive to the tragedies.
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"This is a remarkable day on many levels, and I think we've gone through a tremendous emotional roller coaster over the past couple of days. But I do have to say - this is time for us to not only be reflective of the past but also to begin to think about the future," Rybak said.
Despite coming out on top in the primary election, Rybak says his campaign has been scaled back in the two weeks since the attacks in New York and Washington D.C. - volunteers with campaign literature stopped knocking on doors, some other events were cancelled, and work is focused on internal organization. He says everyone from teachers to late night comics are struggling to strike the right balance.
"It was very hard on election night when we had extremely good news that didn't feel that good that night, with everything else that was swirling around," Rybak says. "But the bottom line is - Americans choose leaders by voting, and we're in the most democratic action you can take, and we have no apology for that. We just want to do it with the right tone."
Incumbent Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton says her official duties in the hours after the attacks left no time to make campaign appearances. Since then, the mayor has attended firefighter memorials and even appeared in traditional Muslim garb at a local mosque, in an effort to address a myriad of local concerns in the wake of the tragedy. She says wherever she goes, the attacks are the main topic.
"I don't think the campaign will ever be normal," says Sayles Belton. "I don't think our nation's response to the acts of terrorism - as the president and others have said - is a single-event response. I'm not sure when the response will happen but it could happen at any time. People are going about their daily lives to be certain. But there's this underlying feeling of uncertainty that everyone of us feels, and I fear it will be with us for a while," she says.
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Sayles Belton campaigners say they plan to emphasize the mayor's record as a veteran leader, which includes an ability to respond to a crisis.
In St. Paul, mayoral candidate Jay Benanav, a former New Yorker whose niece narrowly avoided the attacks on the World Trade Center, predicts voter turnout in November will be greater because people have a heightened sense of civic responsibility.
"That is a statement they can make to all the world - that no matter what happens we're going out to vote, and we're going to pay attention to our community." he says.
Benanav's challenger, Randy Kelly, held a press conference this week to demonstrate his committment to public safety. Kelly says the attacks have made the campaign more serious.
"I don't think that people are going to tolerate or allow the candidates to be petty, to be bickering. It is a far more serious mood that we approach over the course of the next six weeks," Kelly says. "In a way, I think it will be healthy that we'll focus on ideas, we'll focus on the future of this city, we will focus on leadership."
Gustavus Adolphus political science department chairman Chris Gilbert says political candidates need to continue with their message, while acknowledging voters' preoccupation with national events. But he says they must also avoid appearing to exploit those events for political gain.
"Capitalizing on it in a direct sense is probably more fraught with peril than it is likely to produce success," Gilbert says. "You could see candidates emphasizing the importance of being a strong leader at this time. But any campaign that did that in a way that directly tied Sept. 11 to their ability to be strong leader, I think risks being seen as a pure opportunist."
Gilbert says candidates also risk a backlash if they engage in negative, or even critical campaigns, because of a general sense - at least for the time being - that the attacks have prompted a need to show national unity. But Gilbert says the events are unprecedented and it's hard to locate the boundaries for local political campaigns. So he says candidates will have to play it by ear and wait to see how voters react in November.
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