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"I've had enough fun"
by Jeff Horwich, Minnesota Public Radio
March 6, 2003

Roger Moe points out the number of incumbent DFL state Senators (three) who lost elections during his 22 years as Senate Majority Leader. Moe spoke in late February to students at the University of Minnesota Morris. (MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

In November, former State Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe found himself a private citizen for the first time in decades. Moe left the Senate to run for governor, and came in second to Republican Tim Pawlenty. His bid for a spot on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents met an inelegant end this month. Moe withdrew his name just before the final vote by his former colleagues, when it was clear he would come up short. The future is suddenly a blank slate for one of Minnesota's longest-serving lawmakers.

Morris, Minn. — Moe has made few public appearances in recent months, but in late February he made a long-scheduled stop at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Roger Moe drove alone and pulled his red sedan into the visitors' parking lot - no aides, no scheduler, no one to meet the car. The Erskine DFL'er cinched up his overcoat and headed down the sidewalk to find his way to the Social Science building. The 2002 campaign trail seemed awfully far away.

	"Back in those days..."

Moe has not been a frequent visitor to college campuses, or to much of anywhere since November. But just after the election he made a promise to visit the campus in Morris. In the morning he spoke to political science students, curious about what Moe had been up to. At the time he was still in the race for the Regents post: Just after his 7th District legislators had approved him but before a joint committee in St. Paul did not.

"I made two phone calls, one to the speaker, and one to the Republican leader in the Senate," Moe told the students. "And I said, 'I have an interest in this, tell me what you think. And if you are going to cut my throat, cut it now, don't do it in public.' They were very kind and complimentary and indicated they would support me, and that's the only reason I moved forward."

Moe hoped to avoid any ugly end to the Regents process that might eclipse 32 years of public service. It turned out to be a well founded concern. But for this moment he had a classroom of students to regail about the past.

The best development in the legislature over 32 years? The addition of women and minority lawmakers. The most difficult governor to work with? Jesse Ventura, hands-down. He tells the students about a previous memorable budget impasse, when Governor Al Quie had to start slicing after spending and tax cut excesses in the late 70s. The result was political hell-to-pay for Quie.

This time around, as Governor Pawlenty pursues a similar budget "unalotment" over legislators' objections, Moe gets to sit back and watch. And that's fine with him. The legislature welcomed more new members in 2002 than in any election in 30 years. Speaking one on one, after the class, Moe said the new generation of lawmakers is getting a healthy dose of reality.

	An even newer generation

"If your experience in the legislature was, say, from the mid-90s up till now, you just think that growth is just an automatic part of all of this," Moe said. "But if you've been there you know there's also a downside, which is what we're in now. There's a learning curve."

But after so long in the thick of things, surely there's a part of Roger Moe who wants to get in there and mix it up a little bit.

"Not as much as you might think," he said. "Really, I've been there, done that, enjoyed it. But when I made the decision not to run for the state senate again, it was because I knew that after 32 years there, after 22 years as leader, after negotiating many, many budgets, after working on every issue you could possibly imagine, it was enough."

Moe pauses for a good way to sum it up. "I've had enough fun."

Moe says he's willing to offer his reflections, but he's not in the business of giving advice. He is sympathetic and even complimentary of the current governor, who he says is communicating well and making hard choices in a tough situation.

"I don't criticize him for unalotting," Moe said. "I suppose had to do something. I suppose most of the criticism should lie with the legislature for not getting a deal done."

Moe saves his vitriol, such as it is for a placid Minnesotan, for former Governor Ventura, "the Governor who squandered an unbelievable largess." He also has no love for the third and now fourth party movements, which he says are weakening state government and which certainly weakened his campaign.

Does Moe feel in the loop? Have old colleagues been conferring with him as events unfold in St. Paul? No, he says, he's out of the loop now, and he's fine with that.

Moe says his elected life is over. His life in public service is not. With the Regents decision behind him, Roger Moe has some time to figure out what that means.

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