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Minnesota caucus night culminates campaign flurry in state
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
March 1, 2004

State Sen. Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, was a Dean supporter who announced on Friday that she's going to back North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

On Tuesday, neighborhood meetings held around the state could help decide who the Democrats nominate for president. The Minnesota caucuses are part of "super Tuesday." Residents of California, New York and seven other states will also vote in presidential primaries. And for the first time in many years, the candidates have been focusing on Minnesota along with the bigger states.

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota has seen a flurry of presidential politics in the last week and a half. Democratic candidates John Edwards, John Kerry and Dennis Kucinich have all made campaign visits. And Republican Vice President Dick Cheney stumped for President Bush's re-election campaign. Bush narrowly lost Minnesota in 2000.

DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson says both parties think they have a chance to win Minnesota in November, and that should increase caucus attendance.

	State Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner

"I think we're going to have a caucus turnout that will be the highest we've seen maybe in a couple of decades, you know, there's no bigger motivating factor to attend the precinct caucuses right now than George W. Bush and how people feel about him," he said.

Erlandson says the Minnesota caucuses also matter more than they did four years ago, when Al Gore already had the Democratic nomination locked up by Super Tuesday.

Now, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the front-runner, has about a third of the delegates he'll need to secure the nomination. On Tuesday night, Minnesota Democrats will vote in a binding presidential preference ballot that will determine how many supporters of each presidential candidate go on as delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Kerry supporters think their candidate will win in Minnesota, where Kerry has gained the endorsement of dozens of prominent DFLers.

State Sen. Dick Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, who was one of the first Minnesotans to join the Kerry camp more than a year ago, says he was impressed by the Vietnam veteran's record of public service.

"He certainly brings to a Democratic ticket a very in-depth knowledge and experience relative to foreign affairs. And we really haven't done that recently with candidates. Certainly when you look at Gov, Clinton, Gov. Dukakis, Gov. Carter, those were people who did not have significant foreign policy experience," he said.

Cohen thinks Kerry has become a stronger candidate because of the competitive Democratic field. Many activists credit former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for energizing the race before his campaign fizzled.

State Sen. Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, was a Dean supporter who announced on Friday that she's going to back North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Lourey says she likes Edwards' background as a trial lawyer who, in her words, fought for the little people. She thinks Edwards is the most electable Democrat.

"He can speak to independents, that he can speak to moderate Republicans, like my parents were. He can speak to those people who know that right now, our infrastructure is being torn apart. And I think that he can help people understand how great we were, and really how easily we can step up to being great again," according to Lourey.

The other Democrat who's visited Minnesota several times is Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has said he wants to carry on the legacy of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. The fourth Democratic presidential candidate, the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York, has not actively campaigned in Minnesota.

While most of the attention will be focused on the Democrats, Republicans, Greens and Independence Party members will also attend caucuses. State Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner says he expects a higher turnout than two years ago. He says Democrats can't take Minnesota for granted any more.

"All you have to do is just kind of look back over the last several years and see what's happening here in Minnesota, and it all culminated in 2002, when we elected a governor and a U.S. senator and another congressman and we added in the House, almost took control of the state Senate; it was basically a sweep from one end of the state to the other end," he said.

Eibensteiner says the Bush campaign will put more resources into Minnesota this year than it did four years ago. He says Minnesotans could see a lot of the president in the next few months.

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