Continued: Part 2: Meltdown on main

When John Campisi and Ani Sorenson bought J.O. Donoghue Books in downtown Anoka 18 months ago, they understood the gamble of a new business. But neither foresaw an economy tumbling so quickly that it would become a major issue in the presidential campaign.

For Campisi, a conservative, and Sorenson, a liberal, the evidence is on their shelves: "We are selling fewer books and buying more" from customers trading books for cash, Campisi said.

Along Main Street in Anoka, a condo project and retail developments have stalled. Foreclosures in the northern suburb have soared from 349 during the year of the last presidential election to 1,680 in 2007.

"We're the 50-yard-line on the economy," said Tom Gorman, owner of G's Cafe on Main Street.

Anoka, derived from a Dakota word meaning "on both sides of the river," is geographically and politically divided. It is one of a dozen metro-area cities that split their vote nearly equally between George Bush and John Kerry in 2004. It's also likely to be a key political battleground this year.

And how Anoka votes in 2008 could well pivot on what the candidates say on crucial Main Street issues: Jobs. Taxes. Foreclosures. Wages.

And perhaps most important, optimism.

You probably couldn't get a better representation of Anoka, politically, than the group of guys who gather every morning at a restaurant. On a recent day, there were two Democrats, two Republicans and three independents.

Rather than staunch partisans, Anokans tend to be independent-thinking Minnesotans who are likely to vote for the candidate based on his or her character and ideas.

At least two were likely voting for John McCain. One of the Democrats, Kenneth Bruce Robinson, acknowledged he could probably vote for either Barack Obama or McCain, but leans toward Obama. And Ralph Talbot, a retired Anoka County sheriff, likes Hillary Rodham Clinton because "I'd just like to see a woman be president."

Despite their political differences, they all agree on one thing: The economy is bad and getting worse, and they all give the current administration poor marks for managing it. They agree that spending for the war in Iraq has had a negative impact on America's finances.

Yet, they are not hurting too much personally. Dennis Ward, an independent, said he has cut back on hunting and fishing trips because of gas prices, but it's young people who are feeling the sting most.

For Charlie Sell, a Republican who will probably settle on McCain, taxes are the major difference between the candidates. "I would hope [McCain] would make more tax cuts, or at least keep the Bush tax cut," he said. Though Sell worries about the impact of the war on the economy, "I haven't heard any good alternative" to maintain national security.

Down the street at Avant Garden, a coffee shop, the city's 29-year-old mayor is experiencing the worst times since he was elected at age 23.

"We're closer to recession than I can remember, if we're not in one," said Mayor Bjorn Skogquist. "I hear a lot of business owners talking about how sales are down, there are more foreclosures. A lot of people have made mistakes. They've got brand new cars, brand new furniture and --whoa -- all of a sudden, there's not money there to pay for that stuff.

"I've never really lived through a time when housing has been really bad," the mayor continued. "My generation has [been prosperous]. A lot of us don't know anything different.

"Business people I've talked with about the economy say, 'If we have nothing left to produce, what is left of America?' I'd like somebody to talk about [whether] we can keep losing jobs to other parts of the world without losing a great quality of life that we've known.

"And what about this endless prosperity we're always being told about and sold? It may be too realistic for a national leader to say, 'You know what, sometimes you have to go through corrections, bite the bullet.' I'd like for someone to give us a dose of reality."

Uncertainty is painful

Five years ago, Stan Lessin expanded his Amish Goods store to a larger space across the street. But with the economy sliding and more competition nearby, he has retrenched. He closed the second store at the end of last month.

"I can tell there's some slowdown," Lessin said. "They're not buying furniture. I know that the price of gasoline is a psychological thing, more than a financial thing."

Bookstore owners Campisi and Sorenson talk about how a lack of disposable income is hurting them.

Asked what a new president could do to help Main Street, Campisi said: "We need [energy] alternatives. If that means taking a patch out of the great north woods, that's fine with me. Offshore, that's fine with me. Fix the energy issue, fix the medical situation and get people jobs.

"We all kind of want to go to the same place. We just differ on how to get there." His liberal bookstore partner Sorenson, however, said a discussion of "big box" retail filled with cheap foreign goods is what's needed: "I think we need a national discussion on how we've turned into a disposable society. You save money, but at what cost?"

Sorenson, who would prefer a good third-party candidate, will vote for either Clinton or Obama, but she respects McCain and thinks any of the candidates will bring improvement "for the first time in many years. That's good for all of us."

Unlike the mayor, Peter Turok has seen Anoka weather tough times before. "I've been here 21 years and I've seen it. This is not a uniquely Anoka problem, but we tend to get hit harder earlier than some places because we have a lot of specialty retail," he said. "You've just got to keep pushing and pumping."

Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, a chiropractor with a clinic on the main drag, said the suburb has never been wealthy. "The boom times never hit us," he said. "The trickle-down never trickled down."

One promising exception is the area's largest employer, Federal Cartridge, a maker of ammunition. They've hired 300 workers in the past 18 months and "helped broaden the business base," according to spokesman Josh Nash.

"What I'm hearing is that the public has the money, but they're afraid to let it go," Turok said. "The ma-and-pa shop on Main Street, what they'd really like from Washington is to be calm. If you act calm and stay calm, those people will spend some of that money. What I'm hearing most is that people are eager for change."

That eagerness will likely be evident in one small way soon at Party Papers, a novelty and costume shop, where owner John VanderLaan is holding back on a planned expansion -- for now.

VanderLaan, who had the foresight to open a costume shop in the "Halloween Capital of the World," leans Democratic because "I think people need hope right now, and we're not getting it from the current administration. I think even McCain possibly can do that, too, but I think he's too supportive of the war in Iraq to pull that off. It's drained money away from the little guy. "

A bit of a boom should come in October, however, when VanderLaan can count on one thing: There will be a run on Halloween masks of McCain and his Democratic opponent.

Jon Tevlin • 612-673-1702