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Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | U.S. Senate
Agreement on Iraq, but not much else
The four candidates debating in front of the DFL Progressive Caucus called for an end to the war, but they disagreed on Iran, energy and more.
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In a debate Sunday before the DFL Progressive Caucus, four U.S. Senate candidates agreed about needing to end the war in Iraq, but they differed sharply on other major topics including Iran, alternative energy and military spending.
Lawyers Mike Ciresi and Jim Cohen, writer-comedian Al Franken and educator Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer are seeking the DFL nomination and the chance to oust first-term Republican Norm Coleman in 2008.
Although the candidates all want the United States out of Iraq, the issue of who opposed the war from the start was raised by Ciresi, a trial lawyer who trounced the tobacco industry on behalf of the state in 1998.
"Al, you supported the war at the outset," Ciresi said. "I believe it's essential that we get U.S. senators who don't act" out of fear.
Franken responded that he wasn't acting out of fear but that he believed no president would lie the country into war. He said that when the war began he was writing his book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."
But Ciresi persisted, pulling out a piece of paper with a quote from that book in which Franken said he was "terrified" by the imminent threat and the visuals of weapons of mass destruction.
Franken responded that the line was satire, poking at the fear the Bush administration peddled. But Franken said he regrets not publicly speaking out against the war earlier, as Nelson-Pallmeyer did.
Although he has yet to formally declare his candidacy, Nelson-Pallmeyer, a University of St. Thomas associate professor of justice and peace studies, drew frequent and enthusiastic applause from the couple hundred people in the crowd at the Augsburg College chapel in Minneapolis. The DFL-friendly crowd hissed and booed only once -- when Ciresi and Franken talked favorably about nuclear power as a viable alternative fuel source.
Following the Ciresi-Franken exchange on Iraq, Cohen said, "the issue now is how do we get out of Iraq."
Nelson-Pallmeyer added, "The obstacle to getting out ... is our leaders don't want to."
Differences on a potential war with Iran showed when the four were asked about a possible false campaign of fear to build support for bombing the country.
Franken said, "It would be insane for us to invade or bomb Iran." He argued it would drive the sentiment of Iran's people from the United States.
Nelson-Pallmeyer said, "What frustrates me is Democrats in Washington are not standing up and saying, 'Over my dead body -- another war.'" He said Iran isn't a threat to any interest of the United States.
Ciresi called for a "surge in diplomacy" and engaging Iran at the "diplomatic table." But Franken said Iran might be a threat if it gets a nuclear weapon.
Nelson-Pallmeyer drew huge applause when he said, "The U.S. can't claim Iran can't have nuclear weapons when we're violating the nonproliferation treaty ourselves."
Ciresi said, "The fact is we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
Regarding alternative fuels, Nelson-Pallmeyer wants a goal of reducing fossil fuel dependence at least 80 percent within 10 years. Ciresi said that would create more unemployment and poverty. He wants tax incentives for alternative energy.
Cohen agreed with the incentives but disagreed with the Nelson-Pallmeyer timetable. Cohen envisioned 30 years to reduce U.S. fossil fuel use by 80 percent.
Franken pushed for increased fuel efficiency standards and explore nuclear energy, as does Ciresi.
On military spending, Cohen called for a Department of Peace and a 25 percent cut in the military budget. Nelson-Pallmeyer wants to cut more. "There are no military solutions to poverty, hunger and bridges falling down," he said.
Franken wants to invest more in diplomacy and prevent failed states. Ciresi also called for a country with a great "moral might" as opposed to just military might.
Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747
Rochelle Olson • raolson@startribune.com
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