Fairgoers get a taste of the candidates up close and personal

Politicians at the Minnesota State Fair have to brace themselves for anything. One minute a teen with the fervor of someone newborn to politics is gushing over your candidacy. Next minute a senior citizen is cornering you on whether you would ever support the sale of cluster bombs to Israel.

And then there are those folks who just want a photo with you as the backdrop.

Through it all, the fair stands as a mighty test of political ability, weeding out those who can field questions, work crowds, down corn dogs and mingle from the wallflowers who remain at their booths, unable to draw interest.

Many fairgoers are like Tom Arendt -- there to soak up the sights, eat fried things on a stick and let politics wait for another day.

A retiree from St. Paul, Arendt said he's voted "since the first time I was able to vote," and follows civic affairs.

But 16 months before an election?

"Give us a break," he pleaded. "I'm not that interested yet."

Others, like Brent and Sarah Ruter, see the fair as their chance to see candidates up close and unrehearsed, long before positions are locked down and speeches honed with micro-precision.

"I'm looking for someone who'll listen to everyone but follow their own judgment," Brent Ruter said.

"Someone who's confident and will get things done," added Sarah Ruter, using one hand to occupy 6-month-old Eddie. They're not sure who that will be yet, but Sarah said, "it can't be someone who just talks for talk's sake."

As they're doing for most days during the fair's 12-day run, DFL U.S. Senate candidates Al Franken and Mike Ciresi strutted their stuff, trying to convert fleeting contacts into lasting impressions.

A seasoned performer, Franken goofed for the cameras Tuesday as he did a weather segment on KSTP-TV, Channel 5.

Assuming a comic stance in front of a blank green wall (on television, weather images are superimposed), Franken informed viewers that "hail as big as watermelons" was heading for Marshall.

While the clowning might seem risky for someone eager to be taken seriously, it was a plus for Marlene Plager, who perched in front-row bleachers for the noon newscast.

"He's hilarious," she said. "I appreciate a sense of humor in a candidate."

Plager said that while she doesn't seek out candidates at the fair, "it makes it special if you actually see one in person."

Issues and sandwiches

In between discovering a newfound passion for Gizmos, an Italian meat sandwich, Ciresi was questioned on everything from the departure of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to details of his position on the war.

"We need diplomacy in Iraq," an impassioned Phyllis Skinner told Ciresi. "We need to stop killing people over there."

Skinner, whose daughter is a foreign service officer for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, said, "I've been so upset with this administration I can't stand it. Do something, please!"

Waving off her Republican husband with an abrupt "I'll be with you in a minute," Skinner fiddled with a Ciresi button as she asked about health care.

"I'm a nurse," she said later. "How I vote depends on what they say they'll do about health care and the war."

Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, veteran of innumerable State Fairs, was touring other parts of the state Tuesday but will be stumping for votes Thursday.

His reelection race is predicted to be one of the toughest in the country, and acid-penned fairgoers at the DFL booth filled a board with Post-its that put even the edgiest news media commentators to shame.

"Puppets are for kids," wrote one.

Others poked fun at Coleman for an assortment of reasons, ranging from his hair to his voting record. Mary Loe, of St. Cloud, perused the board, interested but unmoved by its caustic comments.

An occupational therapist who said she's politically unaffiliated, Loe said she looks for the "socially progressive, fiscally conservative" brand of populism that shaped farmers from her native southwestern Minnesota childhood.

Coleman, she said, "talked a lot of the party line before, but I've seen him become more independent, speaking his mind in a clear, conscientious manner."

Loe said she likes some of what she's seen in Democrats, too, and is still taking the measure of candidates.

"It's so early," she said, as sweat from the subtropical August morning gathered on her forehead. "There's such a long way to go. I want to remain open."

Patricia Lopez • 651-222-1288

Patricia Lopez • plopez@startribune.com