Former DFL congressman Tim Penny made the Capitol news rounds Monday to call attention to his latest civic project. He and two former Minnesota Republican members of Congress, Mark Kennedy and Bill Frenzel, are among the founding board of directors of the new Economic Club of Minnesota.
Modeled on similarly named clubs in other American cities, the Minnesota group aims to host monthly luncheon speeches by experts on global trade and business success. Launched earlier this year, its next meeting, March 26 at the Minneapolis Club, will feature remarks on the federal bank bailout by Minneapolis Federal Reserve boss Gary Stern. (See www.ecomn.org for more.)
Penny, the 2002 Independence Party candidate for governor, talked a little politics along the way. He vowed that the Independence Party will field a gubernatorial candidate in 2010, but voiced no interest in being that candidate himself. He also allowed that the IP supports a change in state law that would allow the IP and another party to endorse the same candidate, and have that candidate's name appear on both parties' primary ballots. That "fusion" ballot law functions well in New York state, and would seem politically useful in Minnesota as well.
