&uot;If Jesse Ventura runs for governor again, will you vote for him?&uot;&t;!—-&t;.

Tuesday, February 05, 2002

&uot;If Jesse Ventura runs for governor again, will you vote for him?&uot;

That was one of the more difficult questions U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht was asked by sixth graders at Halverson Elementary School Monday morning. Gutknecht visited with sixth graders at the school as part of his attempt to make students aware that government isn’t as far away and impersonal as we often think it is, he said later.

After a tour of the school led by sixth grade students Adam Kirsch and Karina Timmerman and Halverson Principal Del Stein, Gutknecht talked to all three sixth grade classes and their teachers in the school’s media center. He showed the students his House of Representatives ID and electronic voting card, and his Blackberry PDA – a handheld telecommunications device which allows him to receive and transmit email via a satellite.

Gutknecht also talked about what life as a representative is like, describing work on the House Science and Agriculture committees and all of the traveling by plane he does each month – over 90,000 miles since he took office.

&uot;I do what I like to do and try to make a little bit of a difference every day,&uot; he said.

Gutknecht also talked about the qualities that are needed to be a leader – one quality more than others.

&uot;Readers are leaders,&uot; Gutknecht said.

Students also asked questions about funding for education, air travel, and whether Gutknecht had met the president. Teachers had discussed the visit with their classes earlier that morning, and several students had prepared questions beforehand.

In his response to the question about Gov. Ventura, Gutknecht said that as a member of the Republican Party he probably would vote for whomever his party nominates to be governor. But Gutknecht also added that he gets along fine with Ventura, but that both are very busy and end up getting out of each other’s way more than anything else.

Visiting with students is something Gutknecht said he looks forward to.

&uot;It’s exciting for me. I learn a lot about what’s going on with kids, and in our schools,&uot; he said.