IP trio: Partisans, money poison politics

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 1, 2002

Touting their freedom from special interests, forsaking partisanship and pointing to their experience outside of politics, three Independence Party candidates for statewide office are hoping to continue the third-party coup that began with Gov. Jesse Ventura’s victory four years ago.

Jim Moore, the party’s endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate; Dr. Dean Alger, who’s running for Secretary of State; and Dave Hutcheson, a candidate for State Auditor, are touring the state as a group. They stopped in Albert Lea this week.

&uot;The Independence Party is a party of principle,&uot; Alger said. &uot;This party stands for no special-interest money.&uot;

Email newsletter signup

Alger, who is challenging incumbent Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, is a political analyst and expert on elections and media processes who has written several nationally recognized books and articles on election laws and campaign finance reform.

He pulls no punches in his assessment of Kiffmeyer, whom he calls an intense Republican loyalist who has let partisanship dictate decisions on election matters that are supposed to be decided without favoritism toward any party.

Kiffmeyer has allowed a Republican to change his name on an election ballot in violation of election laws, left DFL information out of news releases on political caucuses and played politics with her office’s budget to make Ventura look bad, Alger said.

And among local election officials, &uot;there is an unprecedented level of upset with Kiffmeyer’s stark partisanship,&uot; Alger said.

He said a partisan secretary of state was largely to blame for the Florida election fiasco two years ago, saying a neutral official is needed to ensure fairness.

Adding a bit of show biz to his campaign, Alger has recorded a CD of election-related ditties, including &uot;Election Day Blues,&uot; which refers to the Florida situation in 2000.

Moore, although not as musically gifted, claims his history of working with small businesses as a banker and his refusal of money from big special interests would make him an advocate of the voiceless people and small-to-mid-sized businesses who can’t afford lobbyists or campaign contributions.

&uot;I want to hearken back to the days of Abraham Lincoln, where the spirit of the citizen representative is really brought to the forefront,&uot; Moore said. &uot;You don’t have to have the resume of a career politician.&uot;

He said the partisan gridlock that often characterizes Washington is due less to party loyalty than allegiance to the special interests who give millions to the politicians. Independence Party candidates don’t accept money from PACs, the political committees that spend money on behalf of special interests.

He’s aware of the Minnesota Senate race’s national significance; the Republicans and Democrats are expected to spend heavily to support GOP candidate Norm Coleman and incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone because the Minnesota race is considered one of a handful that could sway control of the Senate.

&uot;If our next U.S. Senator is going to determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, I want that person to be an independent voice,&uot; he said.

Then there’s auditor candidate Hutcheson. With a state budget shortfall a certainty for next year, he said the importance of the auditor will be magnified. The office will be responsible for providing solid information on the state’s finances, and that’s most likely to happen if the head of the department is a non-partisan official who wants to see the state succeed regardless of what parties benefit, he said.

Spending wisely is also a key, he added.

&uot;Part of the solution is to make sure you get the best return you can for every dollar you spend,&uot; said Hutcheson, whose experience includes more than two decades in the U.S. Army, including combat experience in Vietnam, and business experience for Honeywell, Hughes Aircraft and Commercial Avionics. He was most recently a high-school teacher.

He was an active DFLer until he was attracted to the centrist ideals of the IP several years ago, he said.

All three candidates appealed to Minnesota’s centrists, saying their party takes the best ideas from the left and right but refuses to pledge allegiance to big-spending special interests.

&uot;We’re not going to tell people what they want to hear,&uot; said Moore. &uot;We’re going to tell them why we think our ideas are right.&uot;