| Candidate profile: Dean Barkley |
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By T.W. Budig ECM Capitol reporter Dean Barkley is looking for a flash point in the polls. The Independence Party U.S.. Senate candidate theorizes that if he can hit a certain level — in the 20s, perhaps — a “magic moment” could occur and doubts about the legitimacy of his third party candidacy could vanish. “We’ll see if I get there or not,” said Barkley recently, sitting near a bay window in his campaign office in Plymouth. Barkley’s rationale for running is direct: he wants to give voters a choice. His rivals, Democrat Al Franken and Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, are interchangeable in terms of preserving the status quo in Washington, he opined. If a magic moment occurs, it cannot be ascribed to lengthy preparation. Reluctantly entered the race Barkley — attorney, lobbyist, repeat candidate, political consultant, party founder, bus driver — only “reluctantly” entered the Senate race this summer after former Gov. Jesse Ventura shot down thoughts of entering the U.S. Senate race. Defeating a raft of party candidates in the primary, Barkley secured the slot. Barkley served in the Ventura Administration directing the state planning office and actually coaxed Ventura into running for governor after seeing how people reacted to him on the campaign trail. But while sharing political views, Ventura and he separated on personality traits, Barkley explained. “Our styles are completely opposite — I wish I could get people excited as quickly as Jesse Ventura,” he said. But that’s just not my personality. I’m more of a quiet, conciliatory, work behind the scenes, gets things done type of person,” said Barkley. Still Barkley, 58, is hardly colorless. He styled one of his comebacks during a recent U.S. Senate debate as hitting Coleman between the gonads and recharged himself the day after the debate by lighting up a cigar and taking a walk around Medicine Lake. Barkley referred to the North Metro as the “Ventura Bible Belt.” “It’s just not the northern suburbans, but that’s a huge part of it,” said Barkley who views the independent heartland as girdling the Twin Cities. People there worry about jobs, about getting their kids through college, about having enough left at the end of the week for a six-pack, opined Barkley. From belt of normal people “That’s where I grew up — Annandale,” said Barkley. “I’m from that belt of normal people,” he said. It’s critical to his success, Barkley explained. Ventura appointed Barkley to the U.S. Senate after the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone in October of 2002 and he served out the closing months of the Wellstone term. Barkley views his brief tenure as successful. And symbolic. Noticing that Democratic and Republican senators ate on separate sides of the Senate dining room, Barkley dragged a table into the middle of the room and ate lunch there, he explained. Senators began visiting the table, he said. The years after coming home from Washington were tough for Barkley. Unable to find work He was unable to find work — work as a lobbyist was dissatisfying — and his marriage was in trouble and his mother was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Forces combined. “I was fighting depression. I was taking a look at how much I was drinking, because that was part of the way I was trying to get out of it, by abusing alcohol,” said Barkley. “And I was trying to take a look at my life and trying to figure out why I was feeling as crappy as I was,” he said. A respite came in the form of a colorful Texan named Kinky Friedman who asked Barkley to manage his gubernatorial campaign in 2006. (Friedman sent Barkley a $100 campaign donation, the only out-of-state donation Barkley has.) Barkley spent more than a year in Texas, finding the time therapeutic. He untangled the roots of his problems — things having to do with his parents, he believes. “It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulder when I figured out what was causing it — the depression went away, the drinking problem went away,” said Barkley. “I conquered it. And I’m proud of the fact I fought threw it,” he said. He has never attempted to disguise what happened to him, Barkley explained. “If people think I’m unqualified to be in office, fine. I’m not perfect,” he said. “I’ve got issues like everybody else,” Barkley said. At a recent appearance before the ECM Editorial Board Barkley detailed his stances on a variety of issues. Would have voted for bailout bill Barkley would have voted for the financial services industry $700 billion rescue or bailout — Coleman did the right thing supporting it, Barkley opined. He proposes to “cap” federal spending. Until spending is held in check, Barkley would let stand existing federal tax policy — he’d probably let the Bush tax cuts expire, he said. Barkley supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, though offers no fixed schedule. “The biggest mistake since Vietnam. We were lied to in both,” he said of the Iraq War. Barkley rejects the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war. Still, he could support U.S. troops entering Pakistan to attack a credible target even without the permission of the Pakistani government. But Barkley also looks to the defense budget for cuts to ease the national debate. “Knock, knock, knock — we’re $1.3 trillion in debt now,” he said. On health care, Barkley proposes opening Medicare to all Americans. Let the private sector compete against the government, he argues. “I’d prefer not to go that route,” he said of a government take over of health care. But he questions whether it can be avoided. Would rescind tax credits to oil companies On energy, Barkley would rescind every tax credit given to the oil companies. Freed up, this money should be put into alternative energy development, he argues. Barkley does not support drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Area Refuge (ANWAR) until nearby areas are fully developed. “I think ANWAR is a red herring,” he said. “I hope the algae wins over corn,” said Barkley of alternative biofuel development. Supports campaign finance reform In campaign finance reform Barkley would ban incumbent members of Congress from taking money from industries that they regulate — a blatant conflict of interest, Barkley argues — and proposes $100 vouchers for registered voters to donate to federal candidates. Political science professor Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey Institute believes Barkley is doing well in the Senate race, but that his support could be plateauing. If Barkley has hit the ceiling the question then becomes whose votes stay with him — Democratic or Republican, Jacobs opined. Recent history suggests it could be Democratic voter, Jacobs said in an email. Independence Party Chairman Craig Swaggert said the Barkley campaign has gained a lot of ground in the last few weeks. “With the negative ads and the divisiveness between the two parties there certainly seems to be room for Dean to continue to move ahead,” he said. Barkley has expressed a certain fatalism about the race — if I lose, I lose, he told the board. But an alternative for voters was there. And, perhaps an opportunity. “As long as money can’t vote, I still have a shot at it,” Barkley said recently. Comments (0)
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| Campus Notes, February 4, 2010 |
Princeton Union Eagle
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