Minnesota is not the state you would think of as being the best political fit for a conservative Jewish lawyer who grew up in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, Norm Coleman is hoping that his first term as senator from a populist and, at best, “Purple” Minnesota will not be his last.
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Coleman’s road to the Senate has been anything but ordinary. It proceeded roughly as follows: 1960s antiwar and civil-rights protester, almost two decades in the Minnesota attorney general’s office, Democratic mayor of St. Paul, Republican convert, Republican senator.
In 2002 he ran against Paul Wellstone for the U.S. Senate. Wellstone died in a tragic plane crash less than two weeks before the election. The exuberant funeral, which seemed more a Democratic political rally than a solemn tribute, is credited with helping Coleman eke out a win by two percent over Wellstone’s replacement, former Vice President Walter Mondale.
PLACING THE SENATOR Coleman is not easy to pigeonhole, which may be a good thing for a Republican in a state which
Powerline blogger John Hinderaker reminds us “still has a lot of Democrats if you shake the trees.” Indeed, the story of Coleman’s first term may be how a very smart and skilled politician navigated between conservative principles and political realities.
Coleman says emphatically, in an interview for this piece, “I am a conservative… strong on the Second Amendment and 100 percent pro-life.” He carries a 75-percent positive rating from Americans for Tax Reform. Repeatedly he cast votes in favor of repealing the estate tax and extending the Bush capital-gains tax cuts.
Just this month Coleman and Johnny Isakson sponsored the “Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem Cell Research” bill as an alternative to the Democrats’ attempt to revive the embryonic stem-cell-research bill that President Bush previously vetoed. Coleman explains that he is both “pro-life and pro-science” and that his motivation was to “move beyond the culture wars” by passing a bill that would promote stem-cell research that did not involve embryo destruction. The bill passed 70-28.
Despite these conservative positions, the entirety of Coleman’s votes over the last five years indicate a more moderate record, perhaps more in keeping with his constituency. Jennifer Duffy, senior editor of
The Cook Political Report, traces his
National Journal rankings (which track a wide range of votes), noting the contrast between his first-year conservative rating of 61 percent and his present rating of 53.8 percent. In 2006 he adhered more closely to the center than all but a few senators, earning on a 50-percent conservative ranking on foreign and economic policy and 58 percent on social issues. The Club for Growth, which looks at a broad range of economic issues, ranked him 48
th and 49
th among senators in 2005 and 2006; his ranking suffered from his votes against ANWAR and in favor of the 2005 Transportation Department funding bill.
What to make of his record? Coleman describes himself as “problem solver who believes in conservative principles because they work.” He readily concedes that he favors some spending that fiscal conservatives would not. Perhaps his perspective is best understood as a result of his years as Minnesota attorney general and mayor of St. Paul. Powerline’s Hinderacker agrees that, because Coleman began his political life as a Democrat, he lacks the conservative’s innate suspicion of government.
DEMOCRATIC ROOTSElected as a Democrat, he says he came to St. Paul when it was a “dead or dying city.” By cutting regulation, taxes, and licensing requirements, combating excessive union demands and encouraging business development, he helped revive the city, which in 2008 will host the Republican National Convention in the Xcel Energy Center he promoted. He jokes that his greatest achievement was securing an NHL franchise — a winning issue in a state where “you can walk on water six months of the year.”
The executive experience certainly had its influence on him: he wishes “there were more former mayors” in Washington who looked at things from “the perspective of getting it done.” He firmly believes that the Republicans lost the majority, not only because of “corruption and competence,” but because “we didn’t produce.” He cites as an example the failure of the House and Senate to agree before the election on a single version of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opened more than 8.3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural-gas production and provided revenue for Katrina rebuilding efforts. (The bill passed by unanimous consent in December.)
