- ST. PAUL - Walter Mondale
launched a hurried campaign Thursday, calling his experience a plus while
frequently mentioning the late Sen. Paul Wellstone.
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- "I don't apologize for my experience," he told
reporters crammed into a DFL office. "I think that is an asset."
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- His Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, flew around the
state telling supporters that he has new ideas, while hinting that the
74-year-old Mondale's issues are old.
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- While it is more than two decades since he served in
the Senate, Mondale said the challenges remain the same. He pledged to
begin work immediately if elected, hinting Coleman would take more time
to get up to speed.
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- Mondale, picked Wednesday night as the new Democratic
U.S. Senate candidate, hit the campaign trail with media interviews and
a town meeting.
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- The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Central Committee voted
unanimously, after two minutes of discussion, to put their elder statesman's
name on Tuesday's ballot. Mondale replaces Wellstone, who died in a Friday
airplane crash.
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- Mondale campaigned for himself for the first time since
he lost the 1984 presidential campaign.
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- In interviews, a news conference and a town meeting at
Macalester College in St. Paul, Mondale spelled out a liberal agenda, often
saying his ideas mirror those of Wellstone.
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- He emphasized he is for abortion rights and would not
vote to approve federal judges who are anti-abortion. He said he would
have voted against giving President Bush authority to use military force
in Iraq; Wellstone voted against force. And he said a law passed soon after
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks takes away too much of Americans'
personal freedom.
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- Mondale also spoke in favor of human rights, environmental
protection and a negotiated Middle East peace.
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- "I'm running because I want to continue Paul Wellstone's
tradition, because I have a lot of things I believe in, because I think
there is an imminent challenge on a lot of issues I believe need to be
dealt with now and because I want to serve six years to do that,"
Mondale said. "But I think that will be enough."
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- If it weren't for Wellstone's death, he would not be
in the race.
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- "The reason I'm running is because of this incredible
circumstance where a great American died and there is only five days"
before the election, he said. "If this were a normal situation, I
would do as I did last time, say: 'Let somebody else run.'"
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- Democrats asked Mondale to run in 1990, but he turned
them down. That opened the door for Wellstone's first Senate campaign.
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- Mondale said if he is elected, his time as vice president
and earlier as senator will put him on the Senate's Democratic leadership
team. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., confirmed
that on Thursday.
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- When Mondale ran against President Ronald Reagan in 1984,
he used a debate to question whether the president should be re-elected
because of his age.
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- On Thursday, Mondale said he apologized for the comment
the day after the debate. He now is about the same age as Reagan was in
1984.
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- Mondale said he wants to travel the state, but only four
campaign days remain. The former vice president said he ordered his staff
to negotiate a date for a single debate.
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- Mondale, who said he already has shot two television
commercials, does not plan "to make one phone call for money."
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- After reporters asked about his health, Mondale's campaign
released a letter saying he is in good physical shape.
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- "It is both my medical and personal opinion that
you are in excellent health," Dr. Paul Phillips wrote to Mondale.
"You live a vigorous and active life, you walk two miles a day, you
take good care of yourself and you have kept your weight down."
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- He did have a clot behind his right eye on Feb. 2 that
Phillips said left him with a slight vision loss. However, the doctor added,
the clot has "almost no chance of recurrence."
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- Mondale said he would avoid comparing himself to Coleman,
leaving that up to reporters.
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- There are plenty of reporters to do just that. On Thursday
morning, dozens of reporters, photographers and technicians crowded into
a Minneapolis DFL campaign building for Mondale's first news conference.
Cable television networks and some local stations carried the event live.
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- The Mondale-Coleman race is being so closely watched
because, with Wellstone's death, the Senate is evenly divided between Republicans
and Democrats. The Minnesota contest could determine who controls the Senate.
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- Mondale plans to campaign in southern Minnesota today
and the northeastern part of the state Saturday. They will travel by bus,
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- "There will be no planes," Mondale spokeswoman
Allison Dobson said.
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- ©Worthington Daily Globe 2002
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