Almanac for October 30, 1998
This Year's Final Gubernatorial Debate

Citizens from around the state will join Cathy Wurzer and Eric Eskola in questioning Norm Coleman, Skip Humphrey and Jesse Ventura.

This Friday we have a special 90-minute edition of Almanac. It's all part of the year-long Citizens Forum project in conjunction with the Star Tribune, MPR, KMOJ Radio and Insight News.
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October 30, 1998
Campaign '98 By Darlene Pfister; Staff Writer   

The final debate of the campaign for governor will be broadcast statewide from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today on TV and radio … The debate will be broadcast on KTCA-TV, Channel 2, in the Twin Cities, on other public TV stations elsewhere in Minnesota and on MPR's news and information stations throughout the state (91.1 FM in the Twin Cities). Afterward, MPR and public TV station KTCI will broadcast a conversation about the debate by Citizens' Forum participants.


October 31, 1998
Forum Participants Make Their Pick By Dane Smith; Staff Writer   

" What really impressed me tonight was that Minnesota became a neighborhood rather than a state."

After eight months of studying issues, framing questions and grilling candidates, it finally came time Friday night for participants in the Minnesota Citizens' Forum to take sides. The final chapter in their exercise, a 90-minute debate carried live on most public TV stations in the state, had an effect on at least some of the participants. Ramona Kastenbauer, a single mother from Mora, said she had been leaning toward Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura but was taken aback by his criticisms of day-care subsidies and early childhood education programs. Now she's undecided.

Gary Anderson, a Lakeville resident, said he thought that DFLer Hubert Humphrey III and Republican Norm Coleman were mostly on the defensive and that Ventura "made inroads and probably came out a clear winner." Charles Swanson, a Minneapolis carpenter, also faulted Ventura and Coleman for short-changing programs for children. "If everyone were healthy and happy and all children were wanted," Swanson said, perhaps Coleman "would be best." But Swanson favored Humphrey. And then there was Patricia Ketterling, a Rochester woman who has experience in childhood education. She's going for Coleman, she said, because he has the most experience in governing and was the best communicator.

The Citizens Forum is a joint project of the Star Tribune, KTCA-TV and Minnesota Public Radio. Members recruited for the group have been meeting periodically and participated in a preprimary debate at the State Fair.

Four places at once

Friday's event was held in four places at once, connected by videoconference. About 100 citizens each were at KTCA's studios and at Lucille's Kitchen in Minneapolis. About 40 each were at University of Minnesota campuses in Crookston and Duluth. Most of those at Lucille's Kitchen who took sides came out for Humphrey. Randy Staten, a former state representative, praised Humphrey for not being so "reactionary" as Ventura and Coleman, who focused mostly on tax cuts. "[Humphrey] offered the best alternative as far as compassion," Staten said.

But Ventura's independence and claims to be a common-sense alternative to the major parties clearly won the day for some members of the forum. Sandra Colson, an information processor from Minneapolis who was at the KTCA studios, said Humphrey and Coleman were like "Coke and Pepsi," and she intended to vote for Ventura to "send a message." At the KTCA studios, Wayne Asplund said that he was a neighbor of Ventura's when the candidate was growing up in south Minneapolis, and that "he's for real." Coleman's supporters tended to emphasize his gubernatorial presence and his focus on jobs and economic development. One participant, Peter Zeller, said Coleman was "clearly the best communicator and the best choice for a prosperous Minnesota."
There seemed to be a general dissatisfaction with the quality of the responses to questions in the debate. Anderson, of Lakeville, complained of "one-dimensional, platitudinal statements." Carolyn Weber, the lead questioner on welfare issues from the Crookston site, said she nevertheless thought the whole venture was more than worthwhile. The technology involved in linking up the citizens was "amazing," Weber said.  " What really impressed me tonight was that Minnesota became a neighborhood rather than a state."