William McGaughey's letter to Minnesota media after accepting offer to run for Lieutenant Governor
Today, June 1, 2010, moderate Republican gubernatorial candidate, Robert Carney Jr. and I are filing for Minnesota state office, for Governor and Lieutenant Governor respectively.
I have caucused continuously with the Independence Party, one of our nation’s premier third parties, since 1998 and twice been a candidate affiliated with it. I was considering becoming a candidate in another campaign but then, suddenly, was offered an opportunity to run for Lieutenant Governor with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Carney. After thinking it over, I accepted.
In politics, personal relationships trump ideology. I got to know Bob Carney when we both ran for Mayor of Minneapolis last year. In my view, Bob was the spark plug of resistance to the coronation that had been arranged for Mayor R.T. Rybak’s reelection. While this resistance in the end proved futile, it left in me a sense of pride otherwise denied us “minor candidates” and admiration for Bob’s intelligence, courage, and determination.
Bob Carney devised the humorous “R.T. and me” video series, a documentary about stalking the elusive mayor, which was posted on his web site. Bob also studied a report on deficiencies in the city’s internal audit function, attended a meeting of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, developed a proposal of his own, and then held a press conference that was covered by the Star Tribune.
I have subsequently sat down for coffee with Bob Carney for lengthy conversations on a number of occasions. His sights were then shifting to issues of state government.
Bob was the original plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Pawlenty Administration for illegal use of the unallotment powers granted the governor under state statute. His efforts inspired another lawsuit brought by members of the legislature that gained a favorable ruling in district court and was ultimately upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Bob also challenged in court the elimination of the Political Contribution refund, believing this to be a bulwark of popularly funded campaigns in our state.
Bob Carney is that rare combination of a thinker and doer. He not only does; he follows through. He is methodical in his preparations. He is prepared to discuss the legal implications of issues in detail. I have had discussions with him on topics ranging from whether President Obama can be removed from office if found not to have been born in the United States to the grounds for impeaching Presidents to the idea of economic surplus causing our problems.
Bob describes himself as a “moderate progressive Republican” - a type of Republican to be distinguished from the ideologically conservative or zealously single-issue Republican. This is the type of person who used to be called a liberal Republican. I wish that term were still used as I regard “progressive” to be a weasel word characteristic of DFL’ers who, claiming the mantle of FDR, Kennedy, Humphrey, and McCarthy, routinely betray their constituents.
The reason “liberal” fell out of favor is that political liberals would not fight for their principles as the Goldwater or Reagan conservatives did for theirs. Perhaps they had no principles any more but, in the pursuit of promising careers, had lost their political vision. But Bob Carney is a fighter. His fights are driven by principles. Unlike me, who sometimes becomes too much the “pit bull” when engaging in political arguments, Bob always goes at it with good humor and courtesy. That is a temperament that well suits a Governor.
Politically, it may be that Bob Carney’s gubernatorial campaign this year will help to restore the tradition of the moderate, liberal, or progressive Republican in our state. His is the only prospective candidacy that can do this; and, if he is successful, I will be proud to stand at his side.
We need Republican leaders who are not locked into “read my lips, no new taxes” formulations but take a more flexible and balanced view of things. We need leaders of all political stripes who are not locked into adversarial relationships with ideological or partisan opponents but who listen and sometimes change their minds in response to reasoned argument and changing circumstances. We need a measure of kindness in our politics as well - not that anger is not sometimes appropriate.
In my view, the years of the Eisenhower administration were a “golden age” in our nation’s history, when Americans were at a peak of power and prosperity, we were at peace, and the future seemed bright. One had a sense that an adult was in charge. One sensed that the President then had a broad and well-informed picture of his duty to serve the interests of the American people. He was not just someone who had played his cards right politically and reached the highest office of the land. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican - a moderate Republican. It would not be so bad to have someone like that put in charge of Minnesota government once again.
Think of the moderate Republicans who have served as Governor of Minnesota in recent years - Harold Stassen, Elmer L. Anderson, Harold LeVander, Al Quie, Arne Carlson - able and honorable men, all of them. Why have we abandoned that tradition? Is it for lack of ideas? Bob Carney is a man of ideas. Stassen wins the prize for the biggest idea - the United Nations - and he was instrumental in making this happen. But we can also have constructive, somewhat smaller ideas that are good for our state.
What we need now is a man of professorial temperament in the governor’s office who engages all kinds of persons of good will in mutually instructive dialogue until, hopefully, a policy consensus forms on issues of the day. That is how I see Bob Carney. That is why I am proud to be his Lieutenant Governor running mate.
William McGaughey
1702 Glenwood Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55405tel. 612-374-5916
email 2wmc@earthlink.netBob Carney’s telephone 612-824-4479
Bob Carney’s email bobcarneyjr@msn.com
McGaughey for Lieutenant Governor
1702 Glenwood Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 5540
to: main page (Lt. Governor's race)
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