Michael P. writes:
Dennis Bernstein of KPFA says that he and Colemen were radicals at
Hoffstra [Hofstra University on Long Island, New York].
Yes, apparently this [and far more contemporary revelations] have been
known for a number of years - but he has gotten a "pass" from his
supporters. Here is Garrison Keilor's Minnesota take:
Empty victory for a hollow man: How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a
Senate seat.
Salon.com ^ | Nov. 7, 2002 | By Garrison Keillor
Empty victory for a hollow man How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a Senate
seat.
Nov. 7, 2002 | Norm Coleman won Minnesota because he was well-financed and
well-packaged. Norm is a slick retail campaigner, the grabbiest and
touchingest and feelingest politician in Minnesota history, a hugger and
baby-kisser, and he's a genuine boomer candidate who reinvents himself at
will. The guy is a Brooklyn boy who became a left-wing student radical at
Hofstra University with hair down to his shoulders, organized antiwar
marches, said vile things about Richard Nixon, etc. Then he came west,
went to law school, changed his look, went to work in the attorney
general's office in Minnesota. Was elected mayor of St. Paul as a moderate
Democrat, then swung comfortably over to the Republican side. There was no
dazzling light on the road to Damascus, no soul-searching: Norm switched
parties as you'd change sport coats.
Norm is glib....
........
Norm got a free ride from the press. St. Paul is a small town and anybody
who hangs around the St. Paul Grill knows about Norm's habits. Everyone
knows that his family situation is, shall we say, very interesting, but
nobody bothered to ask about it, least of all the religious people in the
Republican Party. They made their peace with hypocrisy long ago. So this
false knight made his way as an all-purpose feel-good candidate, standing
for vaguely Republican values, supporting the president.
