This year’s campaign for the open U.

Friday, November 03, 2000

This year’s campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota has been nasty, dirty and unforgivable. However, there is a bright spot in the race. That comes in the form of Independence Party candidate Jim Gibson.

There’s no doubt about it that the past few weeks have seen a lot of nastiness, mainly generated by the camp of Rod Grams against his DFL opponent Mark Dayton. Our e-mail account and fax machine have been overtaxed by Kurt Zellers, Grams’ press person who is tasked with constantly belching negativity about Dayton at every opportunity or speed bump. It’s so bad, that we’ve taken to ignore the consistent communiques.

For the most part, Gibson has stayed out of the fray. He has ideas that make sense and his forward thinking is welcome. We need to move away from the traditional two-party system, and Gibson’s Independence Party, which Gov. Jesse Ventura jumped ship for earlier this year, offers that option.

Gibson has a good grasp on the issues. Instead of jumping on hot-button topics to appeal to voters, he seeks out problems and then thinks out solutions. It’s a fresh approach.

In a discussion with editors of the Austin Daily Herald, Gibson proved his forward thinking in describing how a national database should be created for school children. The database would allow better tracking of students’ progress and better transfer of data for students who move among districts. The computer software developer says such a program also might allow parents to log on and track their own children’s progress in school.

Gibson is the only major-party candidate asking that our $5.7 trillion national debt be paid down by budget surpluses. The idea has merit.

The Independence Party candidate also has a welcome idea for today’s workers who have a tendency to move from job to job during their careers. He says the link between health care and employment is outdated, forcing many to remain in their jobs only for benefits and the fear of losing them for a period when changing jobs. Gibson suggests that workers should have medical savings accounts that they contribute to and that are privately managed. It would offer workers more flexibility in maintaining health-care coverage during job changes.

Is there a fear anything Gibson would propose would be a burden on government? "Everything I will propose will be budget neutral," Gibson answers.

We’re tired of seeing Rod Grams’ mom on TV saying "uff-da," Dayton is spending as a millionaire should on a campaign and Constitution Party candidate David Swan doesn’t support any program at the federal level unless it’s mandated in the U.S. Constitution. We see no other alternative than to suggest that Gibson is the right person to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate.