This is interactive media, man. Fill in your own title.

Posted at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)

Pretty slow today other than Ford (the one that employs 1,900 people) closing up shop. A chance to catch up on some Votetracker work and watch the Cubs (by the way, is there anybody in Chicago that can sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on key?). I have to post something, I guess, since you were kind enough to come see if there's anything new. There's not. But here's a picture of Ford Bell looking pretty much like, well, Ford Bell at a forum today.

Wait a minute! Is that a Polinaut nugget I see? Yep, sure is. I'm saved! What the heck is this all about?

I mean, c'mon, you're a candidate for the U.S. Senate, who wears a "hello, my name is" label when you're a candidate for the U.S. Senate?

Anyway, in the interest of fairness, here's Mark Kennedy looking Mark Kennedyish.

Note the absence of the "hello, my name is" thing. What do we have in its place?

An American flag. Who you going to vote for? Someone who needs a sticker? Or the greatest country in the whole world? (Is that Amy Madigan's speech before the town school board in Field of Dreams I hear?) (I struck this line because, well, too many of you thought this was a serious statement. Go figure.) By the way, if you want to wear a sticker, you know what sticker you wear? Your campaign sticker.

Here's the story behind the story. A worker with the sponsoring organization, who was in charge of labels, peeled off the Kennedy sticker and started to put it on the congressman. Just then, a staffer -- seeing the developing problem -- lunged forward and arrived just in time as the hand put the sticker right in the middle of the staffer's forehead. What was cool is there was that Bionic Woman "na na na na na" sound as the near calamity was unfolding.

Or maybe not.

Anyway, can't tell you about the forum. We needed another reporter on the Ford story and Mark Zdechlik was pulled from the Senate event to go to the plant and find out, I guess, what it's like to be told you're losing your job.

Where was Amy Klobuchar? Don't know, but she wasn't at the event. I did see a press release cross the fax where she declared her support for Ford workers. Not exactly the kind of stuff we run through the newsroom with shouting "interrupt programming!"

(Update-- Wait. This just in. There was a "scheduling conflict" and the Klobuchar team tried to reschedule but it didn't work out. She contends she tried to arrange a new date with the Kennedy folks but they refused. Film at 11.)

You know what would be funny? If sometime a politician showed up at a debate wearing this:

If only there were still humor in politics.

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Comments (11)

I'm pretty sure the casual blue dress shirt, white shirt with red tie, and flag lapel pin are standard issue for government officials.

Posted by Ben Tesch | April 13, 2006 3:52 PM

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I think the Ford plant has a brighter future than Ford Bell.

The tag should have read:
"Ford Bell
Old, rich guy spending his own money in an attempt to become popular."

That probably wouldn't fit though.

Posted by daveZ | April 13, 2006 3:55 PM

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Needless to say, Seeing the "Ford closing up shop" link and the Ford Bell picture, I expected a differnt story o the other end.

Posted by rew | April 13, 2006 5:24 PM

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Ben,

Pull your head out of your posterior. Bell is not self-funding. Rathe, he is doing what you're supposed to do in politics - talking clearly and honestly about issues. Apparently not something you're interested in.

Posted by Michael G. | April 13, 2006 8:35 PM

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You were so busy being cute in this one you forgot to be objective. I remember reading somewhere that Journaists, even editors, were supposed to strive for that.

Your problem is that you're really not that funny and your attempts to sound hip and humorous came off as mean spirited against Ford Bell. The picture above the Ford plant closing link was in poor taste and even misleading.

Perhaps you could be embarassed that an organization with as many reporters as MPR (more that most newspapers in the state) couldn't cover a debate on the issues between U.S. Senate candidates. Instead there is nothing but a bunch of smart alec comments about name tags.

Stick to what you know Bob.

Posted by Jim Sorenson | April 13, 2006 8:36 PM

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Bob,

I was surprised and disappointed that you chose to write about the U.S. Senate debate that was sponsored by the MN Venture Capital Association between Congressman Mark Kennedy and Dr. Ford Bell in the manner you did.

This was an important debate that allowed both candidates to let this group's members know where they both stood on the issues.

Congressman Mark Kennedy and Dr. Ford Bell both answered the group's questions on important issues facing our nation. Maybe you would post this audio file of the debate on your blog so the public could be informed about where the candidates stand on the issues.

Click here: http://www.1sttues.com/BellKennedy.mp3. The file is 22 mb.

The debate was only between Congressman Mark Kennedy and Dr. Ford Bell because regretably Amy Klobuchar was unable to participate.

Olin Moore
Deputy Manager
Ford Bell for U.S. Senate
612-874-1800

Posted by Olin Moore | April 13, 2006 9:48 PM

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Thanks, Olin. As I said, I wasn't at the debate, and our reporter was pulled out to cover the Ford (the auto company) story, so I couldn't very well gas on much about the debate itself. And I'm all for discussing important issues as a glance at either the Kennedy page or the Bell page on C2006 will show.

Posted by Bob Collins | April 13, 2006 11:13 PM

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//Perhaps you could be embarassed that an organization with as many reporters as MPR (more that most newspapers in the state) couldn't cover a debate on the issues between U.S. Senate candidates.

Tell you what. Go to ANY -- any other news site -- in Minnesota, and see if you can find as much about your candidate as you can on the MPR site, OK? That includes audio, interviews, and debates. Then come back and post here and tell us what you find. And then see if you can guess who put it there.

I know this race is important. I know there's a sizeable contingent of political wonks out there who live and die with the smallest things every day. I'm not one of those people. It's only politics. And right now the #1 goal of most politicians is getting elected. Good luck with that.

If the candidates and their supporters don't understand why 1,900 people losing their jobs today was a bigger story than one (out of what will be many) debate, then maybe the problem isn't me. Because those were real people, with real jobs, having a really bad day. Not the kind of bad day like when somebody makes a joke about a politician you support, but the kind of bad day when right now -- today - their lives just got turned upside down. That kind of bad day.

Am I embarrased that I think that's a bigger story? Let me say this proudly: No. I'm embarrassed that I spend so much of my life around people who have completely lost perspective about what it means to be a working stiff in America today.

I take the issues seriously. But I don't take politicians as seriously as they take themselves. They, and many of their supporters, have already spent way too much time playing victims in this campaign -- somebody didn't get the same airtime, somebody make a joke, somebody did this, somebody did that. They should stop. Life is too short, and the campaign is too long.

Let me just throw out this possiblity. Maybe the answer to the problem isn't for us to listen to the candidates. Maybe it's time for the candidates to listen to us. What if, tomorrow, all three candidates for office got together at the coffee shop across the street from the Ford plant, and instead of gassing on about how much they support them (whatever that means), what if they just kept quiet for, like, two hours, and listened?

You think I'm against your guy? You're wrong. I'm not against any of these candidates. But, I don't have an affinity for one over the other either. As long as I write Polinaut, I don't vote. So I'm the one in this discussion without a horse in this race.

By the way, go read what they wrote about the same post on Kennedy vs. the Machine. They said the same thing as you, but they said I was against THEIR guy when I said it. OK, so it's not that funny. Maybe it's just cute.

Posted by Bob Collins | April 13, 2006 11:16 PM

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Oh by the way, for those who don't understand why I'm usually not that impressed by the quality of dialog at political Q&A events, here's a blast from the past that helps explain it.

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/news_dnc/2004/07/26.php#000524

Yeah, I know, it'd be easier if you could just click on it, but go ahead and copy and paste it.

Posted by Bob Collins | April 14, 2006 12:11 AM

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Michael G - that was daveZ's comment... the line break might have made it seem like it was coming from Ben, but he wrote the "I'm pretty sure the casual blue dress shirt, white shirt with red tie, and flag lapel pin are standard issue for government officials." comment.

Just clarifyin' for those new here. Back to your regularly scheduled comments...

Posted by Julia Schrenkler | April 14, 2006 9:15 AM

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I'd like to see the HR moved down below the name of the poster. That's kind of a lame thing we've got there.

Posted by Bob Collins | April 14, 2006 10:41 AM

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