Robert Fitzgerald on Midmorning

Posted at 2:17 PM on October 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck (3 Comments)

Robert Fitzgerald, the Independence Party member running for the U.S. Senate, was on MPR's Midmorning program. You can listen to it here. He's running against DFLer Amy Klobuchar and Republican Mark Kennedy.

Comments (3)

I lost all respect for Fitzgerald the candidate when he stated that he "abhors fundraising." Not understanding why fundraising is important for base-building and how money is power is exactly what left Mark Dayton high and dry after his first term.

If Fitzgerald can't bring himself to go out, talk to people and challenge them to support him in a significant way, then it bodes ill for what he'll do in Congress. He clearly doesn't understand the power aspect of politics.

Posted by David Greene | October 5, 2006 10:58 PM

Can one not abhor fundraising while acknowledging the necessity? I believe Dayton decided his distaste for the practice was stronger than his desire to stay in office. Its not clear that Fitzgerald would reach the same conclusion. Or is it? I didn't hear the interview.

Posted by bsimon | October 6, 2006 9:44 AM

Fitzgerald was asked about his lack of campaign funding and he responded with the "I abhor fundraising" comment. It was pretty clear that he just doesn't want to go out and do the work.

We're told nice stories about how money shouldn't influence politics that end up blinding us to the world as it is. We have to recognize that money isn't about purchasing things -- it's about power. Independents and progressives reject this reality which is why they keep losing.

Some of his other comments only contributed to the clarity that he hasn't a clue about how politics works. When asked who he would caucus with, he gave an evasive answer that indicated he thinks he can just switch caucuses as the political winds shift in order to gain leverage.

He doesn't want to "dirty" himself with Washington politics, which means he won't accomplish much of anything.

Now don't get me wrong, I applaud Robert for running. It's good to see people of my generation getting active. But he's got a lot of learning to do before I can vote for him.

Posted by David Greene | October 6, 2006 11:47 AM

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