Over the decades, MPR has presented the many different perspectives of Minnesota politics and politicians. This collection is home to a multitude speeches, interviews and debates on the issues of the day. Important topics of civil rights, environment, crime, budget, legislation, and campaigns are addressed.
Click on link to these well-known figures to see audio segments directly related to them: Michele Bachmann Arne Carlson Keith Ellison Hubert Humphrey Amy Klobuchar Eugene McCarthy Walter Mondale Tim Pawlenty R.T. Rybak Jesse Ventura Paul Wellstone
July 8, 2002 - Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak proposes capping city spending increases at no more than eight percent a year. The plan enjoys majority support on the City Council, but it means the city will have to cut six million dollars as elected leaders prepare for next year's budget.
July 9, 2002 - The Senate is expected to vote within the hour on a plan to create a permanent storage facility for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in Nevada. If the Senate votes to approve the plan, as expected, it will end a decades-long congressional debate over hazardous waste disposal. The plan calls for nuclear waste shipments to travel through at least 43 states, including Minnesota, on their way to Nevada. Senator Paul Wellstone says he is planning to vote against the resolution because it doesn't include a plan to safely transport the waste:
July 12, 2002 - The Independence Party holds its state convention tomorrow in St. Cloud. Delegates are expected to endorse Tim Penny for governor and chose a candidate to challenge incumbent DFL Senator Paul Wellstone. Earlier in the week, party officials announced a slate of about a dozen legislative candidates who left other political parties to join the IP. And state Senators Sheila Kiscaden and Martha Robertson announced they were leaving the Republican Party for the IP. Kiscaden, of Rochester, is seeking re-election to the Senate, while Robertson is Penny's running mate. University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs says the Independence party needs to try to build an organization beyond Governor Jesse Ventura:
July 15, 2002 - Minnesota's Democratic and Republican U.S. Senate candidates raised several million dollars during the second quarter of the year. Incumbent DFL-er Paul Wellstone took in nearly two million dollars, Republican challenger Norm Coleman more than one point seven million. Both campaigns say they're pleased with the pace of their fund raising. Coleman says he needs all the money he can get to keep up with Wellstone. Wellstone says his fund raising is more appropriate than Coleman's because he says most of his money is coming from relatively small contributions.
July 24, 2002 - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Norm Coleman plans to spend the next two days traveling throughout Minnesota criticizing incumbent DFL Senator Paul Wellstone's record on national defense. Coleman says had Congress gone along with Wellstone's past anti-defense spending positions, more US soldiers would have been killed in Afghanistan. The Wellstone campaign is accusing Coleman of politicizing the tragedy of last fall's terrorist attacks and is calling Coleman's remarks sad and innappropriate. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
July 25, 2002 - Though it's still relatively early on the campaign calendar, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race has had the kind of high profile that many races don't attain until closer to November. That's largely because the campaigns of DFL incumbent Paul Wellstone and Republican challenger Norm Coleman took to the airwaves with ads months ago. We're likely to see even more of both Senate candidates showing up in television spots through the fall, and that's begun to concern campaign strategists for some of the state's gubernatorial candidates. As the election nears, airtime will become scarcer and the gubernatorial campaigns worry they'll get squeezed out of the picture. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports:
July 29, 2002 - Former presidential candidate and longtime Minnesota U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy visits the MPR studios to talk about politics and literature. McCarthy also answers listener questions.
July 30, 2002 - (DATE REFERENCE IN LAST GRAPH) On the day President Bush signed into law new corporate accountability legislation, the issue is heating up Minnesota's political landscape. DFL Senator Paul Wellstone and GOP challenger Norm Coleman today (TUESDAY) traded charges that each is accepting contributions -- directly or indirectly -- from firms under investigation for accounting irregularities. The finger-pointing comes as Coleman begins a two-day swing through northern Minnesota to promote his views on natural resource management. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.
August 12, 2002 -
August 13, 2002 -