October 27, 2002

2:30 PM

It's the eve of the election, and control of the Senate is up for grabs... but Senator Wellstone dies tragically in a plane crash.
Who you gonna call?!
MONDALE!!!

He's an alright guy and everything, but I just can't hear his name without thinking of "Names for Bands" from Jello Biafra's "No More Cocoons"...
posted by insomnia_lj (28 comments total)

Jello Biafra doesn't have any offspring like Eleanor, though.
posted by raysmj at 2:53 PM on October 27, 2002

Mondale: Destined to be one of history's greats (from October 1984).
Every once in a while, a man comes along who has "gnarley" written all over him...If Mondale were a Garbage-Pail Kid, he would be "Walter Wall Excitement."
posted by TheFarSeid at 4:38 PM on October 27, 2002

Why did Lieberman call him "Fritz Mondale" on C-SPAN? That was very confusing...
posted by ph00dz at 5:08 PM on October 27, 2002

I'll second that, raysmj.
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:10 PM on October 27, 2002

Mondale's detailed Senate bio page, with lots of info from each phase of his career
Just the facts brief bio
Mondale-Ferraro '84 campaign buttons
posted by mediareport at 5:16 PM on October 27, 2002

ph00dz, Fritz is his nickname. Derivative from his middle name, Frederick. He was also called "Crazy Legs" somehow associated with athletics in his youth.
posted by madamjujujive at 5:28 PM on October 27, 2002

And, of course, there was the lucky "Where's the Beef?" Wendy's ad thing that stopped Gary Hart dead in his tracks during a debate. Amazing how one popcult moment can turnaround - even define - a campaign.

Here's James Carville's overview of some of the most memorable popcult lines in politics.
posted by mediareport at 5:31 PM on October 27, 2002

Maybe he's just trying to put a stop to Reagan's recount?
posted by Gary at 6:17 PM on October 27, 2002

...or Dennis Miller's "American Express Ad" bit about him.

"Hi, Remember me? I ran for President a few years ago and got stomped like a narc at a biker rally, that's why I carry..."

Good old Unca Walt. The mans got a lotta gifts but charisma ain't one of 'em as I recall.
posted by jonmc at 6:19 PM on October 27, 2002

Well, it sounds like he's got the kind of charisma that won against Reagan in Minnesota, so that's really not bad... at least he's well-liked at home.

I mean, Gore couldn't even win against Dubya in Tennesee, could he? Would winning Tennesee have given Gore the election?!
posted by insomnia_lj at 6:30 PM on October 27, 2002

For me, the enduring image of him is standing -- I think it was in Atlanta Hartsfield airport -- politicking to passers-by by repeatedly popping up an empty burger bun and saying "Where's the beef?"

He's no great shakes on the hustings, but of course he only has to campaign for a week.
posted by dhartung at 6:35 PM on October 27, 2002

Yes, insomnia, TN's 11 votes would have swung the election; all Gore needed was 3 more.
posted by dhartung at 6:37 PM on October 27, 2002

not to mention Mondale promising to raise taxes in 1984.

You idiot, you're not supposed to tell people you're gonna do that!
posted by RobbieFal at 6:44 PM on October 27, 2002

If Mondale is elected, Wellstone's replacement will be another liberal, which would make me happy. Consider how far right the Democratic Party has shifted since Mondale's presidential campaign in 1984, there aren't many liberals still in office.
posted by JulianA at 7:00 PM on October 27, 2002

Lets see...Mondale was vice president during a failed one-term administration where we experienced double-digit inflation, 19 percent interest rates, oil shortages, gas lines and the Iranian hostage crisis. Moreover, he managed to lose 49 of 50 states when the Democrats were stupid enough to nominate him for the presidency in 1984.

By the way, whatever happened to that "nuclear freeze" idea? Of course, the cold war ended notwithstanding the lack of a freeze, so I guess we will never know whether it would have worked.

Mondale will win, but only because there will be no campaign on the issues or his record.
posted by Durwood at 7:13 PM on October 27, 2002

insomnia_lj: That's so funny -- when he was first mentioned as a replacement, the first thing that ran through my mind was Jello Biafra's voice saying, "MONDALE!!!"
posted by boredomjockey at 7:34 PM on October 27, 2002

When I think of Walter Mondale, I'm reminded of the Saturday Night Live skit called "What Were You Thinking?"

Mondale was lambasted for being the "only politician in history to campaign with a promise to raise taxes", Shelley Long for leaving Cheers in it's heyday for a movie career, and one other person I can't remember off the top of my head.
posted by grum@work at 7:44 PM on October 27, 2002

Lets see...Mondale was vice president during a failed one-term administration

And don't forget budget deficits!--there's another category where Ronald Reagan whipped his ass...
posted by y2karl at 8:08 PM on October 27, 2002

Durwood: Mondale will win, but only because there will be no campaign on the issues or his record.

So you're saying that the state that he won for the presidency in 1980 wouldn't elect him to the Senate if there was a real campaign?
posted by goethean at 8:17 PM on October 27, 2002

My first reaction to the Mondale news was, "Ugh - talk about the stench of failure!"

My second reaction to the Mondale news was, "Brilliant - I can't imagine a better replacement!" $10 says he's a shoo-in. Any conservative MeFi-ers want to take that bet?
posted by mediareport at 10:32 PM on October 27, 2002

The big problem for Mondale (or any other replacement) are absentee ballots. As I understand it, it's too late to send out new absentee ballots. There are about 300,000 of them out of an estimated vote of two million. Assuming an equal split, that's ~150,000 Wellstone votes at risk in a very close race. For anyone who has already voted for Wellstone and mailed their ballot -- that's just too bad. For the rest, they have to go to a polling place on election day to get a new ballot which is unlikely. I assume the other ~150,000 absentee ballots with Coleman votes will be counted. Maybe they will allow write-ins on the absentee ballots, but that too sounds like a mess. This is very different from the Carnahan situation in Missouri two years ago which did not involve a ballot change. Unless there is a huge swing in sentiment, it's going to very tough for a replacement to win.
posted by JackFlash at 12:03 AM on October 28, 2002

I thought Lileks got it about right...

"If it’s Mondale as a replacement, it ought to make Wellstone’s supporters scowl a bit. The true heir to Wellstone’s policies would be the Green candidate - but oddly enough, none of his supporters are suggesting that anyone vote for that fellow. Policies are one thing; power is quite another. The objective is not to carry the Wellstone torch for the next six years. The objective is control of the Senate. The Wellstone legacy turns out to be no more than a seat marked D."
posted by revbrian at 2:13 AM on October 28, 2002

I assume the other ~150,000 absentee ballots with Coleman votes will be counted.

Why do you assume that? I don't know the specifics of Minnesota election law, but I would be astonished if they counted votes for one candidate while disqualifying votes for the other -- if nothing else, that denies Coleman voters the chance to choose between him and Mondale instead of him and Wellstone. All previously printed absentee ballots will simply have to be disqualified.

That might present a problem all its own, but certainly not the problem you seem to think it will.
posted by Epenthesis at 5:58 AM on October 28, 2002

And, for what it's worth, Lileks should have asked himself why Wellstone was a Democrat and not a Green in the first place. "True heir," my foot.
posted by Epenthesis at 5:59 AM on October 28, 2002

All previously printed absentee ballots will simply have to be disqualified

That's not what Minnesota law says, Epenthesis. Lesson: the time to check the fairness of your state's laws about near-election candidate deaths is *before* your favorite candidate dies.

The Wellstone legacy turns out to be no more than a seat marked D."

Which would make perfect sense to Wellstone's critics on the left, of course.
posted by mediareport at 6:17 AM on October 28, 2002

Here's the skinny on the absentee ballots. This information came from the mouth of the Minnesota Secretary of State herself in an interview on Almanac the day Wellstone died.

There will be a supplementary ballot for the Senate race. All absentee ballots have already been sent out, so absentee voters will not receive the supplementary ballot with the DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor) party's new candidate listed. If the absentee voter has already sent in their ballot, their only recourse is to go to their polling place on the day of the election. A vote placed on election day supercedes any other vote cast. If unable to do so, any votes for Wellstone simply do not count. All other votes on their ballot count and all absentee votes for Coleman count. I believe the reasoning behind this is that a vote for a dead guy is an invalid vote, so does not count.

If they have yet to send in their ballot, they can write in the name of the new DFL candidate. If they still choose Wellstone, their vote will not count.

Also, the 300,000 number is actually 380,000. I saw a re-run of the interview and she'd said 380,000. I posted the 300,000 number to the previous Wellstone thread, sorry for the mistake. Also, this number is just an estimate. It was the number of absentee ballots sent out during the last non-presidential election in Minnesota.
posted by hootch at 7:09 AM on October 28, 2002

If the absentee voter has already sent in their ballot, their only recourse is to go to their polling place on the day of the election...If unable to do so, any votes for Wellstone simply do not count.

Appalling. The simple, more just and fair solution: Make the absentee ballots provisional and allow the voters who can't make it to the polls on election day the opportunity to change their vote to someone other than a dead man. It's too late for this round, but if I lived in MN, I'd start agitating for that change immediately.

Good lord, just how fucked up are election laws, anyway?
posted by mediareport at 10:48 AM on October 28, 2002

Jello Biafra: "Five Walter Mondales kicking ass on stage. Half the guys in Deep Purple look like Walter Mondale." MONDALE!!!!!
posted by jonp72 at 2:01 PM on October 28, 2002