Comments on: Comments on 21131

Post number 21131

insomnia_lj — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 14:30:03 -0800

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"...

By: raysmj

raysmj — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 14:53:31 -0800

Jello Biafra doesn't have any offspring like Eleanor, though.

By: TheFarSeid

TheFarSeid — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 16:38:29 -0800

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."

By: ph00dz

ph00dz — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:08:59 -0800

Why did Lieberman call him "Fritz Mondale" on C-SPAN? That was very confusing...

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:10:54 -0800

I'll second that, raysmj.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:16:48 -0800

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

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:28:04 -0800

ph00dz, Fritz is his nickname. Derivative from his middle name, Frederick. He was also called "Crazy Legs" somehow associated with athletics in his youth.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:31:05 -0800

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.

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:17:34 -0800

Maybe he's just trying to put a stop to Reagan's recount?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:19:24 -0800

...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.

By: insomnia_lj

insomnia_lj — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:30:04 -0800

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?!

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:35:07 -0800

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.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:37:40 -0800

Yes, insomnia, TN's 11 votes would have swung the election; all Gore needed was 3 more.

By: RobbieFal

RobbieFal — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 18:44:28 -0800

not to mention Mondale promising to raise taxes in 1984. You idiot, you're not supposed to tell people you're gonna do that!

By: JulianA

JulianA — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:00:24 -0800

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.

By: Durwood

Durwood — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:13:23 -0800

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.

By: boredomjockey

boredomjockey — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:34:36 -0800

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!!!"

By: grum@work

grum@work — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:44:34 -0800

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.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:08:28 -0800

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...

By: goethean

goethean — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:17:47 -0800

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?

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 22:32:30 -0800

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?

By: JackFlash

JackFlash — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 00:03:48 -0800

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.

By: revbrian

revbrian — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 02:13:24 -0800

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."

By: Epenthesis

Epenthesis — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 05:58:41 -0800

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.

By: Epenthesis

Epenthesis — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 05:59:58 -0800

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.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 06:17:17 -0800

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.

By: hootch

hootch — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:09:00 -0800

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.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 10:48:51 -0800

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?

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 14:01:26 -0800

Jello Biafra: "Five Walter Mondales kicking ass on stage. Half the guys in Deep Purple look like Walter Mondale." MONDALE!!!!!