State of Minnesota secondary Archives: on Principles & Values

Heather Johnson: Support separation of church and state

A: We libertarians believe in the separation of church and state, even Christian libertarians.

Jim Newberger: I stand for traditional values

1. Our nation is on the verge of bankruptcy.
2. Our state has an out-of-control tax and spending problem.

Jim stands for:
1. Our 2nd Amendment Rights
2. Traditional values
3. Less Government
4. Less spending
5. Clean Coal power
6. Keeping your own insurance, not being forced into "Obama Care"
7. Good Schools
8. Keeping Minnesota competitive--So we can keep our jobs!

Kurt Bills: Teaches High School economics; runs home daycare

Bills beckons to his classroom experience in campaign speeches, speaking of "bringing Economics 101 to Washington" and saying teaching was like campaign door knocking in reverse.

Mark Kennedy: Votes for what's best for MN, but with Bush 92% of the time

KENNEDY: I believe history is going to make that decision. This is a guy who's human, like all of us. Has made mistakes, we've all made mistakes.

Q: And yet you supported the president 92% of the time [with your votes], according to Congressional Quarterly. Are you running as a George Bush Republican?

KENNEDY: I'm running as Mark Kennedy. My votes are based on what's best for Minnesota families.

Q: But 92% of the time, you voted for President Bush.

KENNEDY: I don't where they get those statistics, but they only take one out of 10 votes. But I can tell you there are things I disagree with the president on, whether it be No Child Left Behind that I voted against my first year in Congress, or ANWR. There are things that I agree with him on, that you get prosperity for our kids not by raising taxes but by keeping it low, and that we keep our families safe by being on the offense in the war on terror.

Norm Coleman: Experience needed to forge deals about real problems

Coleman responded that "It's easy from the cheap seats to throw shots," and said that Barkley and Franken lack his experience and his understanding of what it takes to forge deals in the hard-ball partisan atmosphere of Washington.

Responding to Barkley's charge that he was beholden to big oil companies and other special interests, Coleman said Barkley is one to talk; he worked as a tobacco lobbyist. "We have real problems out there, real challenges," Coleman said. "In the end it's about who can work out there and who can solve it."

The candidates agreed that Congress needs to work to regain the trust of the American people. Coleman reminded the audience that he pulled his negative ads last week because he didn't want to add to peoples' discomfort. Franken countered, "Sen. Coleman ran millions of dollars of negative ads against me, and they backfired, so he stopped running them."

Paul Gazelka: We are citizens of the greatest country in the world

Scott Jensen: I'll work with science and facts like a medical professional