Candidates debate energy, farm policy

Franken and Coleman begin their verbal battle for

REDWOOD FALLS — U.S. Senate candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken gave similar views on key issues for rural voters on Tuesday, but offered different arguments for why they’d be better for the job.

Coleman, the Republican incumbent, and Democrat Franken were joined at the annual FarmFest show by Independence Party candidates Dean Barkley and Steve Williams.

All four talked up the importance of renewable fuel research and production on Minnesota’s farms. Coleman and Franken, in their first joint appearance of the campaign, praised the recently passed farm bill, with both calling it a needed safety net for farmers.

The forum’s format didn’t give candidates much chance to directly engage each other, putting the emphasis on discussion of issues. But Franken struck an aggressive tone from the outset, criticizing Coleman for taking contributions from oil companies.

Throughout the debate, the Democrat tried to associate Coleman’s tenure as senator with the faltering economy and high fuel costs.

“People are hurting because Bush has sent the economy into a ditch, and Norm Coleman has been riding shotgun the whole way,” Franken said. “We need a change in this country and I’m going to bring a change.”

Coleman criticized Franken’s stand on some, but avoided the sharper attacks that have been a major aspect of recent TV ads. Instead, he cited his work on the Senate Agriculture Committee and said he’s proven to Minnesota farmers that he’s working on their concerns.

“More than anyone else, I know the difference between talk and results,” Coleman said. “You have to ask of each candidate, what have we done in our lives to merit serving you in the U.S. Senate?”

Barkley and Williams mixed policy discussion with sharp criticisms of the political system and what they said was out-of-control spending by both parties.

“I love our country, and I can’t stand what the two-party system is doing to our country,” Barkley said. “It’s dragging us down, it’s heading us in the wrong direction.”

Fuel costs and energy policy dominated much of the forum, which ran just over an hour and was simulcast on two dozen radio stations around Minnesota. Coleman called for a wide-ranging approach that would start with more domestic oil drilling, as well as promotion of more renewable fuels and nuclear energy.

“You’ve got to do it all,” Coleman said. “If we can do that we will no longer be held hostage to Saudi sheiks and others who are not our friends.”

Franken said he’s not opposed to some offshore drilling or expansion of nuclear power if waste can be disposed of properly. But he said drilling is not a way to solve the long-term energy problem, instead calling for an “Apollo program for renewable energy.”

“We’re talking about wind, we’re talking about biomass and bioefuels, we’re talking about rail, we’re talking electric hybrid cars,” Franken said. “We need to have a massive reinvestment in renewable energy and the winner will be rural Minnesota.”

All the candidates agreed on the importance of giving farmers the option to designate some of their cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), but all four said they support opening up more of the land to livestock grazing. Williams, a political novice, several times stressed his 28 years as a farmer.

Coleman offered a more conservative direction on immigration than did Franken or the Independence Party candidates, arguing that enforcement has to come before establishment of a guest worker program. The others said that wasn’t a feasible approach.

“Let’s restore some sanity,” Barkley said. “We’re not going to deport 12 million people. That’s absurd — we couldn’t do that if we wanted to.”

FarmFest draws thousands of farmers and rural residents from around the region, and has become an expected stop for statewide political candidates every two years. Gene Engstrom, a crop farmer in nearby Morton, said he came to the event undecided but leaning toward Franken.

But he said he felt the Democrat spent too much time criticizing Coleman and not enough offering alternatives.

“The more I heard, the more confused I got,” said Engstrom, who said afterwards that he’s still undecided. “All this hammering — I want to know what you’re going to do when you’re senator.”