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Friday, February 25, 2005
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Candidate Mark Kennedy talks about area roots during area stop
Associate Editor BAXTER -- The political boundaries of Rep. Mark Kennedy's congressional district have changed drastically during his tenure in Congress but he's never represented his hometown of Pequot Lakes.
The three-term congressman talked about his area roots and told a crowd of between 20 and 30 supporters Thursday at Culver's in Baxter that's one of the reasons why he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate two weeks ago.
"So I get Crow Wing County in my district," the Watertown resident said, explaining one of his motivations.
He said great things were possible if we trust people and praised values such as faith in God, hard work and an optimistic attitude.
"We need to replace angry words with bipartisan solutions," Kennedy said. "We need to replace Washington values with Minnesota family values."
The Pequot Lakes High School graduate emphasized the importance of keeping taxes down, eliminating "junk" lawsuits and making sure Social Security is there for everyone, including future generations.
In an interview, Kennedy said he supports strengthening Social Security but isn't ready to support President Bush's call for voluntary privatization or personal accounts. He said Congress doesn't know all the details and he hasn't identified a particular solution yet.
"This is not going to happen unless there's a bipartisan solution, he said.
He said he would support the GOP-endorsed candidate for the Senate and he expected to be that candidate. He agreed with Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., that the federal government needs to live up to its promises to fully fund its share for special education and said progress has been made on that issue. Kennedy said he didn't support the president's No Child Left Behind initiative because he favors more local control.
Kennedy, his wife, Debbie, and three campaign staff members spent the night at the home of his parents, Eugene and Alvina Kennedy of rural Pequot Lakes.
Alvina Kennedy, the mother of seven children and 27 grandchildren, said the extra company was no problem for a couple that is used to big family gatherings during the holidays.
All seven children were members of the Pelican Lakes 4-H Club, and Eugene Kennedy credits 4-H public speaking programs for helping his children succeed. In addition, three of his seven children met their spouses through 4-H connections. Rep. Kennedy met his wife, Debbie, originally from Hawley, at a reunion of 4-H Ambassadors, he said.
Eugene Kennedy, 78, served on the Pequot Lakes School Board for 27 years and continues to work as a real estate appraiser. He and his wife have been active in various GOP campaigns since Paul Thiede's successful bid for the Legislature in 1978.
Rep. Kennedy told his audience his parents schooled him in values that should be promoted and defended, such as life, marriage and faith. The schooling from his mother, he said, continues.
"I'm constantly getting clippings from the Brainerd Daily Dispatch and the Country Echo and then she calls me to make sure I'm reading them," he said.
He spoke of his boyhood jobs of picking strawberries at 14 and later pumping gas at the Oasis in Pequot Lakes. Until he went to college, he said, he had never lived in a town larger than 1,000 people. He earned a master's of business degree and worked in business for 20 years, including time with Pillsbury.
"I believe I can represent the hopes and dreams of Minnesota because I've lived them," Kennedy said. "We need to stay true to the people who built this land."
Responding to questions from the audience, he said the news media is inadequately reporting the progress being made in Iraq.
"That brighter story is what we hear from our soldiers coming back," he said.
He called the three Minnesota soldiers who recently died in Iraq heroes and criticized a recent question he was asked about whether the deaths would decrease support for the war.
"We should be standing shoulder to shoulder with these families in their grief," he said.
Asked about what a questioner termed the moral decadence on TV, Kennedy said Congress recently increased fines for violations of standards. He said he and his wife have a satellite TV and they go through and block off all but about five channels.
He said a constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman would require a two-thirds vote of Congress and sometimes efforts such as these take many years. He said marriage is a state issue and criticized judges who try to legislate from the bench.
"We need 'We the People' to decide, not 'We the Judges,'" he said.
The candidate pledged to return to Crow Wing County, if for no other reasons than to be at family baptisms and confirmations.
"These things don't happen without teamwork," he told his supporters. "We know Mother knows all your phone numbers."
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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