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Tom Foley: DFL U.S. Senate candidate
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Jun 02, 2008 04:27pm |
| Category | Profile |
| News Date | Aug 23, 1994 04:00pm |
| Description | It was 1968, and a young Tom Foley had joined the caravan of Eugene McCarthy for President, bound for Chicago and the Democratic National Convention.
Within days, Foley found himself staring down troops and bayonets, watching as police and antiwar demonstrators battled outside the convention center. Inside, a bitter nomination fight left the party in tatters and paved the way for Richard Nixon's victory in November.
That time would forever change Foley's political outlook - up to and including his current pursuit of a U.S. Senate seat - but not in the usual way.
"I saw a whole generation of idealistic individuals turn on Hubert Humphrey, one of the most liberal champions this country ever saw," Foley said. "I saw people devouring each other, who all believed in worthwhile goals. It showed me how politics can be so skewed that it becomes easier to rip someone apart than work together."
The result pushed him back from a more liberal agenda toward "what is realistically and politically acceptable - what can be accomplished . . . without causing a lot of divisiveness," he said.
Yet some say he has exacerbated divisions within the DFL. Despite 16 years of party backing during his tenure as Ramsey County attorney, Foley now calls the DFL "an elitist group of extremists." In June, he lashed state convention delegates for spouting the "same old tired Democratic rhetoric." Since then, he has stumped across the state decrying the party-endorsed candidate, Ann Wynia, as an "ultraliberal Wellstone Democrat." He does not intend it as a compliment.
Foley describes himself as a centrist, championing the politics of what some critics term the "mushy middle." Indeed, Foley's agenda resembles a political smorgasbord. From the Republican plate: less government, more law-and order, strict welfare reform and an end to deficit spending. From Democrats: more health care reform, less military spending, protection of abortion rights and funding for crime prevention. |
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