Cheney visits Minnesota to back Kennedy

Cheney visits Minnesota to back Kennedy
Rochelle Olson
Star Tribune
Published July 23, 2005

Vice President Dick Cheney made a stealth visit Friday to a Lake Minnetonka luncheon fundraiser for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, while the DFL Party and national Democrats put on a dog show. About a quarter-mile from the GOP campaign contributors-only event at TCF Chairman Bill Cooper's lakeshore mansion, a couple dozen DFLers held a news conference depicting Kennedy, the Republican Sixth District congressman, as a lapdog for President Bush.

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At Friday's fundraiser, steak salads and wine were served to those who paid $1,000 to attend. For $4,200, a couple could pose for photos with Cheney. The event raised about $300,000, said a source close to the Kennedy campaign.

At the DFLers' news conference, three real dogs and a human in a furry costume were there to underscore the point. The latter wore a sign reading, "Hi, my name is Kennedy, Bush/Cheney's lapdog," and a leash around his neck held by a man wearing a Bush mask. Other DFLers carried signs that read, "Lapdogs deserve treats, not U.S. Senate seats" and "Mark Kennedy, Dean's list, W's School of Obedience." "We're not interested in another lapdog for the extreme right-wing agenda," DFL associate state chair Donna Cassutt said.

The Cheney fundraiser was heavily secured by Secret Service agents and police from several Twin Cities jurisdictions. Parking wasn't allowed on two-lane Ferndale Road W. for at least a quarter-mile in each direction. Agents and police shooed passersby away from the end of the driveway because it was "inside the secure perimeter." A handful of neighbors moved about 25 yards down the road, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of Cheney. Guests parked their cars about a quarter-mile away, then rode shuttle vans to the event. A lone protester stood on the street outside the Cooper house for a couple of hours with a sign that read "Close military bases in Iraq, not the U.S."

Cheney wasn't visible to anyone outside the event. A Kennedy spokeswoman initially promised to answers questions after the event, but instead issued a brief statement by the congressman. "It is disappointing that some Democrats continue to offer nothing but negativity and childish name-calling rather than providing meaningful solutions," the statement said.

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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee offered up ideas for how to spend $4,200 instead of having a picture taken with the vice president: immunize 420 children, pay a teacher's salary for a month, buy 2,400 school lunches, provide 14 bulletproof vests for police or pay for a semester's tuition at the University of Minnesota.

Rochelle Olson is at raolson@startribune.com

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5521710.html

MN dissaproves of Bush & Co-- so why does the MN GOP think that bringing a person who is unliked to their state will benefit them in a future campaign? Minn never voted for Bush/Cheney, and hopefully they won't vote for any clown they endorse.

Good on them for putting the truth out there like that