by Lynnell Mickelsen

Oh man, I can't believe how the brief mention of the debate between Walter Mondale and Norm Coleman, right after Wellstone was killed in the plane crash (see Susan's post below) brings back such a rush of memories. And it makes me realize how much has changed in four years.

You know, if I have to find one of the darkest moments during the Bush administration'"and geez, there have been so many--it was probably the 2002 election. And for those of us in Minnesota, it was Wellstone's death, the well-spun right-wing uproar over his memorial service (all about tone, once again) and then watching the slimy, obsequious Mother of all Windsocks, Norm Coleman take the Senate seat.

Walter Mondale had been chosen at the last minute to replace Paul and no, he wasn't a powerful, young charismatic figure. He didn't have Norm's gleaming dental work or thick hair. But in that debate, Mondale was straightforward and told the truth while Norm pandered, postured and lacked all content. And nave Midwesterner that I was, I thought that would matter to voters.

It didn't. The pundits told us Mondale lost in part because of the Wellstone memorial service. Of course, I always thought the correct Democratic response to the right-wing uproar over Paul's memorial service would've been, "It's a funeral, goddammit. A bunch of people just died. Their friends are grieving and raging. That's what people do at funerals, you prissy little pricks. So get over yourselves. It's not about you." Or " Hey, what's up with the whole Republican Funeral Oversight Committee? Who appointed you to barge into other peoples' funerals and harangue friends and relatives for their incorrect tone or demeanor. Get a life and get out." Etc. Etc.

But no, Dems were still in their apologetic crouch. Our local leaders actually apologized for their unseemly behavior, hoping the chest-thumping, sneering Republicans and their pundit cronies would have mercy on them. As if. It was just painful to watch.

Privately, I always thought the real reason for Republican outrage over Paul's memorial service is that they knew, in their black, shriveled little hearts, that if Norm had died a few days before the election, 20,000 citizens would not have tried to crowd into a sports arena (with thousands more turned away at the door or told by the radio to stay home because there was no more room) to pay their last respect and tell stories and tributes.

No, if it had been Norm, I suspect we would have seen 1,000 people, including many lobbyists in very nice suits, showing up at a somber, tasteful service to fondly recall the great man who always cashed their campaign donation checks. I think the Republicans suspected this in real time. Which was why they couldn't just smear Wellstone during his life, they had to attack his funeral as well.

But did I write this at the time? No, I sent some snarky, acidic e-mails to this effect to friends, local politicians and editors. But I didn't write it for publication. Because back then, I was still taking my political cues from the mainstream press. And the Dems I heard quoted in the media were wringing their hands and saying how sorry they were that Wellstone's funeral was not to the liking of his life-long political enemies.

Man, that was only four years ago, but it already feels like a different age. This was before many of us had found the blogosphere and heard all these other great, smart, snarky, outraged voices that were fighting back and realized we weren't alone.

Since then, I've watched one of the biggest reversals of fortune in my life time. Just take my own state of Minnesota. In 2002, Republican Tim Pawlenty won the governorship in a three-way race, beating out DFLer Roger Moe by nine percentage points. Republicans won the offices of Secretary of State and State Auditor; captured the state House of Representatives by a huge margin and came within a few votes of controlling the state Senate. The next session, Pawlenty who had pledged to never raise state taxes, famously "solved" the state deficit by cutting 40,000 poor people off health insurance and slashing spending on schools, roads, aid to local cities and everything else.

But as it turned out, Minnesotans liked the idea of "no new taxes"'.. until they actually had to live with it. At which time, they discovered that "no new taxes" meant they instead had to pay huge increases in local property taxes, university tuition and state fees; put their kids in crowded classrooms, sit in traffic (road construction costs $$$$) and take cuts in their local police and fire departments and on and on.

Fast-forward to November, 2006; Governor Pawlenty, one of the smoothest political operators around, won re-election with a bare ONE percent of the vote (alas, in another three-way race that split Democrats). And Democrats swept all the state offices, re-took the state House by an 85-44 margin, increased their lead to 44-23 in the state Senate and elected Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate.

The Klobuchar race alone shows how much the ground has shifted. She beat Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy by 20 percentage points. Yet only four years earlier, Kennedy had won re-election to the U.S. House, beating his Democratic opponent by 22 percent of the vote!

I mean, the reversal of fortune is really quite breath-taking. In November 2002, Bush's approval rating was close to 60 percent in the Newsweek poll. Today it clocks in at 31 percent.

From day to day, it's been quite a slog. But looking back, it seems like a fast four years. There's poetic justice in hearing Norm Coleman now described as one of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in '08. Until the Dems took control of the Senate this month, Norm had been chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigations during one of the most scandal-ridden, corrupt administrations in our history. So what did our little Normie investigate? Why the United Nations, of course.

I know. I know. Two years is a long ways away. And Norm is, as the Strib recently described him, exceptionally "agile." But still. If I were Norm, I'd be worried.