DFL Senate District 21

Senate District 21 Fundraiser Speech
Dave Jennings
April 5, 2008
Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel
Morton, MN

"Hello, my name is David and I’m a recovering politician. In 22 years, I’ve suffered one relapse and I’m in my 9th year of recovery from that event.

[Introduces] "Lion/Lamb, Ted Suss and Tony Doom

"Thanks for invitation.

"What brings me here?

"Some things you know about me, if you read the papers. There may be some things you do not know, and I’m not talking here about my tattoo.

"For instance, the pundits have always had trouble affixing a label to me. At various times in my political life, I’ve been called "Old Guard"; "New Right"; "ultra-conservative";"moderate"; and even "liberal."

"My personal favorite came during the 1982 state Republican convention. I was a brash 33-year-old legislator, with no chance to win the endorsement for governor, who was nevertheless giving the big boys a fit. Paul Overgaard, from Albert Lea, and a more serious candidate, described me at that time as a "libertarian anarchist bastard."

"Another thing about me you may not know is that I was the child of a mixed marriage between a Republican and a Democrat. I grew up in a house where it was only natural to be engaged in the civic debate. I suppose it was predictable I would someday run for office and I did . . . in 1978.

"For a time, I found a political home, albeit a turbulent one, in the Republican Party. My independence did not always make me the darling or favorite child in the family . . . even then . . . but it was nevertheless my first political home. By 1986, however, like a teenager who can’t stand the rules anymore, I knew it was time to move away from home.

"Actually, it was not so much that I left the Republican Party as it was that the Republican Party left me. The early 1980’s was a time of dramatic change in party politics and, looking back, it seems now to me that the same was true of both parties before it was over. By that time, "purity" had become the watchword of party politics. No longer was there the philosophy of "the big tent" which encouraged political parties to welcome those of differing views . . . in the interest of creating a winning majority coalition. Those who could not heed the party line completely were now unwelcome. Dissent became a mortal sin.

"I could not abide those circumstances and chose instead a return to private life. In so doing . . . I became officially one of the "homeless" in the world of party politics.

"It is true that I was briefly lured back to state government in 1999 with the election of Jesse Ventura. I did not know Jesse before that time and had not voted for him. What I saw in the early days of his administration, however, was the beginnings of a group of high level advisors from both parties and from the ranks of well-known independents. I saw a cabinet coming together that might actually represent a long-lost pursuit of common sense in government, and I saw a governor who owed nothing to any stakeholder groups. For a while, I dared to hope.

"We all now know what happened, of course, and the epitaph of the Ventura administration became one of "opportunity lost" because the story became all about Jesse.

"I moved back to private life after just one legislative session on the Ventura team and to where I am today: a father, a grandfather and, eventually, a superintendent of schools. Still, like many old warriors, I just can’t seem to stop caring about the fight altogether. Some seem able to "go softly into that dark night" but me, I just seem bent on "raging against the darkness" once in a while.

"I recently read a book called, "The Second World – Empires and Influence in the New Global Order", by Parag Khanna. Khanna is a native of India, schooled at Georgetown and the London School of Economics. He’s been a geopolitical advisor to the U.S. Special Operations Command and has worked at the Council on Foreign Relations. His book discusses the new three-way global alignment involving the European Community, the United States and the People’s Republic of China, a struggle which Khanna believes will shape the 21st century and beyond.

"Ignoring the usual discussion of "First" and "Third World" countries, he takes particular interest instead in the countries of the Second World, believing it is the choices those countries make that will decide the outcome of the three-way global struggle for economic superiority. His most chilling observation, however, was not something I found in his descriptions of the Uzbekistans and the Argentinas of the world, but was actually what amounted to almost "throwaway line" he mentions about Second World countries in general.

"He observes in passing that the hallmarks of Second World powers are two, absence of a middle class and militarism. As I read those lines, it left me with a chilling thought about what is happening in America today. While I am very much a lover of my country, I do not believe that any country has a "divine right" to perpetual economic success and moral leadership in the world. I do not believe great nations ever get to just sit back and bask in the glory of their greatness. They do not get to just stop and still stay great. They must continually earn and re-earn their right to the claim. If they do stop, if they no longer earn the right every day, their orbit of influence begins to decay and they begin to fall back into second class status.

"As I thought about Khanna’s detached and simple observation about what makes a Second World country second world, I could think of little more than the militarism that grips our country today and the seemingly endless internal siege on America’s middle class.

"I won’t get into the militarism and the war tonight. The Iraq War is a topic for a whole different speech in itself and for another time. I do have a thing or two to say, however, about what’s happening to the middle class.

"1.) Assault on the Middle Class Everywhere you look in America today, and certainly here in Minnesota, there is an assault at every level on very foundations of the middle class. Whether it is happening is not debatable. The problem is well-documented. The only questions are, "Why?" and "What will happen as a result?"

"Every day, we are divided further and further into a nation of "haves" and "have-nots". Economic policy, tax policy, trade policy, energy policy, immigration policy and the list goes on.

"Every time our elected officials meet, whether the result is action or inaction (and these days it’s usually inaction), it seems like the economic middle ground gets a little smaller for all of us. At the very time when Europe is moving aggressively and systematically to expand its middle class and China is working desperately to create one, we are crushing ours with debt and economic malfeasance.

"It isn’t rocket science to know, if this goes unchecked, the consequences are dire. The ongoing presence of a broad and stable middle class has been the historical linchpin in the growth and success of our republic from its beginnings and, more importantly, of our ongoing individual liberty. The very existence of the middle class was the inspiration of hope and it is hope that has driven the American system from the beginning.

"Immigrants of all kinds have come here for generations and have worked hard when they got here because of hope, not the hope of ever being rich, but the hope either they or their children could join the middle class.

"My wife’s grandparents came here as teenagers, speaking no English, leaving their family behind, and took menial jobs because here they had hope. They knew if they worked hard they had a right to hope for a better life for their family. And what happened?

"Their children graduated from high school; their grandchildren graduated from college; and each generation stood on the shoulders of the hope and hard work of the one before. They came here expecting a better life and they got one.

"It is why immigrant families come here even now, not because they are anxious to work in our farm fields and factories, but so their children won’t have to. If you eliminate the middle class, you extinguish the very hope upon which the entire system rests. We cannot long endure its loss.

"2.) Public Schools as an example- At the very center of the assault on the middle class today is the relentless and longstanding battle over public education. The success of these two things, public schools and the middle class, are hopelessly intertwined. Just as the middle class has long been the linchpin of our economic success and stability, the nation’s system of public education is the engine that drives the development and success of the middle class.

"We all love to talk of the "melting pot." We pride ourselves on how our diverse society somehow becomes uniquely American, and how that uniqueness has made all the difference in securing our place in history. Let me tell you where the so-called melting actually happens.

"The melting pot of which we are all so proud is located right down the street, in your local public school, and it always has been. It is in the classrooms, and the halls, and the even the athletic contests of your local school that kids of all backgrounds, all races and all socio-economic strata come together and gain a common understanding, of each other, and of the society they will enter as adults.

"And yet, for some time now, like all the other middle class institutions in this country, the system of public education has been under attack. The battlefields and weapons in this war have many names. Vouchers, tuition tax credits, Profiles of Learning, No Child Left Behind and many more come to mind. Make no mistake about it, however, there is a common theme that unites these many scams. The goal is to privatize public schools and not to preserve or reform them, as the protagonists would like to have you believe.

"Of course, when you’re dealing with a system that has its roots dating all the way back to the founding fathers and that has long enjoyed the support of more than 80% of the American people, you have to ask yourself, "What are these people thinking?" For some . . . the issue is one of pure politics. Public employee unions are the last bastion of the union movement in America and the teachers unions are the king of that hill. In some circles, their demise would not be mourned.

"For others, the struggle to undermine and discredit public education is all about the money. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent every year in public schools across the nation and there are more than a few folks that can’t bear to see those dollars spent without dreaming about a piece of the action. They would have you believe that they seek reform to save tax dollars. What they seek is the public dollars for themselves. If they succeed, you will quickly find out your net cost is the same and your return on investment is not.

"Don’t kid yourself about what happens if public schools go away. Just as the Battle of Gettysburg was the single battle that turned the tide of the Civil War, the battle over the future of public education is the fight that will decide the fate of America’s middle class. I believe it is just that important.

"The loss of this battle means the loss of the great American melting pot and, in its place, we will get what the marketing folks call "market segmentation." What that really means is loss of equity and stratification of opportunity. In plain language, no longer will every kid have an equal shot at the brass ring.

"Let’s just say, for example, that it costs on average $8,000 per year to educate each kid in America, today. It isn’t really that neat, of course. It costs $5,000 to educate some and $50,000 to educate others but let’s say the average is $8,000. We do what the advocates of privatization suggest and just give every family a check for $8,000 every year and tell them to spend it where they choose.

"Let me tell you how that plays out. Rich families add $10,000 to the government check and their kids go to academies. If they were retails stores, we call them the "Cartier" schools. Upper middle class families will add $7,500 to their government check and go to "Bloomingdale’s" or "Nordstrom’s" schools. Lower middle class families will have to go it alone with just the government check to pay the way and their kids will go to "Kohl’s" schools. The working poor families, whose kids are sometimes more expensive to educate, will have the same government check, but it will only buy them the "blue light special" education offered at "K-Mart". As for the kids from families of the truly poor, well, they will end up in welfare schools or not at all. Trust me when I tell you this will not be good for America.

"Now, let me be crystal clear about this. I know public schools are far from perfect. I’m not naïve or blind to the existence of the problems that exist. I might argue with some about the cause of the problems, but I know they exist and, regardless of cause, I believe the system owes it to all involved to face up to those issues and get it right. It’s what I try to do every day in Eastern Carver County.

"I also know that anyone who dares object to things like the No Child Left Behind law and other similar bureaucratic assault weapons being used to discredit public schools today is vulnerable to charges by some critics that the complaints mean they just don’t want to be held accountable. In this highly charged and divisive political environment of internal economic warfare, it has unfortunately become routine, when you can’t prove you’re right, to obfuscate the real issue by instead launching personal attacks on the credibility of those who challenge you and, way too often, the fear tactics are working.

"If you can’t find the WMD’s, you attack the critics as unpatriotic and, rather than stand up to that charge, they find something else to talk about.

"Finally though, it feels to me like the American people are catching on. I hope so but, whether that’s true or not, I can’t overcome the lessons learned from my old man. Speak truth, even to power, and let the public and the historians decide whose right. Don’t try to live on bended knee. It hurts in more ways than one.

"Conclusion -

"Now, about this time, you’re saying to yourself, "This guy is really angry and he’s given up hope." You’re about half right. In part, I’m here tonight on behalf of independent voters like myself to tell you, "Yes, I am angry and I want you to do something about it." I’m also here, however, to say I still have hope that you can do something about it. In fact, I don’t seem to be the only one with hope this year. At times, it almost seems like hope is running amok in America these days. Here are some of my personal hopes for this year:

"I hope that you and others like you will understand what is happening and will listen to what we independents are saying about it. I hope that your candidates this year will take what you learn from and do something about it. I hope that you’ll give me candidates I can believe in this fall. I hope those candidates are elected and finally bring an end to the ridiculous political gridlock that is crippling our nation and our state’s ability to move ahead. I hope those candidates are people who understand that our future does not lie in clutching a loaded gun every day, while cowering behind locked doors, in gated communities and behind fenced borders. I hope these candidates are people who understand it is not the rich and famous, but the ordinary working people who are willing to earn their freedom the old-fashioned way, by working at it every day, that have made this country what it is and that hold the key to its future. I hope these candidates are people who, themselves, still believe in the culture of hope. And finally, I hope you’ve enjoyed this evening as much as I have."

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