Peter Agre, speculative candidate for Paul Wellstone’s Senate seat met with Joe Trippi last week where he received advice and encouragement from the super-star politico who was best known for his work on the Howard Dean campaign.
I don’t know, and doubt there will be any professional relationship between the two since Trippi is working working for John Edwards, but it is interesting that Agre would have the connections to get a meeting with Trippi.
I would hazard a guess that to become a Nobel Laureate you don’t rest on your laurels, and with the connections it seems Agre has, if he is going to put the same intellect and hard work into this bid for the Senate we have our 3rd solid contender. And it is worth noting that he has connections to a largely untapped donor base with lots and lots of bank — the medical community.
If Peter Agre gets on the scene he’s going to be a formidable candidate and I think if you marginalize him you do so at your own risk.
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I just wanted to apologize to all of the readers out there in MNPublius land — that hackneyed last line reads almost like it was written by someone at Checks and Balances — and I’m sorry. Sean
Sean:
I’d like to ask Agre if he agrees with Al Franken that Democrats must make President Bush “cut off funding for the troops.”
If I stumble across him I’ll ask his opinion on the War in Iraq. Sean
Please ask him why he wants to cut off funding for the troops.
Have we established that he does? And if I see him (I haven’t ever before) I’ll pass along your sweet sweet lovin’. Sean
Please visit Minnesota Democrats Exposed and see for yourself.
Okay — lets establish this — no matter how hard you may wish it were not so, this thread was about Agre. If I see him, I’ll ask his opinion about the War in Iraq. Franken, was not mentioned here until you brought him up tangentially. And, to clarify Agre hasn’t said he wishes to cut off funding for the troops. Sean
I Think this is great, Agre brings a whole new perspective to an already competitive feild of candidates. No one is really sure where he stands on what issues, but one thing is certain, that he would not enter the race if his views were identical to that of Ciriesi and Franken. I love endorsement battles, as long as they are productive and not a slaughterhouse. Let the race begin. -Ross
I neglected to mention it in the post itself, but when I interviewed Prof. Agre a couple weeks back, he had to pause in the middle to take a call. Turns out it was former Sen. Tom Daschle.
The guy’s got connections.
And although he’s not yet a seasoned candidate, I’m willing to bet he’s way too smart to fall into a snide little trap like the one laid so clumsily above. Or are we just trying to pull a little traffic our way?
Lame, lame, lame.
I agree Joe; it is lame that Franken wants to cut funding for our troops. I’m sure he’ll have time to explain his quote when it is continually brought up during the 2008 campaign.
First of all, let’s stop talking about cutting funding for our troops. The image of our troops running out of bullets while in the middle east while fighting for truth and justice, ultimately not having enough money to even buy plane fair home is ridiculous. Brodkrob knows this and is purposefully being dishonest. Being the little fascist that he is, he is trying to frame the arguement in terms that those of that mindset can understand. Understand this, if nothing else, funding for the troops is an absolute. Funding for the war is a different issue. Mikey, you’re a tool. A little fascist nazi tool with the intellect of a 10 year old. You’re time is over. Go work work for Coleman so he loses by 30 percentage points, please,
Michael is hung up on Franken’s Iraq position - I’m stuck on the promise Coleman made when he debated Mondale: Coleman stated he would go to Washington and he would get the money for special education that the Federal Government has yet to provide. Clearly Coleman has not delivered. Did Norm even introduce legislation to do this? If so why did it fail? Is he continuing to fight for the Feds to make good on its special education mandate that is decades old? Where’s the special education money from the Feds Norm?!??
Although I would hold my nose and vote for either Franken or Ciresi over Coleman, I would love to have another option I could really get excited about - and I suspect I’m not the only one. Maybe as we hear more about issues, Agre will turn out to be that person.
Richard,
I think your comments are uncalled for. If you are right on the issues you do not have resort to that kind of language. If for no other reason that it makes you and those who agree with you come across bigoted and sophomoric. I hope if you continue in such a manor the moderators of this site will show that they are even handed and ban you as they did Veritas for the exact same reasons.
Hat, I am crushed by your condemnation. I have scheduled an extra hour with my therapist every day for the remainder of this month. Brodkrob is a tool and he is a little fascist. He was being purposefully dishonest. I really don’t see where I went wrong. By the way,, it’s “manner”, not manor. Back to the topic now.
I’m sorry you don’t see your error. My word usage is easy to correct.
I’m sure Brokorb and his ilk have everything to do with Mark Kennedy losing his election because of negative red herrings and yet he continues on with the same tactics.
I say we should encourage him to “Bring It On”.
I disagree with Michael pretty regularly. Well… all the time really. But he doesn’t hide his intentions and he’s playing the game.
Don’t call him a Nazi. It’s unbecoming. Sean
Seconded
I’d recommend going to Minnesota Public Radio and typing “agre” in the search bar. They have a 10-minute interview with him in their archives.
Best part of this whole post is the reference to Agre being a possible candidate for Paul Wellstone’s seat in the Senate, thereby neatly bypassing Norm Coleman altogether. Framing 101. I think we all need to adopt that language. Nicely done!
Hi Guys,
I am pleased by your interest. Sean and I will communicate this weekend. I hope you are not disappointed, but I have more questions than answers. The withdrawal from Iraq will occur but will not be simple - already four million Iraqis are refugees and the U.S. has only accepted 701. That said, I believe the Senate seat held by Mondale and Wellstone needs a new occupant. I look forward to meeting you all later this summer when I can spend full time in Minnesota.
Best wishes,
Peter Agre
If it is true that Agre has medical community money, then i think the most interesting part of this endorsement battle is fundraising. Franken has Hollywood, Ciresi trial lawyers and Agre, the Nobel Laureate, science/intellectuals/medical. Those are really three of the biggest groups to fundraise from on the Democratic camp and they all get to fight it out. Who will raise more? And who will raise more from instate? The only real wildcard at this point is where and when will the other big player, labor, jump in?
Any one of these potential nominees will be in a very strong position to retake the Senate seat. If, during the nomination process though, the candidates trash each other, then refused to work for the nominee, or go out on an independent ticket, the seat will remain in GOP hands. I don’t believe this will happen, but I’ve been wrong before.