![]() ![]() ![]() Īt the 2008 Democratic Party’s National Convention in Denver, Mondale, a superdelegate, was staying at the same suburban hotel as the rest of the Minnesota delegation. What struck me is that it always was a comfortable experience, a feeling clearly shared by others. ![]() Īs an old newspaper person and later a MinnPost reporter, I had the chance of often being around Mondale. He even could laugh at himself - and often did. He seemed to require no special treatment. Unlike so many in political life, he accepted his humanity and fallibility. That for decades he was a crucial player in monumental events ranging from civil rights to voting rights to women’s rights and on and on. That he’d served as the attorney general of Minnesota. You wouldn’t have known that he’d been the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. You wouldn’t have known he’d been the vice president of the United States. If you were to have met Walter Mondale just walking down the street, there are a number of things you would not have known. Walter Mondale: a political giant who didn’t need the trappings of powerĪpWalter Mondale: a political giant who didn’t need the trappings of power I ended up going to a lot of art galleries that I don’t remember.’’ Refining him, he’d say, was her “missionary calling. She was refined, he’d say he was country. And he also delighted in telling stories of his 59-year marriage to Joan. He loved telling stories of old colleagues and friends. He would laugh as he talked of the negative side effects of the traditional DFL fundraisers, the bean feeds. I was no good at cello.’’ A delight in telling stories Terrifying, he explained, was being a kid in rural Minnesota, playing a cello recital. He admitted there had been some anxiety before the speech because he understood the importance of it. He admitted he was soaking wet when he concluded his speech. “Isn’t that moment terrifying?” I asked Mondale. We talked about that moment when the candidate steps before the huge, hopeful convention crowd. presidential election debate in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 7, 1984. President Ronald Reagan, right, and Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale are pictured during the first 1984 U.S. Mondale and Ferraro would step from this moment into a presidential campaign that would end in a lopsided loss to Ronald Reagan. Mondale and his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, are pictured from behind looking over the celebratory chaos of falling balloons and banner-waving delegates at the windup of the convention. In his modest office at the Dorsey Whitney law firm, there was a remarkable photo of the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. “My dream when I was a kid,’’ he once said, “is that I someday would be elected a county commissioner.’’ He understood he was just a guy, who had gone a little farther than he’d dreamed. Mondale was a giant of our times but, unlike so many of our would-be political giants, he didn’t need a suite of rooms, he didn’t need an entourage. “If he did, he was polite enough not to say anything.’’ He didn’t need an entourage “I was hoping he didn’t recognize me,’’ she said. She was more formally dressed and made up. Two days later, she recalled, she had her picture taken with Mondale. “Hello,’’ she said, convinced that Mondale must have thought of her as “a crazy woman who runs around like that.’’ She made her purchase, started rushing back to her room and again saw only one person in the hallway. “Here I am, no makeup, my pajamas and the one person I come across in the hallway is the former vice president,’’ she said at the time. She said she’d peeked out her door, saw that with the exception of a solitary figure, the coast was clear. After getting into her pajamas, Betker decided she needed a late-night snack. On the evening before the convention kicked off, Betker and her husband returned to the hotel from a gala at the Democratic Party’s headquarters hotel in downtown Denver. There was, for example, the experience of an alternate Minnesota delegate, Marcia Betker. There was no telling where a person might run into Mondale at that hotel. And always in those conversations, there would be laughter. He frequently could be found in the hotel’s lobby, talking with, not talking to, other members of the delegation. At the 2008 Democratic Party’s National Convention in Denver, Mondale, a superdelegate, was staying at the same suburban hotel as the rest of the Minnesota delegation. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |