MPR News Feature; Minnesota Legislature debates: caucus or primary method to elect a president

Presidential Primary bill did pass the House last session but it never even received a hearing in the Senate although it was proposed as an amendment to another Senate bill and defeated. The bill would have set April 6th as a primary date and would have required party registration to prevent voter crossover. The measure was proposed by Minneapolis DFL Sen. Ed Garrity who appeared half hearted about the idea in principle saying only that if Minnesotans did want a primary it should be instituted only on condition that voters designate their party and then be held to it. As for Sen. Hubert H Humphrey saw I thought by some to be the Democrat's best choice in case of a convention deadlock Garrity said Humphrey probably could be persuaded to run as a favorite son in Minnesota even though he's officially declined to enter any state primaries. Speaking in opposition to the bill were state DFL co chairperson Ruth Kane and Rick Scott who is the announced candidate for the office being vacated next month by Hank Fisher. Scott said a primary would lock the state into a presidential choice too early in the year. He said the caucus system works well in Minnesota because it combines presidential candidates with issues.

I think that there's something less than rational about discussing issues in one sort of a process issues which we want to hand forward ultimately to a platform committee and to. Choose our standard bearers for those issues. In another process the presidential primary I just don't I think it's quite difficult to match up the things that we as party members want done with the candidates that we want to do them if we're doing this in two different forms. Although it became obvious the three day fellers on the subcommittee would overpower Republicans Bob Brown of Stillwater and Mel Hanson in Minneapolis. The hearing turned into a three hour philosophic discussion of how the presidential selection process might be improved. Senator Allen Allston of Spicer's said the caucus system might be improved to eliminate the possibility of stacking the caucus and that a holiday might be established so that more people could participate in the caucus. State Senator Scott Humphrey of New Hope offered a bill to create a special advisory

committee to study the feasibility of a regional presidential primary that would include Minnesota Wisconsin the Dakotas and Iowa. Humphrey said Currently there are 30 states that have presidential primaries but they have no logical sequence or relationship to each other primaries he said should serve the citizens of the entire nation. What I would like to see just personally on a presidential basis I would like to see a sequel. Presidential debate there is no debate. In fact is the problem in 1968 as there was no debate on the issues. It was very very very difficult we just had people that said I'm not going to talk about I'm not going to meet what we need to have and what I would like to see is a series of time sequenced regional presidential primaries that would force a debate and it would force a more refined and. And in a sense stepped a debate on the issues as they affect regions. I don't think we can pretend that the nation as a whole is is the same everywhere. New York City is not

Minneapolis St. Paul. And the fact is that New York City effects regions effects nations. We're affected by Chicago we're affected by Milwaukee we're affected by what's happening in North and South Dakota. If we want to have a good debate and if that's part of the process of what a presidential selection process ought to encourage for the enlightenment of the citizens then I think it ought to be at least on a regional basis. State Senator Hubert Humphrey the third New Hope DFL or after the meeting subcommittee chairman Steve Keefe Minneapolis DFL or said the Humphrey proposal might be brought up at any time during the 976 session but he thought the consensus of the subcommittee so far was unenthusiastic. In other Capitol News a bill to restrict any commercial development of the natural resources of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area was passed out of the house a recreation and open space subcommittee on a six to three vote. The bill deals mainly with mining and timber cutting but also refers to all botanical air

water land soil historical scenic and aesthetic resources. House author representative Bud Philbrook Roseville DFL are said he and Senate sponsor John Milton White Bear Lake later this month will join the tenant Gov. Rudy purpose on a statewide tour in support of the act. Philbrook said there is widespread interest in it both pro and con and that he hopes for an early hearing by the full Environment and Natural Resources Committee in 1976. I'm also going to the Capitol.