Editor: Chuck Hunt
Faribault County Register
Monday, August 11, 2008

Al or Norm or... Chuck Aldrich?

              Editorial

     Our first reaction when U.S. Senate candidate Chuck Aldrich walked into the Register office on Monday was one of disbelief.
     To be honest, we did not realize that someone who was employed in Blue Earth was running for the Senate. The United States Senate at that.
     If we didn't know, we imagine there are many folks who are unaware of his campaign.
     Our second reaction was one of doubt. We doubted he had any kind of chance at all in the election this fall.
     Finally there was a realization that maybe Aldrich is exactly the kind of person who should be running for the Senate.
     He is committed to change, to using logic and common sense in running the government, and to greatly reducing government and what it does - and spends.
     Aldrich is very bright. He holds several engineering degrees and has done a lot of research. But he is also just a common man, and very much not a professional politician.
     Isn't that what the founding fathers of this country had in mind when they set up this democracy? They thought Americans should elect one of their neighbors to go to Washington and represent them for a spell, and then come back home and pick up their regular occupation again. Let someone else go next.
     Instead we have senators who have been there for decades, and have grown old in this lifetime occupation.
     Minnesota has a history of trying to elect a common person to the job of senator. We recall Rudy Boschwitz, Rod Grams, Mark Dayton, Paul Wellstone and Amy Klobuchar. All claimed to be just a common man (or woman).
     But were they?
     Charles "Chuck" Aldrich truly is. We wish him luck in his quest. He is correct when he says this is the time for regular people to step forward and reclaim their government. We hope he can.