By snoadmin
Two former congressmen visited several political science classes Tuesday and Wednesday, speaking about their experiences in Congress and answering students’ questions about current affairs.
Judge David Minge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and James K. Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association, came to Cal State Long Beach as representatives from the “Congress to Campus Program.” According to a California State University press release, the program sends a bi-partisan pair of former congressmen to campuses in order to increase students’ awareness of Congress’ role in American democracy.
Minge, a Democratic representative for Minnesota from 1992-2000, and Coyne, a Republican representative for Pennsylvania from 1982-1984, said they visited CSULB because they think the Congress to Campus Program is a rewarding program both for students and for themselves. Coyne said Congress has been proud of the program for a long time.
Coyne and Minge responded to questions students asked them. During their visit to one of the Political Science 100 classes, a student asked the former representatives what people in Congress thought of states who elect celebrities as their governor. Minge, whose state elected wrestler Jesse Ventura as its governor in 1998, said that being a celebrity does not necessarily mean someone would be successful in government.
Coyne said that nepotism, a more minor form of celebrity where a person is recognized because of who his or her family is, is not as big of a factor in politics as many people would think. He said prominent family links in government, like those of the Kennedy and Bush families, are the exception and not the usual reality.
At one point Coyne, who was a classmate of President George W. Bush at Yale University, mentioned he knew Bush in college and had seen him “absolutely wasted.” Coyne said many people never thought they would see Bush as president.
Minge and Coyne talked about the disputed 2000 presidential election where former presidential candidate Al Gore won the popular vote, but Bush became president. Coyne said he thought the two political parties involved moved forward without animosity and that Gore was gracious about the situation. Coyne also said the current system creates a problem because candidates ignore states that are sure bets in favor of campaigning in highly-contested states. He said he does not think there is a rational explanation for the Electoral College when the country has the ability to calculate the popular vote. Minge said he thinks a popular vote, instead of the Electoral College would be more consistent with what the country thinks.
In their closing remarks, Minge and Coyne urged students to be more involved in politics.
“Politics and government as the founding fathers envisioned it is not a spectator sport,” Coyne said.
“Part of your responsibility is to take this inheritance, protect it, use it and hand it to the next generation,” Minge said.
