Faris battles Franken for ‘Wellstone’ seat

Published 10:13 am Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Priscilla Lord Faris is not fazed by the daunting task before her on the U.S. Senate campaign trail.

“I believe I will make a difference. I’m kind of like the Paul Wellstone — the little engine that could,” Faris said. “This is an uphill battle.”

How steep is the hill Faris climbs? Very.

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She’s an underdog. Al Franken’s campaign war chest is millions of dollars deep.

He has name recognition from television appearances, books, magazine articles and his Air America radio show.

Faris has, to be sure, a famous father, business and legal experience and her convictions, which prompted her to file for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Norm Coleman on the last day — July 15 — of the filing period.

Listen to her.

“If you believe we have to take charge of our government and send people to Washington, D. C. who can reach across the aisle and get things done, join me in this campaign,” Faris intones on the homepage of her Web site. “Al Franken cannot win against Norm Coleman and every poll supports that conclusion.”

“I am running because I believe that the Wellstone seat should be occupied by someone who believes that we can do better — end the war, restore our standing in the world, be a more humane country, get our economy going again, provide health care for everyone, and stop corporate greed and partisanship from running the government,” Faris said.

“I believe that I am the ‘Minnesota Solution’ to a ‘New York City Problem,’” she said.

No debates

The two DFL candidates may never meet before the Sept. 8 state primary election.

The “Minnesota Solution” invited the “New York City Problem” to join her in three debates. He declined. This week at FarmFest, Faris will be a spectator, not a participant with other candidates in debates.

On Monday, her uphill climb took her to Rochester, Austin and Albert Lea for a series of media interviews designed to let the state’s voters know she is in the race.

After all, only three weeks ago she was weighing a decision to run.

She h as been “making a difference client by client” at her law firm, Faris & Faris in St. Paul.

Now, she wants to make a difference, voter by voter, in the entire state of Minnesota.

Answers

Born in Minneapolis, raised in the western suburbs, Faris is the daughter of former Minnesota Attorney General Miles Lord, who later served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota and Federal District Court Judge, and Maxine Lord.

Her younger brother, the late Jim Lord, was elected to the Minnesota Senate and later served two terms as a DFL State Treasurer.

Faris worked on the staff of Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey in 1963 and campaigned for the senator in his run for president in 1968. She served on the staff of Young Life in Washington D.C., taught third grade and special education and served as a member of League of Women Voters. Faris earned a law degree from Hamline University and then married attorney Wayne Faris.

Currently holds a real estate broker’s license in Minnesota and Wisconsin; she served on the boards of Little Earth Housing Community and Chrysalis; she’s a trained mediator; former member of Sunfish Lake City Council and current member of the University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Board and President’s Club. Faris has traveled to more than 15 foreign countries and been a lifelong advocate and community leader. She opened her own practice in 1993 to serve people in Minneapolis, St. Paul and across Minnesota who have been harmed by medical devices or medications or injured or killed in car accidents or through other tragic circumstances.

A mother of three, Faris spent two years lobbying for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and helped to write and pass “Social Host” legislation that helps keep alcohol from underage users after her teenage son was killed by a drunk driver.

Being the daughter of a famous father has advantages and disadvantages, Faris said. “He’s very opinionated and controversial, so there are some who love him and some who aren’t so fond of him,” she said. “I am very different from my father, although I am his daughter. I am what I am,” she said.

“I come from that family, but I operate in a very different manner from my dad,” she said.

Moving ahead

If there was no Al Franken senate bid, Faris would be practicing law, not talking to reporters on the campaign trail.

“I would never have considered getting into the race if they (Nelson-Pallmeyer and Ciresi) had been endorsed,” she said.

Franken was there and that propelled Faris to run.

“Number one,” she said, “I don’t believe he is a good representative of Minnesota values.

“Why do we have to have a comedian who lived in New York for 36 years representing us when he’s never been here in the trenches with us working with the DFL?” Faris said. “He’s got millions of dollars, only 17 percent of which is from Minnesota,” she said.

“Is he reflecting what we want our kids to adopt as their values? That’s my question,” she said.

Most of all, Faris doesn’t believe Franken is electable in a November race against the incumbent Republican.

“My goal is to get the Wellstone Democrat seat back,” she said.

“This senate seat is not just one vote,” she said. “It is potentially the 60th vote in the senate which can break the gridlock and help get us back on the right track. With President Obama and 60 democratic votes, we can end the war in Iraq and invest in jobs, infrastructure, education and health care.

“These are the urgent needs that the Bush-Cheney-Coleman team chooses to ignore,” she continued.

One of the handicaps of starting a campaign so late is fundraising — so little time to raise so much.

Can Faris do it?

“We’re sure trying,” she said. “We’re building a treasury to move ahead.”

For more about the candidate, go online to www.uniteminnesota.com.