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JOHN: Complicated fight over rules, which were addressed by several DFL officials and delegates. Here now with a live report from the Minneapolis Auditorium is John Gaddo.

JOHN GADDO: Claire Rumpel gaveled the convention to order shortly after 10 o'clock. And she took the opportunity to level the first of several attacks at Minnesota's independent Republican Party.

CLAIRE RUMPEL: The Republicans had their convention last week, and by now, we've heard the horror stories that have come out of it. It's astounding that something can be both horrible and boring at the same time, but they managed to do that. I know that we will have many battles that will divide us. We'll have standing divisions. We'll have counted votes. But I know that at the end of it, we know that we are the only party that the Minnesotans can count upon to be for the people.

JOHN GADDO: DFL Chair Claire Rumpel. Her remarks were followed by those of Minnesota attorney general and co-chairman of Minnesota's Carter-Mondale campaign, Warren Spannaus. Spannaus said the DFL is, for the most part, unified shy of bitterness and internal party fighting, and that together with the results of last week's IR Convention, will lead the DFL to victory at all levels this year.

WARREN SPANNAUS: The Republican Party of this state is speaking for a smaller and smaller segment of the people of Minnesota. Secondly, the governor and his Republican friends in the legislature are proving every day that they're meeting the needs and representing a smaller segment of the people of Minnesota. And unfortunately, this is not good for the state. But I think it's our responsibility to make sure that we turn that around this fall and make sure that all of the people of Minnesota are represented.

JOHN GADDO: Warren Spannaus speaking, opening day of the 1980 Minnesota DFL Convention in Minneapolis. I'm John Gaddo.

JOHN: The North Dakota Democratic State Convention is being held in Fargo this weekend. That began today, too. The platform committee met last night and took its most critical position ever on the Garrison Diversion project, defeating a more positive resolution by secretary of agriculture candidate, Buckshot Hoffner. That plank now reads, "We urge project sponsors of Garrison Diversion to address and earnestly seek equitable [AUDIO OUT].

The convention of Vice President Mondale expected to be among the highlights. Convention committee meetings got underway last night, with convention-wide activity taking up most of this first of three days of convention hearing today. NPR is providing part of the activity live throughout the weekend. And Bob Potter is now standing by in the convention hall with a look at what has already happened today. Bob?

BOB POTTER: Well, John, this first day of the convention is practically over. Rules adopted earlier today, call for adjournment at 6 o'clock no matter what. A number of fundraising events have been scheduled for tonight. And Vice President Walter Mondale will appear at at least two of them, a couple of get out the vote receptions earlier this evening, as well as a reception for 7th district congressional candidate Gene Wenstrom.

Mondale will have coffee with the Minnesota delegates already elected to the national convention tomorrow morning, and then he will address this gathering at about 10 o'clock. Of course, that address will be carried live on KSJN-AM 1330. The convention delegates spent most of today with a discussion of rules' arguments, and Pat Kessler has been taking a look at those.

PAT KESSLER: Essentially, the fight over Rule 50 was a fight over the winner-take-all concept of party voting. Now, under the proposed rules of the convention, the selection of national committee men and women would take place under a proportional voting system, in which any party group with 610 or more votes would control the election.

Now, the so-called Rainbow Coalition of progressive issues group has a good deal, more than 610 votes at this convention, so that group could conceivably control all four national committee posts to be filled at this convention. In a nutshell, that's what the argument was about. Rule 50 angered the pro-life faction at this convention, whose strength usually varies from 33% to 35%.

In order for the pro-life group to land a seat on the Democratic National Committee, it would have had to collect a lot more support on the floor, unlikely support from the many issues people. One pro-life delegate, upset with the proceedings, took to the microphone this afternoon to denounce the 1980 DFL party.

DONNA MURPHY: Donna Murphy, district 37. I thought this was the party of liberal people. I have some serious questions about our liberal intentions. When the majority in this party decides that there's no room for differences of opinions, I think we have to consider that we're changing the party considerably. Now, when we put through a rule that a subcaucus consists of 50% plus one person, who are we trying to kid?

AUDIENCE: But my people need a signal.

DONNA MURPHY: Now, the amendment that's been proposed is a compromise amendment. And personally, I didn't think the party should compromise on minority rights in this party. And I hope that there are some open-minded people in this room who will consider changing their vote.

PAT KESSLER: The convention voted down three challenges from the pro-life caucus, the first to reject the rule completely, the second and third to lower the number of votes needed to select a national committee post. The effect of the rule will be to allow what's called that Rainbow Coalition I mentioned earlier, the umbrella group for a grab bag of liberal factions, to elect their own candidates to the national committee.

But the long-term effect may be quite different. David Lebedoff, the DFL Party treasurer and political theorist, says Rule 50 will cut down on the factionalism within the DFL, and that, he says, is probably a good thing.

DAVID LEBEDOFF: The DFL lost miserably in 1978, in large part due to the fact of the factionalism that divided the state convention that year. If the factionalism-- if we don't find some way to overcome that factionalism now, we will continue to lose in 1980 and in 1982 and until we get that house in order.

In that sense, while these fights over rules seem so dull as opposed to fights over candidates, this is, in the long run, a far, far more significant convention than the others in recent years, because this-- the fight over rules is really a fight for the heart and soul of the party. Will it be a party of factions, or will it be a single party? I don't know. It's difficult to be optimistic, to be blunt, but there's no question that the stakes are very great.

PAT KESSLER: DFL Party treasurer David Lebedoff.

BOB POTTER: All right, Pat Kessler. This convention opened this morning with Attorney General Warren Spannaus and Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser criticizing the state IR platform adopted last weekend and predicting a number of DFL victories in November.

Whether the DFL endorsed candidates will stand by their party platform remains to be seen. There are scores of controversial platform planks which will be up for consideration throughout this weekend. The convention delegates began work on the party platform this afternoon, and Dick Daly has been looking at that.

DICK DALY: Already, Bob, in the-- oh, about an hour and a half since they began platform discussion, the delegates here have adopted several planks, most with a minimum of discussion. For example, they have called for federal loan rates on farm commodities at 90% of parity. They have taken a position opposing concentration by companies in the energy industry. They've adopted a multifaceted plank on making housing available to moderate and low-income persons.

And a vote is right now being tabulated on a plank that calls for a complete overhaul of the defense budget to eliminate what's called wasteful spending. Now, that's our second full-blown nose count of the day on a platform issue. The first occurred on a plank on support of the Equal Rights Amendment.

JOHN FRENCH: 973 total votes cast, 583.8 needed for passage. The vote in favor of the resolution was 693 against 280. The resolution carries by about a hundred votes.

DICK DALY: John French announcing from the podium the results of that nose count, which took well over an hour to tabulate on the Equal Rights Amendment. So this DFL convention is off and running on consideration of an adoption or rejection of platform planks, but it has a long, long ways to go, Bob.

BOB POTTER: Indeed, Dick, there will be more platform debate tomorrow, and as we indicated, the address by Vice President Walter Mondale at 10 o'clock, then the nomination and election of party officers, including Democratic National Committee members. That's where we expect the various factions at this convention to really show their strength.

At least three large groups are represented, pro-life people with allied conservatives, pro-choice people with allied liberals, and a group of Democrats who may be simply more interested in winning elections this November than in debating issues. Just where these folks will wind up on the party elections we will see during tomorrow's convention coverage. Along with Dick Daly, this is Bob Potter at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

JOHN: Thank you, gentlemen. Well, as election [AUDIO OUT]. Thank you, gentlemen. Well, as election [AUDIO OUT]. And most of that [AUDIO OUT] were from Pat Kessler at the DFL convention in Minneapolis.

PAT KESSLER: By far, the longest fight of the day, several hours, was over Rule number 50. Rule 50 essentially sets a winner-take-all rule in the election of national committee men and women. In order for any group to elect its candidates to the national committee, it must have at least 50% of the delegate vote.

It's clear that only one umbrella group of progressive issue, DFLers, has more than that 50%, and that has the pro-life delegation quite angry. Pro-lifers have about 34% of convention delegates in their corner, which they say shuts them out of any representation on the Democratic National Committee.

The convention turned back pro-life challenges three times today, first, to reject Rule 50 entirely and twice more to lower the number of votes needed to select a representative to the committee. That was the first defeat at this convention for the pro-life faction by the predominantly progressive issues wing of the DFL. Pro-lifers are regrouping later this evening to plan strategy for other challenges at this convention on Saturday and Sunday. This is Pat Kessler.

JOHN: Minnesota Attorney General Warren Spannaus told DFLers today that Governor Al Quie and Republican legislators, quote, "are speaking for a smaller and smaller segment of the people." Dick Daly at the convention center in Minneapolis. Dick?

DICK DALY: John, unlike the IR party, which could trot out a governor and two US senators at its convention, the DFL's a little short on major elected officials this year. We did, though, hear Attorney General Warren Spannaus and Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser call for party unity to get things underway today.

And they castigated the IRs for that conservative platform adopted last week. But the Minnesota DFL does, of course, have one major star. Vice President Walter Mondale arrived in town late today for a round of appearances, including a major address to delegates tomorrow morning. John Gaddo covered a Mondale press conference within the hour.

JOHN GADDO: Vice President Mondale told reporters that he'll emphasize President Carter's record when addressing delegates to the DFL convention here tomorrow morning. And he says the single most important task facing Minnesota's DFLers, as well as the rest of the country, is the alarming possibility of a Ronald Reagan presidency.

WALTER MONDALE: There isn't a group in Minnesota whose agenda wouldn't be threatened, workers, farmers, women, seniors, minority, people of modest means. Generations of public compassion and simple justice could be undone under that administration.

I'll be asking the people of Minnesota to examine governor Reagan's pronouncements and to compare them with our record. And when they do, I'm confident that the state of Minnesota will reelect the president and join with the rest of the nation in reelecting the president overwhelmingly.

JOHN GADDO: Earlier today, Minnesota attorney general and co-chair of the Minnesota Carter-Mondale campaign Warren Spannaus told delegates here that he expects Carter forces to gather only an additional eight national delegates, bringing the state's total to 35. That's less than half of the number of delegates representing Minnesota at the national convention. Mondale was asked his response to this projection.

WALTER MONDALE: I think at the convention, we'll do very well. I don't have a number, but traditionally, under the peculiar Minnesota rules, the delegates are not required to support a candidate at this stage. Most states require them to declare.

And for that reason, it's been traditional in Minnesota for candidates who have every intention of voting, in this case, I think for President Carter to remain at least nominally neutral until the convention. I think there's a lot more strength than that which has been announced. I don't have any numbers, but I'm convinced that's the case.

JOHN GADDO: Vice President Walter Mondale. Dick?

DICK DALY: Most of today's floor session was spent on maneuvering between conservative and liberal elements of the party and adoption of convention rules. And the liberals clearly prevailed. They established a rule that will allow them to elect all four national convention-- or national committee men and women. Tempers are beginning to get a trifle short. The frustration of defeat exhibited by a delegate who found fault with voting procedures in use during that rules fight.

MARGARET REIMER: Margaret Reimer, 8th congressional district. I can sit way over there. You're taking that count the second time. I can watch them pulling people off the floor. Now, if they stand there for half an hour, maybe you'll get the resolution passed.

Now, this is some of the unfair ethnic tactics that have been happening all day. Once they took the count, it should have been done. Now, this is the second count, and they've called about 20 people going like this, standing up on chairs. Now, is that fair for the other side? No, no.

DICK DALY: DFLers also adopted several platform planks, including strong support for the Equal Rights Amendment. The election of party officers is scheduled for tomorrow. Robert Kennedy Jr. will address delegates tomorrow afternoon. And we'll resume live coverage on KSJN-AM and WSCD-FM about 9:45 or 10:00 tomorrow morning with that address by Vice President Mondale. With Bob Potter, and Gary Eichten, and the convention crew in Minneapolis, this is Dick Daly.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

ROBERT KENNEDY JR.: Than any words about his failures in office-- than any words about his failures in office and his prospects in the general election.

SPEAKER: It's not my inclination to respond to every erroneous allegation that Senator Kennedy has made. First of all, his statements have not been true. They've not been accurate. And they have not been responsible. And they have not helped our country.

SPEAKER: I've said over and over again that what they face in November with Carter and Reagan is not a choice. It is a dilemma. It is a dilemma.

BOB POTTER: Good morning. Live from the Minneapolis Auditorium and Convention Center, this is Bob Potter along with Dick Daly, with this second day of the 1980 Minnesota DFL Convention. This is going to be a busy day for the 1,300 and some delegates here at the Minneapolis Auditorium. In about, oh, 10 or 15 minutes or so, we'll be hearing an address by Vice President Walter Mondale.

Also on the schedule today, the election of party officers and, as always, more debate on the party platform. As a matter of fact, Dick, they have already begun a little bit of discussion on the party platform after having slogged through about 12 to 15 items yesterday already.

DICK DALY: Yes, they're actually moving fairly fast on the platform, Bob. Only the couple of nose count votes slowed things down on a couple of the more controversial items, but other than that, they were able to move ahead fairly speedily, doing what parties traditionally do at these conventions, squeezing a little bit of platform business in every time they have a spare minute to try to get one or two more items taken care of.

And over the course of these couple of days, they'll accumulate a lot of action on the platform. Whether they'll get the whole job done remains to be seen. I would tend to doubt it, but they're going to try obviously.

BOB POTTER: It's always a possibility. The way they are proceeding on the platform is taking the first item of each of about 15 major broad categories in alphabetical order, ranging from agriculture through world affairs. That way, they manage to cover at least, to some extent, one or two topics, at least in all of those broad areas. They're not going at it from taking all of the agricultural items and then moving on to all the business items and so on and so forth. They're rather taking them by category one at a time.

As we said, Vice President Mondale expected to address this convention in about 10 minutes or so. There is a fairly strong indication that Robert Kennedy Jr. will be here in Minneapolis today, sometime middle part of the afternoon. But whether he will actually have an opportunity to speak to this convention is still unclear. It's not known whether his schedule will permit that.

His purpose in coming, of course, is to try to meet individually with a number of the delegates who might be interested in going to the convention, either as uncommitted or ideally from his standpoint, of course, as outright Kennedy backers. There will be a total of 24 delegates to the National Democratic Convention elected here. That will occur tomorrow.

Seven of those people will be elected officials or office holders in the DFL Party. The rest of them will come from the rank and file. At this point, about 27 or 28 of the delegates already selected are supporting the Carter-Mondale ticket, five are committed to Edward-Kennedy, and 18 or 19 are uncommitted. The total strength of the Minnesota delegation at the New York Convention, August 11 through 14, will be 75.

DICK DALY: We picked up an interesting bit of information, Bob, in talking with some people who attended the Kennedy caucus last evening. One might tend to believe based on that rolls vote yesterday on controversial rule 50, which was considered a defeat for pro-life elements at this convention, for conservatives generally at the convention, that the liberals here and many of them Kennedy backers are in pretty good shape.

But the Kennedy people we understand are going to want to get some kind of another test vote of their strength here fairly early because they believe a number of alternates were on the floor during that vote yesterday, and that many of the alternates are more liberal than-- are the actual delegates. Some of the delegates had not come in for yesterday's session, but they will be here today. And so that relative balance may change some with the people, the individuals who are actually sitting on the floor today. We'll see.

BOB POTTER: There are a total of about 1,300 delegates here. And as Dick was indicating, the major item of business yesterday was a procedural vote on a rule which affects the way national committee-- Democratic National Committee members are going to be elected today. The convention delegates went along with a rule, as suggested by the Rules Committee, that will require a majority vote for someone to be elected to the Democratic National Committee.

There are four slots open on the Democratic National Committee. Two national committee men and two national committee women will be elected today. The pro-life people had argued that the number that should be required to elect a member should be reduced to one fourth of the total delegate strength. That amendment or that proposal lost by about a 55% to 45% margin.

An attempt to have the number reduced to one third needed to elect a Democratic National Committee member was also rejected on a standing vote, as I recall. And so the first day of the convention yesterday was really marked by that procedural item primarily and by discussion and minimal debate and voting on about 12 to 15 platform planks.

A couple of those platform planks are worth highlighting at this point as we await the arrival of Vice President Mondale. One of the more controversial planks approved yesterday calls for continued Minnesota DFL support of the Equal Rights Amendment and, along with that, working for the so-called blueprint for equality that was adopted at the International Women's Year Convention in Houston, Texas, some time ago.

The next item on that particular part of the platform, the so-called civil rights and human rights part, calls for the Human Life Amendment matter to be discussed. And at the point when that comes up in alphabetical order, which will probably be about the next item they get to, there will very likely be some interesting developments. 25% of the delegates can ask that an item be set aside for special consideration. Otherwise, the platform items are simply voted on yes or no. They can be voted on by written vote if enough of the delegates request.

Another item that was adopted yesterday calls for an overhaul of the US defense budget with an aim toward cutting costs. Again, this is a platform plank that differs substantially from the approach adopted by the independent Republicans meeting in Duluth last weekend.

The independent Republicans called for a greater defense spending for, as a matter of fact, the United States to achieve total overall military superiority over the Soviet Union. The DFL in that particular plank is calling for an overhaul of the defense budget to eliminate waste.

Another item that was adopted yesterday calls for, in part, wage and price controls as a means of attempting to get a grip on inflation. The DFL delegates also approved a plank calling for support of alternative energy projects, including such things as district heating, additional insulation, and things of that kind. The next item in that particular list of platform suggestions calls for a nuclear moratorium, and we'll get to that probably later on today as well.

DICK DALY: They are just moving into the human life question on the party platform. And I think we might have some fairly interesting discussion here on platform in the next few minutes, Bob.

BOB POTTER: So perhaps we should go to the floor and listen to a little bit of this--

DICK DALY: Well, I think that right now, we have a woman who is asking a procedural question or something like that. But I think very shortly now, we can-- I might just note in as one of the interesting little sidelights to a convention that our chair-- one of our chairs, John French, just announced that he's having some difficulty controlling things because someone has stolen the gavel. So he was rapping on the little podium with the flat of his hand and managed to get the attention of people.

BOB POTTER: Takes quite a bit of gavel pounding to get the group to order, particularly during the first few minutes of the convention, was actually called into session in about 9:15, 9:20 this morning with very routine business, the order of the day at that point, things like preliminary credentials report and matters of that nature.

The agenda that has been adopted calls for consideration of the so-called special items in the platform at, I believe, 10:15 this morning or probably as soon as Vice President Mondale has finished speaking. There aren't very many of those yet on the agenda for special consideration.

DICK DALY: Oh, and here comes Vice President Mondale, Bob. So we're going to hold human life off till a little later.

[APPLAUSE]

BOB POTTER: All right. I can't see just exactly where it is he's coming from. But everybody is on their feet applauding. Two people are waving "Carter-Mondale" signs, "Minnesota for Fritz" and "Minnesota for Mondale." Hand-painted signs are among the ones being waved right now, a couple of the-- or rather a fair number of the official "Reelect Carter-Mondale" campaign posters that have obviously been printed up by the national campaign with a picture of Carter and Mondale on that particular poster.

The vice president is being escorted to the podium by Attorney General Warren Spannaus, the chairman of the Carter-Mondale campaign in Minnesota. Mondale now on the podium. Everybody can see him, the reason for the little additional burst of applause there, shaking hands with party chair Claire Rumpel and other dignitaries at the table. The vice president smiling and waving at the delegates here. This is his home country, of course, and a rousing welcome for him would be altogether expected and in order.

There hasn't been a great deal of enthusiasm demonstrated until this moment for the Carter-Mondale ticket. The number of "Carter-Mondale" signs in the auditorium is relatively few, perhaps not as many "Carter-Mondale" signs as there had been signs last weekend in Duluth for Ronald Reagan. John French, now introducing Claire Rumpel, who is going to formally introduce the vice president.

CLAIRE RUMPEL: Before we hear from the vice president this morning, it's my pleasure to introduce Congressman Martin Sabo, who has begun representing in his freshman year the 5th congressional district in the proud and courageous tradition to which they've become accustomed. Congressman Sabo.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

BOB POTTER: Martin Sabo, of course, the former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He went to Congress in 1978 when Don Fraser decided to step down from Congress and run for the United States Senate seat. Fraser did not win that election, of course, and subsequently became mayor of Minneapolis. Here is Martin Sabo.

MARTIN SABO: Thank you, Claire and DFL friends. I'm pleased to introduce Fritz Mondale this morning, an easy assignment to anywhere and especially a pleasure at this convention. Before I do that, let me say a word of welcome to all of you. We're glad to have you in Minneapolis and in the 5th district.

And as the hometown congressman, I get this special place in the program to say a few words, maybe in 1988 before this convention is back in Minneapolis. So I'm going to take this chance when I have it and be just a little less brief than I usually am.

Hubert Humphrey used to stand before these conventions and tell us year after year that we had better be united. You remember all the reasons. Sometimes we listen to that advice. Sometimes we didn't. When we listened, we won. When we didn't listen, we lost. This year, all the reasons for Democrats to pull together can be summarized in two words-- Ronald Reagan.

[APPLAUSE]

In yesterday's paper, I read that a group of Republicans have formed a committee to raise $30 million. They're going to use that $30 million trying to put Ronald Reagan in the White House. All I can say, that is the most outrageous and cynical maneuver I have seen in a long, long time.

[APPLAUSE]

During Watergate, America's constitutional fabric was nearly torn apart. In the wake of that crisis, which changed our political system, we said that never again will someone be able to buy their way into the presidency. We said that presidential campaigns are public business to be paid for by public funds. We said those funds will be limited and evenly divided between the candidates.

Now, the Republicans are trying to undo those reforms. They are trying to double the amount of money Ronald Reagan can spend to get elected president. They are calling it an independent committee made up of Republican US senators. You know what it is.

The Republicans have already forgotten the lessons of Watergate. It shows what we're up against in 1980. We're up against a Republican Party that's hungry, a party that's tasted some success unfortunately even in our state, and a party that wants a whole lot more. But we don't have to let them have more, and I don't believe we will.

[APPLAUSE]

We're going to realize once again, we agree much more than we differ. We're going to meet our obligations to those in our society who look to us for help. And we're going to unite to make sure that decent and compassionate government prevails at every level throughout our country.

[APPLAUSE]

Minnesotans can be proud that our leader in that cause, again, is Fritz Mondale.

[APPLAUSE]

Fritz has come a long way since traveling the dusty roads of the 2nd district in behalf of Hubert Humphrey in 1948. He has served this party fervently since its beginning. And we owe him a great debt of thanks. For me, this year, Fritz Mondale is a nostalgia candidate. We both got into public office in 1960. That was a long, long time ago, almost back when Ronald Reagan was a liberal Democrat and certainly, when John Anderson was a conservative Republican.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

A lot of people have changed since then, but not Fritz Mondale. His commitment to social justice has not wavered. And he is, in my opinion, the principal spokesman in America today for the ideals which this party has always stood for. I am looking--

[APPLAUSE]

I am looking forward to what he has to say this morning, and I know you are, too. So I'm pleased and proud to say, let's give a rousing Minnesota welcome to the Vice President of the United States, Fritz Mondale.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you, Thank you for making a difference. Thank you very much. Thank you. Can you take this?

SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE]

WALTER MONDALE: OK. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Lebedoff, how are you? Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER: Yes.

WALTER MONDALE: Some of these kinds of submissions. They're some of these kinds of submissions.

SPEAKER: Yeah, yeah.

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you very much.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]!

WALTER MONDALE: Thank you very--

[CHEERS]

I'm in enough trouble the way it is. Sit down. It's an honor to be introduced by my good friend Marty Sabo, who comments about the nostalgia of the moment. And I, too, remember those days when Marty Sabo was 21 years old, got elected to the legislature before he knew where it was.

And just think, now, 20 years later, he sits on the House Appropriations Committee, the most powerful committee in any parliamentary body on earth, and personally decides how to spend $610 billion this year. Only half of it will go to Minneapolis this year.

[LAUGHTER]

But he's doing his best. And I remember the day when Warren Spannaus was supporting the Carter-Mondale ticket as well.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

The president asked me to extend a personal message to you, Warren, in private, to Claire Rumpel, our state chairperson, to the Marty Sabo, our congressman, Congressman Bruce Vento, Attorney General Warren--

[CHEERS]

Attorney General Warren Spannaus, Secretary of State Joan Growe, State Treasurer Jimmy Lord, and one person who's not with us this morning-- I understand you passed a resolution. After my speech, I'm going to go out and see him personally. This party has never had a better leader, a more humane and honest spokesman, a more consistent and loyal advocate of the best in human nature as expressed through government than Nick Coleman.

[APPLAUSE]

And I know our prayers are for his early recovery. And I'm going to go, as I said, to visit him shortly. And I know he'll be thrilled by the unanimous resolution of this convention, urging his early-- expressing our concerns and our prayers. And I'll tell him, Nick, it's probably the only unanimous resolution that's going to be passed at this convention.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

Today is the end of the primary campaign for me. I've been on the road since really August of this last year. I have traveled over 120,000 miles in the United States, not discounting Peking, discounting Belgrade, just in the United States. I was campaigning in so many towns. You won't believe it. I was in towns that Hubert Humphrey had never been in.

[LAUGHTER]

And I don't say it to complain, but to point out that's the best way to learn about your nation. I remember in the Iowa caucuses when a farmer came up to me and he said, we've got these high interest rates and this high inflation, this tight budget. Russians aren't behaving. He said none of that would be true if Ronald Reagan were still alive.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

Then the other day, I was in Los Angeles. And I came across a fact that's going to defeat Reagan as soon as it's known. Since we're here alone and there are no cameras, I thought I'd announce it today. Do you know that in Ronald Reagan's first movie, Gabby Hayes got the girl?

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

When that gets out, he's a goner. The nation is not ready for that. And then last week or the week before, I forget which, I went to Atlantic City. And they've just voted a resolution through there that permits gambling in Atlantic City.

And the mayor asked me to look at the new slot machine they're putting in. I'd never seen one before in my life. It's called the Republican. And unlike most slot machines, all it has is pictures of past Republican presidents. And he said, you can play that machine all day long and all night long, and you get nothing but lemons.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

We're hoping that our material improves later on in the campaign. I have been with you and in this political party as long as I have been active in politics and almost from the time of I graduated from high school. I remember going to Mankato in 1948--

[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

And serving as the 19-year-old chairman of the Humphrey and the Truman campaigns in that election. In all of these years, I have been privileged and honored to be with you in struggle after struggle now for over 30 years in the most progressive and caring and thoughtful political party anywhere in the world today

[APPLAUSE]

Each of you, as you well know, is a trustee of the progressive faith of our state and our nation. We like to remind ourselves of the greatness of Hubert Humphrey. And no public leader in the history of our country, in my opinion, more fully expressed the sense of compassion, and caring, and commitment, the sense of joy in the process of a free people, the sense of responsibility in a troubled world more than Hubert Humphrey.

But Hubert would be the first to say none of it could have happened unless the people of Minnesota and the DFL Party of Minnesota permitted it to happen. I remember and there are some old timers in this room who remembered when we thought it would be impossible for Hubert to be elected to the United States Senate.

When we had so few members of the legislature, we couldn't sustain a veto. We couldn't almost, in some cases, get a second to a bill or to a proposal. It was a time of despair. And along came Hubert and with him, hundreds and then thousands and thousands of Democrats, who said that this state and this nation had to be progressive and caring again.

That is the tradition. That is the purpose of this Democratic Party. If we don't care, if we're not compassionate, if we're not capable of looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others, if we're not constantly pressing and crowding our government and each other to do better, to be more caring, then we have lost the purpose that brings us together.

[APPLAUSE]

I say that because that belief, that objective, is more in demand in this nation and in this state today than I think at any time that I've been involved in politics. This party must lead. And each of you, as delegates, must help us lead. You've got leaders and you need them. But a leader can only go as far as this party will permit it.

And that means that each of you must help in your own way to take the varied and conflicting demands that we make upon government and upon each other, to round the edges so we can get along with each other, to understand the other person as well as yourself, and then together, get this party back into a position where we are the dominant political force in this state and in this nation again.

[APPLAUSE]

And that thrust and that objective is more complex and challenging than it's been for many, many years. I can recall replacing Hubert in the Senate in the last day of 1964. Those were good days to be in public life as a liberal. We were able to cut tax rates and increase revenues. We passed so much legislation the parliamentarian couldn't keep it straight.

We dealt with practically every conceivable social and economic problem in our nation. Whether it was education, or health, or humanities, or agriculture, or economic development, or housing, name it, we were acting and we were acting effectively. We could do all of that without inciting inflation.

And we could add jobs without any difficulties whatsoever. Those were good days. But they were different days than today. And you have to measure anyone in public life by the problems of this world as they are now and not by some world that does not exist.

Then we imported only 14% of our oil, and all of it was cheap. There was no OPEC driving up the price of international oil the way they are now. That has changed. And over this past 10 years increasingly, not just the United States, but the world has been on a rising inflationary spiral that has shocked every economy in the world.

Today, we import 50% of our oil, and all of it is god-awful expensive. In the last year alone, the cost of international oil, which we do not control, has gone up by more in a single year than it had from the day that oil was first discovered nearly a hundred years ago.

Every family in Minnesota and in this nation pays an invisible bill this year of about $1,500 to purchase the cost of importing foreign oil. It is the chief source of inflation today. It is the chief threat to our job, and it is a threat to the independence of our nation.

We were in office. You elected us. We couldn't just decry that problem. We had to go to work on it. And in 1977, your president stood up and warned the nation when we weren't listening that the energy crisis was the moral equivalent of war. I think Americans now understand it. The Congress now understands it.

But they didn't then. And we've now begun the long, tough task of turning the policies of this nation around so that we eliminate first by reducing and then eliminating our need for foreign oil. This past year, we accomplished something that they said we couldn't do. We nicked the major oil companies for a windfall profits tax of $227 billion.

[APPLAUSE]

And we're going to use that money. We're going to use that money to reduce our dependency on foreign oil by 2/3 in this decade. And instead of sending billions and billions of dollars overseas that buy us nothing but inflation and unemployment, we're going to use that money to hire American businesses, to hire American workers, to develop America's energy resources and return America to the control of her future.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

Secondly, we had to deal with this inflation. There was no alternative. And when we ran for office, the Republicans had run up a deficit, the highest peacetime deficit in the history of our country, $67 billion.

And in a range of steps that have not been popular but that had to be taken, if we were going to get these interest rates and this inflation down so people could have some money when they were through working, and some savings that didn't turn into water, and an investment climate that people would invest in to produce jobs for our country, and a stable dollar that would give us strength in international affairs, we had to act, and we did.

And I'm pleased to say that we're licking that problem. The inflation rate in the reports this Friday are down at 3%. The previous month, they were at 6%. Interest rates have fallen more in the last five weeks than in any period in the entire history of this country. We're going to get that inflation down. We're going to get those interest rates down. We're going to move toward full employment and deal with the real problems of the people of this country.

[APPLAUSE]

But even as we've done this-- and I want you to listen carefully, because the record of our accomplishments is the best-kept secret in America today. It is the result of massive national amnesia, which I'm about to correct this morning.

[APPLAUSE]

This administration did not cut Medicare or Medicaid. We haven't cut the Job Corps or assisted housing. We haven't cut Head Start. We've doubled Head Start, or education, or any of the other great social programs. Even with the present difficulties that we're facing in the past 3 and 1/2 years under this administration, more people have been added to the workforce than under the administration of any other president in the history of the United States.

[APPLAUSE]

I am a pro-education nut. I think the best thing we ever do is to educate our kids and to give people a chance. And even as we've cut that deficit, we've doubled the Head Start money. We've increased Title I money for the poor kids of this country by 67%. We have tripled funding for the education of the handicapped.

We've increased educational help for bilingual education, Indian education. We have doubled student support so kids can go on to college and to vocational school. We have created a separate department of education. No administration in American history has done more than this administration to educate the kids of this country, and I'm proud of it.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

We've done more for the cities than any administration in American history. Practically, every mayor-- wait till I hit the line here, Marko.

[LAUGHTER]

When the hand goes like this, Marko, just cheer. See? That's right. I've been all over this country. Practically, every Democratic mayor in America supports this administration because of our record, except one. And Ted's trying to give her back. Now--

[APPLAUSE]

Every city in this country is better off because of our policies. We have broken agricultural export records three years in a row and will break them again this year. When we came into office, the Social Security Trust Fund was going broke, if you can believe it.

33 million Americans, senior citizens, work for a living, contributed to that fund, are going to find that the money wasn't there. The first thing we did was to restore the integrity of the Social Security Trust Fund. And from here on out, the rest of this century, the seniors will get that check adjusted for inflation, thanks to the support of this administration.

[APPLAUSE]

Our record on civil rights is as good or better than any administration in American history. We took the pros who had spent their life fighting for civil rights on the outside. And we took Eleanor Holmes Norton and [INAUDIBLE], and the rest, and we put them in charge of the programs on the inside. And we have appointed more Blacks, more minorities, and more women to the federal bench in the last three years than all the previous presidents in the history of this nation combined.

[APPLAUSE]

We eliminated the cash down payment for food stamps. We reformed the civil service system. We created a farmer-held reserve system. We passed the biggest minimum wage in history. We established a cabinet-level department of education. We put in place thanks to Walter Mondale's committee-- and I want to mention his name from time to time this morning-- the first youth employment program in American history. We've committed unprecedented resources to mass transit, housing, solar energy, legal services for the poor, child health, rural health, Indian health, and everybody else's health.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]!

WALTER MONDALE: What? Let me take--

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]!

WALTER MONDALE: Oh, let me get to that later. Let me just say something. Let me just say something here, if I can, about Minnesota. I haven't forgotten this state. I work for our nation. But that I am the first vice president to be in the White House proper, the West Wing. And I have fought for my state every chance where it was honorable to do so. For 20 years--

[APPLAUSE]

For 20 years, the farmers of this state have wanted a modern Lock and Dam 26 to modernize the river transportation system. It never got done. Under this administration, the first contracts have gone out. We're going to modernize that system, and it's the best news for the farmers of this area.

[APPLAUSE]

We have announced under this administration a $300 or $400 million high-speed rail system. To haul grain and other commodities, we had to start somewhere. So we picked the Twin Cities down to the major markets in the South to help reduce transportation costs for the farmers of this area.

Just June 1, the first Northwest Airlines flight left the Twin Cities airport and flew directly to London. That's going to mean enormous new business coming through the great Upper Midwest and through the Twin Cities as a result of making the Twin Cities the gateway to Europe. We have approved the Northern Tier pipeline, which for the first time, will bring oil from the whole world into Minnesota, where we desperately need it.

[APPLAUSE]

And within a few days, within a few days, we hope to announce the approval of the gas Arctic pipeline, which will be the largest private project in the history of mankind, to bring Alaskan natural gas down to Clearbrook, Minnesota, where it belongs.

[APPLAUSE]

All of these developments are good and fundamental for our state. We haven't gotten everything we wanted. And this is the second point I want to make to all of my Democratic friends here this morning. Not every problem in this country today is just the responsibility of the president. It takes two to tango in Washington.

I grew up in the Congress. I know about the Congress. It's a good Congress. And the Democrats from Minnesota are supporting us all the way. But we propose the most progressive national health insurance program of any sitting president, and the Congress didn't pass it. We were the first to propose labor law reform since Franklin Roosevelt, and the Congress didn't pass it.

We proposed hospital cost containment to keep these hospital costs down, and it wasn't passed. We fought for welfare reform, and it wasn't passed. We fought for tax reform, and it wasn't passed. In order in this great democracy to get done what we need done, we've got to elect congressmen and women and senators that'll go down and help this nation be progressive. We need at least two good new senators from the state of Minnesota to help out.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

And we need four congressmen. And we need at least four new congressmen to help us out. And we'll get a lot done. And Marty put his finger on the biggest problem politically in this decade. This administration, as one of its first acts, asked the Congress to pass a system of public financing for congressional elections.

This nation belongs to the American people. It is not up for sale. But unless we reform the present system of financing, it will be bought by people with big money. Let us pass congressional finance reform and pass it now.

[APPLAUSE]

We've worked hard in the international area. After seven years, we passed an agreed-- we agreed with the Soviet Union on a strategic armaments limits treaty. After the invasion of Afghanistan, we had to defer-- I want to underline that-- defer the presentation of that treaty to the Senate.

But just as soon as it is possible, as soon as the Soviets will behave in a way that will permit an environment in which it can be adopted, the security interests of this nation and the sanity of the world requires the ratification of the SALT II treaty to help restrain the growth of nuclear armaments in this world.

[APPLAUSE]

After 20 years of failure, we sought and caused the ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty disabusing this nation of the last vestige of colonialism.

[APPLAUSE]

After 30 years of acrimony, it was this administration that opened up diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. After 30 years of war and hatred, it was this administration that brought peace between Israel and Egypt after--

[APPLAUSE]

When Prime Minister Begin visited Egypt last year, he was the first head of the state of Israel to do so in 2,500 years. Today, we're not exchanging bullets. We're exchanging ambassadors because we've got a president who's bringing peace in the Middle East.

[APPLAUSE]

When we took office, this country was persona non grata in Black Africa. We had been so cynical and so manipulative that we virtually weren't welcome there. It was my privilege as a new vice president to go to Vienna and tell the prime minister of South Africa that that policy was behind us, and America now stood for majority rule in control of the governments of Africa.

[APPLAUSE]

And we now have a Democratic-elected government in Zimbabwe. And we hope to move ahead in other countries as well. Now, you know all of that. The question is, what do we do about it? One night when a story came in from the state about some dissent, somebody asked me, what goes on in Minnesota? Well, I said a lot of things. But one thing you have to understand is this-- the thought that a Minnesota politician would get a decent night's sleep is intolerable to the Democrats of our state.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

And in that, we have succeeded. I have not had a decent night's sleep in 30 years. But I enjoy it. Nothing's as quiet as a cemetery, and you'll find a lot of dead people there. This party is not dead. It's alive. It is not a cemetery.

[APPLAUSE]

We're open. We're diverse. We differ. And that's our strength. We debate the issues. We care about our platform. We endorse our candidates. And also, we organize to elect them. And that's what we must do very well, especially well in 1980. We must organize. We must get out the vote. We lost the legislature last time, I think, just purely on voter turnout. We've got to raise some money.

And we've got to get these fine legislative candidates. I don't like one vote majorities in the State House of Representatives. I want to get it back. I believe with Hubert. There ought to be two political parties, one in and one out. And I think the Republicans ought to be clear out of that legislature. And we ought to elect that Senate and that House and give them the support that they need.

[APPLAUSE]

We need to add to our congressional leadership. And in 1982, we need to start working our way back in the Senate. And we need that governor's chair back belonging to the people of Minnesota again.

[APPLAUSE]

But to do that, we have to get serious again. As Hubert once put it, politics is a serious business. It's not a boy's game where you can pick up the ball and run home. If you think things, don't go according to your own idea. We've got to give unity not at any price. We've got to have our debates. We've got to be open. Let's round those edges just a little bit to keep the unity that we need. The Republican Party in this state is positively un-Minnesotan.

[APPLAUSE]

I never thought that I'd live to see the day that any political party in Minnesota would come out against the Equal Rights Amendment, never.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE]

WALTER MONDALE: No, don't worry about it. Thank you very much. And I never-- and I never thought-- and I never thought that any political party in Minnesota come as they do from educated people because we're educated in our state.

Seeing the horrors and the dangers of nuclear warfare would come out against the ratification of an agreement sponsored, among other things, by every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We need to control nuclear armaments. It's in our interests. And to be against that is to risk mankind itself.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

And they've got the candidate that they want. They've got a fresh face named Ronald Reagan. What does he stand for? It can't be the value of a decent living because he's officially opposed to the minimum wage. It can't be the value of health and safety because he wants to abolish the OSHA Act.

It can't be the dignity of our seniors because he has publicly questioned the Social Security system. It can't be the integrity of our family farms because he said price supports are too high, and he doesn't understand parity. It can't be the independence--

[APPLAUSE]

It can't be the independence of this country because he said this nation's energy problems should be turned over completely to big oil. It can't be the value of equal opportunity because he called the Civil Rights Acts of the '60s the greatest mistake made by this nation.

It can't be the value of peace because Mr. Reagan said the first thing he will do as president is tear up the SALT II agreement on international television. He wants to deal with the problems of Afghanistan by blockading Cuba. That man doesn't need a majority. He needs a map.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

Reagan once said, and I quote him accurately, "I have always thought that the best thing that government can do is nothing." And nothing is exactly what he'd do for us if he got elected, which he won't.

[APPLAUSE]

Now, some people say he can be elected. I was asked that the other day, and I said, look, in the last year, the Republicans have been debating the question of who will do the least for the working men and women of this country, and Reagan won that combat. The final election is who's going to do the most for the working men and women of this country, and we'll win that election.

[APPLAUSE]

This year, for the first time, the Republicans seem ready to nominate not one, but two candidates for president. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Reagan grew up 40 miles from each other, and they've been together ever since. Together, they voted against food stamps, against Medicare, the minimum wage, legal services for the poor, and the strong Voting Rights Act.

They stood together for Barry Goldwater for president of the United States. But now they say, forget all that. There's a new Anderson. Well, let's take a look at the new Anderson. Eight years ago, he voted to waive environmental standards to speed nuclear plant licensing. Five years ago, he voted against public service jobs. Three years ago, he voted against labor law reform. Two years ago, he voted against Humphrey-Hawkins.

And this year, he is the only candidate to run for president of the United States who says we ought to cut Social Security payments for the senior citizens of this country. That's the Anderson difference, and it isn't any difference at all. He's the same as any other Republican. And if we work together starting today, he'll be in the same losing column with his fellow Republican, Ronald Reagan, in November. And let's be sure that that happens.

[APPLAUSE]

Now, it is our task in this convention in the remaining months to put this DFL Party in a role of leadership again, not just to talk, but to govern, to be the conscience of this state and of this nation again, to serve the needs of the poor and the sick, and the elderly, and the minorities, and the working men and women, and the people who want to work and can't find jobs.

This party has devoted itself to helping people since it was created. It has been the most powerful source of leadership and social justice in the modern history of our beloved country. I come to you again this morning as a public officer who has been blessed by your support now for 20 long years and holding, thanks to your help and thanks to the reputation of the Democratic Party of Minnesota, the second highest office in the freest nation on Earth.

And I come to you today, unlike I have so many times in the past, because in my role, I have to spend so much time elsewhere around this nation and around this world discharging the responsibilities of that office. And that's what you want me to do. I don't have the time I'd like to be with you, the time I used to have as a Senator, as an attorney general, and as a field man for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

But I'm here today to ask each of you to, first of all, see, as I believe you do, the importance of a strong and powerful DFL party, strong in values, strong in political effectiveness, strong in courage and in honesty. And secondly, to ponder the need to reassert the progressive forces with confidence and strength in America today, this party must lead, or it won't get done.

You must help, or we can't win. We must together find that special spirit that we've had and need again to understand, to care, to know, to love, to try and put this nation once again on the strong-- and this state on the strong and effective path toward social justice here throughout our nation and in the world. Thank you very much.

[APPLAUSE]

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

BOB POTTER: Vice President Walter Mondale, addressing this 1980 DFL Convention. Quite a stem-winder, Dick Daly, quite a stem-winder.

DICK DALY: It was an unusually vigorous speech, I thought, by the vice president, unusually partisan. I mean, he was really hard-hitting. He left absolutely no doubt that he's extremely proud of the record that the Carter-Mondale administration has established in these century and a half years now in office, and that he views the threat of Governor Reagan and independent candidate Anderson as being not what this country needs at all.

He just didn't pull any punches at all. Early in the speech, he had a few funny Ronald Reagan stories, but later in the speech, really came down hard on that issue. This crowd, of course, is terribly enthusiastic. The vice president got his many strong rounds of applause during the address itself.

His support for the Equal Rights Amendment-- or actually, his comment that he couldn't imagine a Minnesota political party, namely the independent Republicans opposing ERA as they did in their convention last week, brought a standing round of applause from the delegates here. And he's now down on the floor, somewhat to the consternation of his Secret Service entourage, I suspect.

BOB POTTER: And I think that Pat Kessler is, in fact, very close to him and-- yeah, right. Go ahead, Pat.

PAT KESSLER: Will you--

BOB POTTER: If Pat Kessler can hear us while we are all set to go to him. And he's very close to--

SPEAKER: In the hall, who wish to have their picture taken--

BOB POTTER: And we'll have him in just a second. We can go to him instantly. Go ahead.

PAT KESSLER: I've got some 8th district delegates here sampling reaction to Walter Mondale's speech. What did you think about it? Did it reflect your views of the DFL Party?

AUDIENCE: In many ways, it did. But he avoided the issue of pro-life. I'm a pro-life person. He had a heckler up there that asked him to address the subject of abortions. And he said he'll get to it later, and he didn't. And there was quite a strong feeling that the Carter-Mondale people are not addressing the issue. They're riding the fence. They're not expressing their views, and we don't feel that they're with us.

PAT KESSLER: How about you, sir?

AUDIENCE: I have to agree with what she has said. However, I do accept most of the other things that the vice president has said, especially in the areas of education. The party has been strong. The president has been strong in these areas, and we really appreciate that. The only concern I have as a pro-life person, I wish he would have addressed us to his position and the position of the administration as compared to what Reagan says and Reagan's stance. I guess that's one of our major concerns at this time.

PAT KESSLER: So other than pro-life, both of you feel that the issues he addressed in his speech this morning reflect pretty much the DFL ideals.

AUDIENCE: Yeah, very much so. I am an education person also. And I agree on the new Department of Education and their support of education have been in contact with our legislators on that.

AUDIENCE: I'm not so sure that all of the people strongly support the foreign policy either. I think probably a majority do, but there are still some people in our district who did not support the position, perhaps in Panama. There are some who think that we should have kept it. There are not all who agree with him and his stand with the Olympics and Afghanistan. But by and large, I think we do support most of the things that the president and this administration has done.

PAT KESSLER: He mentioned that if Ronald Reagan were elected, Reagan would tear up the SALT treaty on international television. Would you like to see something like that?

AUDIENCE: We would like to--

AUDIENCE: I don't know. I don't agree with Reagan on most issues and not certainly that. I'm not really informed about SALT II. And for me to make a judgment or a decision about what SALT II is all about, that would really be wrong.

PAT KESSLER: OK, then for both of you, the bottom line-- you say that you don't agree with his-- he did not address the pro-life issue, and you're upset about that. Will you still vote for Carter-Mondale?

AUDIENCE: Oh, 100%. No doubt. We'll work for him, too.

PAT KESSLER: How about you?

AUDIENCE: I'm not certain.

PAT KESSLER: Who would you support?

AUDIENCE: Because of all of our unemployment and so forth and dissatisfaction with quite a few of the things that Carter has done, my husband and I are still just not decided.

PAT KESSLER: Thank you very much. Back up to you.

DICK DALY: Pat Kessler from the convention floor getting some reaction from a couple of delegates. The vice president, I think, is either out of the hole now, Bob, or right near the door. I think he's perhaps left, but he did, as they say, press the flesh a bit to the delight of at least some relatives. No, I guess he is still on the floor. And, in fact, we can see him over near the television platform, television camera platform, again, greeting some people and I think enjoying this homecoming very much.

It isn't that Mondale doesn't get back to Minnesota frequently because he does. And I've heard him speak, Bob, and I'm sure you have several times in the last few years. The speeches tend to be generally humorous, and low-key, and so on. Not the case today. That was a real-- as you called it, a real stem-winder.

BOB POTTER: He ordinarily, of course, does not have quite the captive audience that he does at the DFL convention. Of course, he's been in town to speak to various groups over the past couple of years. But here, he's really at home. These are the folks that really have come out of the same tradition that he has in the DFL Party. And I think that he was very much responding to that and calling upon the delegates to unite to primarily defeat Republican candidates in the 1980 fall election.

DICK DALY: They're having a little trouble restoring enough order here in the hall, I think, to proceed with much of anything. A lot of people following the vice president around and filling up the doorways and a number of people perhaps going out to get a cup of coffee and so on. At the end of what was a fairly long speech, Bob. It ran--

BOB POTTER: About 40 minutes or so.

DICK DALY: --40 or 45 minutes. Yes, indeed.

BOB POTTER: Pat Kessler is standing by on the floor with some more delegates again, and let's go to him right now if we can.

PAT KESSLER: Walter Mondale is shaking hands in the crowd right now. We're going to try and get up near him. He's surrounded by Secret Service agents. It's usually difficult to get near him with the agents. He's introducing himself to a lot of the delegates. See if we can listen in. Here we are.

[CHEERS]

WALTER MONDALE: No.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

WALTER MONDALE: A great call. 20% scalping guarantees loans.

AUDIENCE: Who the hell is doing it?

WALTER MONDALE: Well, most programs of the government are for guaranteed loans. We need the direct loan.

PAT KESSLER: We're just getting pushed away by the Secret Service.

BOB POTTER: All right, well, I guess they have some reason to attempt to restrict the vice president's access to newspeople and possibly some of the other folks around here.

DICK DALY: We did hear what I suspect was a rural delegate talking about agricultural problems, and loans, and that kind of thing, and speaking-- it sounded like very directly to the vice president on that issue.

BOB POTTER: Some of the ordinary routine business that the convention is yet to come will be a bit of debate on the platform, particularly the issues that have been set aside for what's called special consideration that is debate. They have to, first of all, get a credentials report however.

And there are some reports shy of the number they need in order to make that report at this time. So they're trying to simply line up the various political unit leaders to come to the credentials table and tell the folks there how many people are seated, how many delegates there, how many alternates, and so forth. And they'll be able to continue on with this.

At about 1 o'clock this afternoon, the schedule calls for the election and nomination of party officers, state chair, associate chair, and on down the line, including national committee members. That will be interspersed, of course, with platform debate, the election of the party officers, the major item of business today. And tomorrow, it will be the nomination and election of people to go to the Democratic National Convention in August in New York City. It will be interesting--

DICK DALY: And the man, of course, is really the main business of this convention.

BOB POTTER: It'll be interesting to see if the vice president's address had-- ends his appearance here because he has been attending a number of fundraising rallies and so forth-- whether his appearance here in Minneapolis will yield any more actual hard delegates committed to the Carter-Mondale ticket than had been previously forecast. Attorney General Warren Spannaus had predicted earlier that about eight is the number they expect to get from the nomination process tomorrow. A total of 24 will be selected.

And if eight or thereabouts is the number that are chosen, the Minnesota delegation will go to New York City in August, with less than half of the total strength committed to the Carter-Mondale ticket. The rest are probably going to be divided among a couple of groups uncommitted as to a presidential candidate, but supporting the pro-life cause and uncommitted on a number of progressive or liberal issues.

The reason they want to go to the convention uncommitted, of course, is to have some impact, presumably on the party platform, possibly be wooed a little bit by some of the-- by either the president, or the vice president, or Senator Kennedy, if he's still continuing his challenge at that time. And it gives them an opportunity to be fussed over just a little bit, frankly, by some of the National Party leaders.

The time is about one minute before 11 o'clock. And, Dick, I think at this point, we might best return to our studios in order to let the convention reconvene here and get some of the credentials matters out of the way before they have an opportunity to move on to the platform things. We will, of course, be back at 11:30 on the entire Minnesota Public Radio network, including the FM stations in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Duluth, and elsewhere.

And we'll be on the network from 11:30 until 1 o'clock today. And we'll be back on KSJN-AM here between 11:00 and 11:30 as events at the convention dictate. Along with Dick Daly, and Gary Eichten, and Pat Kessler, and the rest of the crew here, including Linda Murray and Paul Kelly on the technical side, this is Bob Potter reporting from the Minneapolis Auditorium.

SPEAKER: Thank you, Bob. This is the news and information service of Minnesota Public Radio, KSJN-AM 1330, Saint Paul, Minneapolis. Some headlines this morning. Minnesota's Senate Majority Leader Nicholas Coleman has been hospitalized with acute leukemia. Coleman was admitted to Midway Hospital in Saint Paul last night.

A federal grand jury in Saint Paul has indicted two Minnesota men and a Saint Paul company for allegedly selling contaminated nonfat dry milk for use in bakery products. Orlando Weivoda and Allen Isenschenk, both of Albany, and Best Brands Incorporated of Saint Paul, were indicted on four counts each.

Two state agencies have determined that Northern States Power Company was not to blame for a fish kill in the Minnesota River, May 28. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Natural Resources Department said the fish apparently died because of the unusually low water level and hot, dry weather.

Around the nation and world, Lebanon's seemingly endless political crisis took another turn today when Prime Minister Salim Al-Huss resigned. Lebanese president Elias Sarkis refused to accept the resignation immediately, while efforts reportedly were made to talk him out of quitting.

The offices of Iran's National Airlines in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed today. Another bomb went off in a Palestinian refugee camp near Beirut. Police report at least a dozen wounded. A new group called the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners claimed responsibility.

Those are the headlines. The forecast, for the Twin Cities, cloudy with a chance of a few showers this afternoon. Highs in the lower 70s. Clear to partly cloudy and cooler tonight and tomorrow. Lows in the mid and upper 40s. Highs around 70. North winds at 10 to 20 and gusty this afternoon, diminishing to 5 to 15 tonight.

Chance of precipitation 20% this afternoon. Right now, in the Twin Cities, we have wind out of the North at 19, gusting to 26 miles an hour. 63%, the humidity. The pressure is at 29.83 and rising. We have a partly cloudy sky, 67 Fahrenheit and 19 Celsius, the temperature.

Again, you will hear continuing coverage of the DFL State Convention, which is being held in Minneapolis, right here on KSJN-AM. And we'll have that coverage for you as long as the people are at the convention, and that will go through some time tomorrow. We'll be hearing again from our reporters, checking in with them sometime between now and 11:30. Well, I guess we can get back to some music on KSJN-AM like so.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

BOB POTTER: From the Minneapolis Auditorium and Convention Center, this is Bob Potter along with Dick Daly as the 1980 DFL State Convention continues today. The highlight-- by far, the biggest highlight of the day so far was an address about an hour and 10 minutes ago by Vice President Walter Mondale.

DICK DALY: Probably the highlight, Bob, of the convention so far--

BOB POTTER: Absolutely.

DICK DALY: --of enthusiastic response by these delegates. It's really the first time they've come to life on anything here. And they very much came to life this morning with a very enthusiastic response to that speech by the vice president, a speech we incidentally hope to bring you either in its entirety or at least a major portion thereof in the next hour or hour and a half, something like that, depending on the course of events here at the convention hall.

BOB POTTER: Just to summarize very briefly what the vice president had to say, he was primarily very, very critical of Ronald Reagan, the almost assured Republican presidential nominee. He also said that John Anderson is the same as any other Republican. He said that it's time for the DFL to get back to the task of leading the state, leading the nation on progressive issues.

He was very critical of the Republicans for approving a party platform plank in opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. He said he never thought that any Minnesota political party would oppose ratification of the SALT treaty that we need to control nuclear arms.

The vice president went on to praise the accomplishments as he saw them of the Carter-Mondale administration, saying that they have dealt successfully or are dealing successfully with the inflation problem without ripping apart the major social programs that the Democratic Party has stood for, particularly in Minnesota, Medicare, the Job Corps program, Head Start, education, and other things.

He claimed that more people have been put on the workforce in the past three years than under any previous administration, that the Carter administration has improved educational programs across the board for many people, restored the integrity of the Social Security system, added a number of minorities and women to the court system, pressed ahead with civil service reforms and a number of other issues.

He also criticized the Congress to some extent for rejecting a number of administration proposals on labor law reform, hospital cost containment, welfare reform, tax reform, and so forth, and called for the election of more responsive Democratic congressmen in the 1980 election. Those were some of the major highlights of the Mondale speech.

And as we say, we do anticipate getting to either all or part of the address during the next 90 minutes or so while we're on the air. I should tell you that weekend, the normal public affairs program will not be heard at this time today so that we can continue our coverage of the 1980 DFL Convention.

DICK DALY: And in terms, Bob, of updating listeners on just where things stand at the moment, we are hearing our first actual platform debate of the convention so far. In order to debate a platform measure, the delegates must vote for something called special consideration. They have done that so far on just two planks in the platform, one having to do with disarmament, the other on the Human Life Amendment.

And we've been hearing some debate in the last few minutes here on that disarmament issue. And a vote is being taken relative to that issue right now. And probably, they'll be moving on to human life here shortly. But the first platform debate of the convention taking place at the moment.

BOB POTTER: One of the major items on today's agenda is the selection of a party chair. The race for that position, which is currently held by Claire Rumpel, is somewhat symbolic of the divisions within the DFL Party in Minnesota. Mary Stucky has looked into that matter and prepared this report.

MARY STUCKY: Since the death of Hubert Humphrey, no one leader has come forward to take control of a faltering Minnesota DFL. One traditionally looks to a senator or governor for party leadership, but the Democrats don't hold those positions in Minnesota. So many of the delegates at this convention are looking to the party chair for guidance and unity. But they don't agree on what kind of leadership is needed. The front-runners illustrate the disagreement.

Claire Rumpel, the current chair, is a low-key liberal who says the party's strength lies in letting in opposing and sometimes divisive groups. That direction comes from these groups and not the party chair. Rumpel's main opponent is Mike Hatch, a lawyer from Shakopee and 2nd district chairman. Hatch has an aggressive personality and wants to lead a party that speaks with a single voice, avoiding internal battles among interest groups. Rumpel explains her position.

CLAIRE RUMPEL: It is a close question If you label free speech and debate and call that divisive. I think what we saw happen at the Republican Party convention last weekend was a-- if it suppressed debate, it suppressed free thinking, I think that's a very dangerous thing to our society in general. And I'm sure it's not going to be good for the Republican Party.

My main opponent's style is more maybe old school, what people tend to think of when they think of the word "politician." I think that my style is more along the lines of what we've been working towards open party process, the opposite of bossism.

MIKE HATCH: Nobody's going to be a political boss in this day and age.

MARY STUCKY: Mike Hatch.

MIKE HATCH: Political parties, all political parties today are in tough shape. People identify more with pressure groups. I feel that it's very important to our political process that you have stronger parties. Having a stronger party does not mean that it's bossism. My goodness, this party has never had that, and it's never going to. And nobody wants it. I don't want it. But I do think that it has a responsibility to be stronger than pressure groups.

MARY STUCKY: All five candidates seem to be running more against Rumpel than each other. At issue is the fact that under Rumpel's leadership, the party has amassed a substantial debt. Here's where Fred Gates comes in. Gates managed Robert Schwartz's unsuccessful Senate race in '78, and he has raised money for Hubert Humphrey.

FRED GATES: I know the people that can put together good fundraising activities. And I've worked with them before. I've put them together to raise millions, millions of dollars for Hubert Humphrey. I don't see that I couldn't put them together to raise the necessary funds for the DFL.

MARY STUCKY: Are you the pro-life candidate?

FRED GATES: I am a candidate of all the people of the DFL Party.

MARY STUCKY: You're smiling when you say that.

FRED GATES: No, I'm not. I'm smiling because at a press conference yesterday, I indicated that I felt I was being mislabeled as a single-issue candidate. Yes, I am the only candidate that supports pro-life or at least outwardly supports pro-life. I'm also the only candidate that supports Teddy Kennedy for president.

MARY STUCKY: Bob Meek, head of the Carter-Mondale campaign in Minnesota, Joan Campbell, a former 5th District chair, and Pete Petrafeso, a former member of the state legislature, are the other candidates. Meek, Campbell, and Petrafeso fall into the liberal to moderate category. Along with Rumpel, they believe the party's strength comes from its openness to opposing groups. Meek's handicap may be his close association with Vice President Walter Mondale.

BOB MEEK: It's an interesting kind of charge, because what it boils down to is somehow that a-- as a party chair, that Mondale would be able to dictate the concerns of the party regardless of what those concerns might be, and they might be ones that people would agree with. That's not something Walter Mondale would do. Further, everything that I've talked about doing in this party would strengthen it and would protect it from just that kind of intrusion by any major public official, including Mondale.

MARY STUCKY: Pete Petrafeso criticizes Rumpel for not being aggressive, a trait he says he learned in the Minnesota legislature.

PETE PETRAFESO: The difference in terms of my own self is that I think that I'm the best spokesperson for the party because I've had the most experience with regard to the issues and the legislature. Some people have said that I'm too tied to the legislature. I plead guilty to that because I think it's important. That's the basis for which we build our party from the bottom and also from the top.

MARY STUCKY: Campbell thinks she's able to get along with more people than Rumpel and says she's not perceived to be such a hard-line liberal. Campbell also says she has the enthusiasm that Rumpel lacks.

JOAN CAMPBELL: People kept telling me that it wasn't any fun anymore, and that we ought to get the sense of humor back into the party. I think that's exceedingly important to any kind of organization. And if you sit around at meetings or at conventions, and you never have any laughs, or you never have any friendly interchange with each other, then you really aren't a party.

Fred Amran, who is chairing the convention, was just complimented on his sense of humor. And I think the fact that somebody had to call attention to it indicates that there's not much humor there. And I think it's important.

MARY STUCKY: The fight over the DFL leadership is significant because it seems to symbolize a disagreement in the party. A few years ago, special interests were given more safeguards within the DFL. The issue this year is whether the strength of the party is in its ability to take in small and competing factions who generate internal debate, or whether this prevents the party from speaking with a strong, unified voice against the Republicans. The delegates to this year's convention may make their opinions known on this controversy when they elect their party chair. This is Mary Stucky.

BOB POTTER: And according to the official agenda that has been agreed to by the delegates, the nominations for party chair and the elections for those offices will begin at about 1 o'clock this afternoon. In addition to the state chair election, there will also be elections for associate chair, secretary, treasurer, 12 directors of the state DFL, and four members to the Democratic National Committee.

The procedural matters for voting on the Democratic National Committee members were resolved yesterday. And it was a procedural vote lost by the DFL-- or rather by the pro-life and the conservative forces within the DFL. They had attempted to amend a rule that would allow the Democratic National Committee member to be elected with fewer than an absolute majority of the delegates at this convention. That effort, as I said, was unsuccessful.

The race for party chair, if you can judge the strength of such things by signs hanging around the auditorium here, would really appear to be primarily between Claire Rumpel and Mike Hatch. The areas in the balcony are festooned with "Claire Rumpel Working for You" signs all over and hanging from the rafters here, "Mike Hatch for DFL State Chair." That's really one of the most interesting and probably most exciting races that will happen at this 1980 DFL Convention.

The contest for the national convention delegates, which will take place tomorrow, is probably of secondary interest to the people here, simply because the Carter-Mondale ticket has already got enough votes in New York City to win nomination. At least, that is certainly the thinking of the vast majority of political analysts and pollsters, with Edward Kennedy given just an outside chance of possibly securing that nomination.

Incidentally, Robert Kennedy Jr. is expected to be in the Minneapolis area sometime around the middle of this afternoon. It's not known whether he'll have an opportunity to address the convention delegates. The primary purpose of his meeting will be to meet with some people who might be persuaded to run as Kennedy delegates.

So far, 54 delegates have been chosen to the National Democratic Convention from Minnesota. Of those, about 27 or 28 are for Carter, about five for Kennedy, and the rest of them are uncommitted. The Carter people are expecting that somewhere around 8 to 10 might be elected tomorrow, with the rest of them going for uncommitted on the presidential race and supporting either the pro-life or various progressive issues as an alternative.

Right now, Dick, they're continuing on this platform debate. We expect it won't be too long before they get to the Human Life Amendment, which is really something that could be of some interest to folks.

DICK DALY: That's right, Bob. It's interesting. The basic platform plank being debated on the floor right now has to do with disarmament. It favors disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament. And we heard some pro and con debate on that issue. And again, this is under something called special consideration, which does allow the delegates to actually address the pros and cons of these various planks put forward by the platform committee.

Then we had an amendment, and we've heard some debate on that. The amendment would add a special tactical strike force to the plank so that even as we were disarming in nuclear terms, we would have this nuclear strike force available to deal with things like Afghanistan and Cuba and that sort of thing. And now we had another man who was trying to amend the amendment. Maybe we should go to some of that floor debate and get a sense of how it sounds.

SPEAKER: I'm from the 4th district. I would like to know why there's so much debate, pro and con, on the Amendment, and it was only limited on the original motion. Now, I feel they're being discriminated in this respect. Let's keep it down to the minimum--

JOHN FRENCH: The chair doesn't understand the problem.

SPEAKER: --in all fairness.

JOHN FRENCH: There is now available one more negative speaker, and I'll recognize microphone five.

WARREN BRADBURY: Mr. Chairman, Warren Bradbury 6th District, Stearns 17. I'd like to urge delegates to this convention to vote against the amendment for two primary reasons. First of all, I think we should adopt the plank as it's printed. But secondly, for us to go through item by item at this convention and pull them out would be to act just exactly like the conservative, very pro-war faction of our Congress who, when progressive legislators present a good piece of legislation to help control war, one by one pull the items out, thus saying to the Pentagon, we'll do your work for you.

No. Some of these items may indeed be necessary for our defense. But let's keep the resolution intact so that the message is clear. Let's make the Defense Department start to exercise some priorities. If there is one or two of these that's very crucial, they'll let us know. Let's not do their work for them by offering them a watered-down resolution that really doesn't say anything at all. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

BOB POTTER: The procedure that they have adopted here for dealing with platform debate is to allow three speakers pro, three speakers con, each one limited to two minutes apiece. And that was the reference that convention chairman John French was making a moment ago.

JOHN FRENCH: The amendment is to world affairs. Number one, disarmament, starting on line 52 of page 21, following the words "neutron bomb," place a semicolon and strike the words, "and billions in expenditures for a mobile strike force." The chair will--

DICK DALY: OK, and that gives listeners a sense of what this particular discussion is all about. And the chair is now going to move into a standing vote, first of all, on this amendment, which would add the tactical mobile strike force to the overall disarmament concept that's talked about in the platform plank. And the amendment will either be voted up or down, and then they'll move, I think, to a vote on the main platform plank itself.

BOB POTTER: A 60% vote is required to add an item to the party platform. I believe that amendments can be adopted by a simple majority vote. No, that's not right, either. It has to be 60%. You have to get 60% on these things to--

DICK DALY: I think in either case, yes. I'm not sure that the rules actually talk to that. Well, I'm sure they do it somewhere, but trying to read the set of these rules is sometimes a little confusing too. And people are now standing on the floor. These, I believe, are the people who favor the amendment to add the tactical strike force to the overall nuclear disarmament consideration of the platform plank. John French right now is presiding at the convention. He's a veteran of these things, a very familiar face here, does a good job as most of these people do.

BOB POTTER: They have a remarkable sense of patience, and they are also endowed with a good sense of humor.

DICK DALY: And they, of course, need to-- they need to win the confidence I think of these delegates, Bob, that no matter how they may personally feel on some of these issues, they are going to be fair in the way the matter is handled, because if the delegates on the floor of one of these conventions get a sense that they're being railroaded by the chair, things can get very nasty, very fast. French, certainly, I think does inspire in people a feeling of confidence that he's going to be very evenhanded in the way he deals with these controversial issues.

BOB POTTER: Once in a while--

JOHN FRENCH: It's possible for one more person to speak against the whole resolution. There have already been three speakers for. I call on the delegate at microphone six to speak against

HOWARD GROSBY: Howard Grosby, 4th district, 67B. I speak in opposition to this resolution for the simple reason, let's not be naive. What do you think the Russians are doing? You think they're limiting their arms? No way. Who's got the largest Navy, Air Force, Army in the world? Soviet Union.

Same way with the SALT II, the same thing, surrender a little at a time. But I speak very definitely against this. If we don't have some means, some method to protect ourselves when they have annihilation, complete annihilation by the Soviet Union-- we talk about life, disintegrating life. How about the unborn? Let's protect them, too!

[APPLAUSE]

BOB POTTER: Well, I think we're seeing just a hint of the thing that may come in a little bit here when they get to the Human Life Amendment.

JOHN FRENCH: I propose a resolution. We now come to a vote. I'll try it once again on a standing vote. But if there's any doubt, we'll go immediately to a tallied vote.

BOB POTTER: It takes about 25 minutes to count those tally votes at least.

JOHN FRENCH: I have one disarmament as printed, but with the one deletion suggested by delegate Zietlow, which was accepted by the body, which was deleting "un" from thinkable in the fourth line. All those in favor of the Disarmament Amendment, please rise.

BOB POTTER: Well, again, the chairman is faced with the difficult task of trying to figure out whether or not these things pass or fail.

DICK DALY: And what they do in these situations is try to reach a consensus. He looks over the crowd, and he turns questioningly to some of the others on the stage and wonders what they think. And they try to reach a consensus, but it's got to be tough looking out over that one.

JOHN FRENCH: The problem is that we can't pass any resolution without a 60% majority. And the chair can't tell if it was 60%, and therefore, there will be a tallied vote called by the chair. And the delegate chair people are instructed to collect their tally sheets from the tellers.

BOB POTTER: They have apparently dispensed with the amendment regarding the tactical strike force. I frankly did not hear the outcome of that vote. It appeared to me as though the amendment was not adopted because it looked like there were an awful lot of people voting against. But we will have to check on that, find out for sure just what the result was.

DICK DALY: He's a-- well, go ahead and finish your thought, Bob. I'm sorry.

BOB POTTER: Well, I was just going to say that they yesterday wound up with a number of these written ballots. And they wind up taking a fair amount of time to tally. And while they do that, they may be able to continue with some of the other platform items, or they may simply have to slowly grind to a halt here.

DICK DALY: And I might touch on a couple of other points regarding this balloting procedure, which have caused some concern and some confusion here over the last day or so. And I know many people are listening in on the coverage this morning, live coverage of the DFL convention from Minneapolis for the first time.

Our chairman just announced moments ago that right now, I'm giving one-minute warning that anybody who wants to get on the floor and get seated and vote on this, better do so, because there were some complaints yesterday during one of the controversial votes that the process took so long and was so unwieldy that those for and against whatever the heck we were voting on at the time were out pulling people in from the hallways, and there was a certain amount of finagling going on.

Point number two is that under the convention rules, people are supposed to sign these ballots, and a lot of people aren't very happy about that. And I heard last evening, for example, that people are paying attention to how others vote, and that lists are being put out of how people are voting on certain items. So indeed, if people have to sign, it is not a secret ballot.

And there are those who contend that delegates to a convention like this should be held accountable for how they vote. They were sent here by a certain group of people to represent a certain point of view. The signed ballot, of course, indicates whether they are following the wishes of the people who sent them to the convention. In any case, as Bob said, these written ballots do take a while to tabulate,

BOB POTTER: And my eyeball estimate of the vote on that amendment turned out to be correct. We have received word that the amendment regarding the nuclear strike force capability was defeated. So as the platform plank now stands, it simply says that the DFL urges the Congress to reverse the arms race by rejecting the first strike capacity, the belief that nuclear war is unthinkable, goes on record opposing development of new weapon systems such as the MX, the Trident submarine, the neutron bomb, and the mobile strike force.

So that's what they are going to be voting on with their written ballots here in just a moment. In fact, I believe they're in the process of doing that right at this very moment.

Coming up at 1 o'clock, of course, will be the nominations for the party offices, which will be really one of the most interesting items of business during the convention here in Minneapolis. A major item of business tomorrow will be the nomination and election of people to serve as delegates to the National Democratic Convention in New York City in about the middle of August.

The way they're dealing with this platform is taking it in a series of major categories. They're all listed alphabetically, ranging from agriculture to world affairs. And they're taking the first item in each of those broad categories and voting on it.

Then they go to item two in each of the categories, then item three and on down the line, so that if they wind up not having enough time to finish work on the entire platform, they have at least dealt with several possible policy questions and a broad range of areas, rather than dealing, say, with all of the agricultural things and then half of the business things and none of the economic matters, the world affairs matters, transportation, social welfare concerns, and so on and so forth.

So they have at least taken some action on a broad variety of issues that, of course, many of the people come here with a great deal of interest in. The next of these items that is going to be up for so-called special consideration, as they call it, is the proposed plank dealing with the Human Life Amendment.

Now, I should tell you that there are two possible courses of action on this. There is a majority report of the DFL platform committee, which says that the DFL goes on record supporting the 1973 Supreme Court decision regarding a woman's right to have an abortion. And then there is a minority report saying that the Congress of the United States ought to pass the Human Life Amendment to overturn that US Supreme Court decision.

And then, of course, if the Congress were to pass such a Human Life Amendment, it would be submitted to the various state legislatures for ratification, much as the Equal Rights Amendment is currently before the legislatures of the states. First, they will vote on the minority plank, the minority report. And then if that is rejected, they will go on to the majority report.

It will take 60% vote to put either of these positions into the official DFL platform. If the vote yesterday on the procedural motion regarding the Democratic National Committee member selection is any key, it probably will be difficult for either of these positions to be adopted by the DFL convention. About 55% of the people voted on the so-called pro-choice side, if you want to take and interpret the vote in that way, and 45% voted on the pro-life side.

Of course, the vote on the Democratic National Committee member selection process is only a rough key to the strength of the pro-life, pro-choice sentiment in this convention, because probably there are a good many other people who were joining with the pro-life people and others joining with the pro-choice people on that particular vote for a variety of reasons.

The pro-life people estimate that they have somewhere in the neighborhood of about a third of the delegates here, who are really, truly committed to their cause in this particular issue and are more or less willing to go to the wall for it. There are others who have varying degrees of sympathy with that point of view. And, of course, there are still others who have varying degrees of sympathy with the other side of that question.

DICK DALY: The latest credentials report, Bob, shows the situation on the floor right now well below full voting strength. There are theoretically a 1,220 votes at this convention right now are the latest credentials report. And it was emphasized by the man who gave the credentials report that these reports are good only at the time that they're made and are probably outdated even as they're being given.

But his figures showed that 1,033 delegates were seated, but they represent just under 960 votes. So out of a theoretical voting strength of 1,220, we're only at about 960, according to that report that did, in any case, though, fulfill the need to prove that there was a quorum available on the convention floor. And that means business can proceed here.

We're in that lull right now while the vote is being taken place on the disarmament question. And they will, I think, likely move on to the human rights matter once they have completed the vote on the disarmament, the main issue on the disarmament.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

BOB POTTER: It's a great deal of noise here in the convention hall, and it's actually a little bit difficult for us to hear the convention chairman John French at this point.

DICK DALY: He's, again, having to explain prorating procedures and so on. And the DFL way of doing things, which has evolved over the years in an attempt to be extremely fair to everyone and so on, does not make, Bob, for a very efficient convention in terms of moving ahead and getting things done quickly, because there are so many steps and procedures built in.

And some delegations come in where a delegate represents a vote. Other delegations come in, and a delegate only represents part of a vote. And you have 10 delegates, but maybe only seven votes. And so each delegate is only 7/10 of a vote or something like that. But in another delegation, they represent a half vote or 2/3 of a vote and so on. It's a very laborious process.

BOB POTTER: It's a laborious and a time-consuming process, but it does assure that minority points of view will be officially represented at various levels of the Democratic Party. That is a bit different than the winner-take-all system, which the Republicans use.

And it's a question of philosophy as to which is the better route to go when it comes to the selection of the national committee members for the Democratic National Committee. The Democrats are going to be using a winner-take-all system. That was the thrust of that procedural vote yesterday. And for other things, they do it on a more proportional basis.

What we are doing right now, to be perfectly clear with you, is simply waiting to see if they are going to go ahead with the debate on the Human Life Amendment. And I think if they're going to do that shortly, we will go with that debate, because clearly, that is going to be of some interest here. And if they're not going to do it, we're going to listen to a speech by Vice President Mondale.

DICK DALY: A couple of other interesting side bits here, Bob, some of the counties or delegations here never picked up their votes, never picked up their ballots so that their particular delegates could take place in the vote, and some puzzlement being expressed from the podium as to how that happened to be. It was announced that if they were now too late, that they could not pick out their votes, but they were just wondering why they hadn't if they perhaps were not even on hand at the convention.

So at least a couple of these small rural counties won't be represented in this particular vote on disarmament. And, again, the convention chair reminding the sergeants at arms that the voting process is still underway and not to allow any delegates to come on the floor because if they weren't there when this process started, they're supposed to stay off. They are not allowed to vote.

BOB POTTER: Sergeant at arms have been seen walking out of the convention floor telling people at the concession stands, there's going to be a vote in two minutes. There's going to be a vote in one minute. And, of course, if they don't get back where they're not going to be allowed to vote and if they aren't allowed to vote, some of them get rather irritated, as we heard yesterday during some of the voting on the procedures for electing the Democratic National Committee members.

When we get to the point of the nomination and election of the party officers, there will also be a fair amount of delay with vote counting, because that will have to be done by a written ballot. It will take a majority to elect someone to the post of party chair. And it's very possible with the fact that there are five candidates in the field that no one of the five will get that majority vote, 610, which is required for election.

If that happens, they'll move into a second ballot and a third ballot. And there are rules that provide that after a certain number of ballots, the lowest people drop off. And so eventually, it works out to the point where you don't have quite so many people running. And it's possible to move down to a contest between just a couple of people if, in fact, it takes that many ballots to elect.

Some of the theory and the speculation about what's going to happen on that voting is that the liberal forces are generally going to unite behind Claire Rumpel for the first ballot at least, with the conservatives tending probably to support Mike Hatch. If Rumpel does not get the number of votes that she needs, then it's possible that the liberals might switch to another candidate and attempt to deny the election of party chair, at least to Mr. Hatch.

DICK DALY: I just went over to the podium, Bob, or over to the platform and got the ear of one of the several people serving as chairman here. And they say that the voting process is now complete. The tabulation is not complete, but the actual voting has been completed on that disarmament plank.

And they are now, I think, about to move into the opening debate on the human life question. I think that indeed that is going to come up here in just the next couple of minutes at least. So I am assured by John French, who is now back at the podium. We'll see if that actually turns out to be the case.

BOB POTTER: The way they've been handling the platform items is simply taking the ones that are noncontroversial first. And then if 25% of the convention delegates ask for it, that item will be set aside for special consideration that is debate.

And there are various times indicated on the convention agenda when these special consideration items will be up for discussion. There are only a couple of them on the agenda so far, the one that we have just dispensed with the matter of disarmament, the one where the vote is now being counted, and the Human Life Amendment.

During the speech by Vice President Mondale, there were a couple of hecklers in the crowd who hollered out at various points, what about human life? Or what about the pro-life? I guess maybe was the way it was put. Mondale said at one point, well, I'll get to that later. He never did.

And it may be a sign of the-- something of the irritation that the pro-life people feel here since they lost that very important procedural vote yesterday, which means they'll probably not be able to get one of their folks elected to the Democratic National Committee.

DICK DALY: John French, the chair, Bob, is being very careful, very judicious in the procedure as he gets ready now for this pro and con debate on human life. He knows, of course, it's probably the most controversial single thing here. He's urging that people get into the hall so they're not excluded and so on. Maybe we should go for a moment to the podium and get a sense of that.

JOHN FRENCH: But please don't make long lines and big crowds around the microphones. It won't help. The chair people assume that there are well-prepared spokespersons for the contending groups out there.

And it would be awfully helpful to the chairs and I think awfully helpful to expediting the business of the convention if the designated spokespeople got to the microphones and made the presentations that their groups intended for them to do. Everyone else, please stay away from the microphones, and please get out of the aisles because we can't see the delegates or the microphones.

BOB POTTER: This particular item, the Human Life Amendment, comes under this general category in the platform of civil and human rights. The first plank in that proposed plank was adopted yesterday, and that's the one that calls for the DFL and the Democratic Party officeholders and candidates to vigorously support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution.

And they added to that a minority report calling for implementation of what's been called the blueprint for equality, adopted at the International Women's Year Conference in Houston, Texas. That was the first of several items on the civil and human rights plank.

Other items in that plank include one stating that the right of individuals to choose various types of birth control to terminate pregnancy, to indeed go through the process of sterilization, is an individual matter that anyone ought to have the right to decide. That is the majority report of the platform committee. The minority report says that the consent of parents should be required before any of these matters can be decided by a minor parent.

The opposition to reinstatement of the selective service registration is another item in the civil and human rights plank. Opposition to selective service registration, of course, is a policy that is directly counter to that supported by the Carter administration. President Carter has called for a registration, and the Congress is moving along in that direction.

There's a minority report on that plank saying that equal military opportunities ought to be guaranteed to everyone, regardless of sex or sexual preference. So those are some of the items in the civil and human rights plank, which also deal with the gay and lesbian rights issue. That's fairly far down on the list, so it may not be possible to get to that.

DICK DALY: I think, Bob, that Pat Kessler on the floor has something for us. Let's go to Pat.

PAT KESSLER: I'm at the rear of the convention hall with Leo LaLonde, who's the chairman of the DFL pro-life caucus. Mr. LaLonde, you had a caucus meeting this morning. You had one yesterday as well, the planned strategy. Is there any special strategy you're planning for this debate this morning?

LEO LALONDE: No, there's nothing special. We moved the resolution for special consideration, which means it's open for debate. We've got speakers lined up to address the issue as the other side does. We're going to talk about it. We're going to take a vote on it. And that's going to be it.

PAT KESSLER: Do you honestly expect to convince any of the delegates here as to your position, the pro-life position? You have roughly 30% to 35% hard-line pro-lifers here right now. And it seems that maybe 70% of the people here are pro-choice. Now, do you expect to convince anybody with your arguments?

LEO LALONDE: Well, there's been some coalescing on the other side. And they don't have a 70% solid group over there that's going to vote against this on every single thing. There are some delegates in this hall who are DFL first delegates, that is, they're party people. And I think that those people are open enough to listen to our arguments and to use their own heads and cast their own votes.

PAT KESSLER: Listening is one thing, I suppose, but voting, then is quite another. Do you expect this to be passed?

LEO LALONDE: I don't think that either side is going to pass it. Really, if my perception of the mood of this delegation is correct, I think that both resolutions will be voted down.

PAT KESSLER: Both resolutions?

LEO LALONDE: Right. There's a minority report for us, and they have the majority report. And I think that both positions will be voted down.

PAT KESSLER: Let's talk about your perceptions of the relative strength of the different coalitions here. How much does the pro-life caucus, in your estimation, have here?

LEO LALONDE: On this convention floor, we have about one third right now. I think that the pro-choice people have an additional third. I think the party people have another third. I think it's a three-way division here with the coalescing going on this time between the pro-choice people and the party people. I think that's a mistake, but that's what they seem to have worked out.

PAT KESSLER: By the party people, you mean Carter-Mondale supporters or who?

LEO LALONDE: No, party regulars, those who have been at the state conventions for several years and have been working in the party for several years.

PAT KESSLER: I've heard you before characterize some of the pro-life support as hard line and soft line. What's the difference there?

LEO LALONDE: OK, the hard-line people are those who will follow instructed votes. The soft core people are people who are philosophically with us, but will not always vote the way we'd like them to do.

PAT KESSLER: And you mentioned a coalition between Carter people or-- pardon me, the party people and the pro-choice people. How is that shaping up? Would that come out to about 60%?

LEO LALONDE: Apparently so, just looking at the votes that have been taken here today. But again, they don't have a hard count of 60%, either. They've got a soft count perhaps to 60%, as we've seen on the previous motions on Rule 50 and one thing and other. But that doesn't necessarily translate into 60% for the resolution.

PAT KESSLER: Care to take any guesses on the vote outcome of this?

LEO LALONDE: I don't know at this point in the convention with the vote only a few minutes away if it pays to make guesses or not.

PAT KESSLER: Thank you very much, Leo LaLonde, the DFL Pro-Life Caucus chairman.

BOB POTTER: All right, Pat, thank you very much for that report out there on the floor. They're really getting-- they're just about to the point of taking up this matter. The first thing they're going to do, as I indicated, is discuss the minority report. And I guess I'll just read that so that it's absolutely clear what they're going to be discussing.

It says simply "Be it resolved that the Congress of the United States passed a Human Life Amendment to overturn the Supreme Court abortion on demand decision of 1973 and restore legal protection for the life of all human beings from conception to natural death." That is the exact item that they will be debating first here.

Now, they're talking about a couple of points of order. And if they move on to the-- if the minority report is not adopted, they'll go on to the majority report of the platform committee, which supports the '73 Supreme Court decision on abortion.

DICK DALY: There was an attempt made, Bob, to close off debate on the minority report and simply voted up or down, but that failed. There will be debate on the minority report, a very, very painstaking job of setting up procedures here.

Chairman French has now designated one of the microphones for those who wish to speak for the minority report, another microphone for those who wish to speak against the minority report, and a third microphone available to those who are in wheelchairs and could not reach either of the other two microphones.

Trying obviously, French has either been burned himself or has seen others burned by the extremely high emotions which surround this issue. And he's trying to avoid any accusations that he was not totally evenhanded on the whole process.

JOHN FRENCH: What's more, if we change the rules in the middle of the game--

DICK DALY: Somebody discussing some possible change in the rules. And French said, it occurs to me nothing would upset you people more than if we were to fool around with the rules at this point. They've spent a good five or 10 minutes, though, just on this process of getting ready to start debate.

BOB POTTER: And I think that once they finally finish with the debate, it will be very clear that there will have to be a written vote taken on this item, just as there was a written vote taken on the military disarmament matter.

DICK DALY: Disarmament issue, yes.

BOB POTTER: We should tell folks who are listening this afternoon that "Weekend," our usual public affairs program from 11:30 to 1:00 on the Minnesota Public Radio network, is not being heard today so that we can provide this continuing coverage of the 1980 DFL Convention. Convention coverage will continue on KSJN-AM in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, 1330 on the AM dial at 1 o'clock or as convention events warrant.

We're not going to be here just running everything that occurs at the podium. But as events warrant, and particularly as we move into that process of nominating and electing the party chair and other officers, we will be providing continuous coverage on KSJN-AM 1330 just in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.

DICK DALY: We have a tally coming on that disarmament vote.

JOHN FRENCH: There were 1,207.99 votes cast. That's via the proration. And you all know that that's possible, 1,207.99 cast. There were 828.93 voting yes, 379.07 voting no. The yes vote was 68.6% of the convention.

[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

The no vote was 31.4.

DICK DALY: A very liberal position taken on that, again, perhaps an indication of strong liberal strength at this particular convention, Bob.

BOB POTTER: That, again, was the platform calling for a limited armament policies by the United States government. I think we're going to have our first speaker now on the--

DICK DALY: We're going to have a--

BOB POTTER: The Life Amendment.

DICK DALY: --reading of the resolution itself. Let's go to the podium.

JOHN FRENCH: The majority and minority reports were read because the latter is a substitute for the former. And you ought to know what the proposal is, that is, people are seeking to substitute and what would be there if it weren't.

SPEAKER: Civil and human rights, page 4, item 2, Human Life Amendment. "Be it resolved that the President of the United States, Congress, and the various state legislatures support the 1973 Supreme Court decision on a woman's right to privacy and strongly oppose any and all attempts to enact a so-called Human Life Amendment to the US Constitution, and be it further resolved that we believe in the individual's right of conscience."

Minority report, "Be it resolved that the Congress of the United States pass a Human Life Amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's abortion on demand decision of 1973 and restore legal protection for the life of all human beings from conception to natural death."

JOHN FRENCH: The chair intends to call first on a speaker at microphone five. But just to help us out, there is one potential speaker, the chair notes, at microphone four. And it would help us if we knew on which side of what you wanted to speak so we could fit you in properly. Four, microphone four.

BOB POTTER: I would say that the convention delegates are about as quiet now as they have been throughout the two days or a day and a half of the event so far. They're really, really gearing up to pay some attention to this debate, and I suspect that it will be fairly good.

JOHN FRENCH: The delegates will recall there's a two-minute limit on each delegate. And Secretary Mott is the timekeeper of the debate. Delegate at microphone five.

MERRILL: Mr. Chairman, may I clarify that we are now on the minority report.

JOHN FRENCH: You are now invited to speak-- if you are at five, to speak in favor of the minority report as a substitute for the majority report.

MERRILL: I just want to clarify that. Thank you.

JOHN FRENCH: Yes, ma'am.

MERRILL: Chair Merrill, Senate District 37. We have all heard the persuasive slogan "freedom to choose" or the "right to conscience." We hear so often, well, I wouldn't have an abortion myself, but I support the right of others to choose what could be more American. Wake up, DFL. The freedom to choose is semantic seduction. It is a symptom of a distorted concept of what freedom really is.

Would we think it wonderfully broad-minded if some of us would say I wouldn't enslave a Black myself, but I support the rights of others to choose? Would we think it marvelously tolerant if some among us would say, I wouldn't send a Jew to the gas chamber myself, but I support the right of others to choose? I wouldn't rape a woman myself, but surely, in these areas of human rights, we are able to see that the misapplication of the freedom to choose can alter perception of reality.

When we tolerate abortion on demand on the grounds of freedom to choose, we in effect favor the right of each individual to impose his or her morality on the most defenseless of the human family. Abortion, then, for all practical purposes, becomes another spectator event for which we do not take personal responsibility.

In actuality, to be opposed to abortion on demand is truly to support the freedom for choice, for it recognizes one, the right of fathers to choose to save their unborn children, two, the right of taxpayers to choose not to fund the abortion procedure, three, the right of parents to choose to be involved in an abortion decision made by a minor daughter, four, the right of the unborn child to live are right now denied by the Supreme Court, which has placed unborn human beings outside the protection of the law.

History has pointed out our error in regards injustice to the American Indian. History has proven us wrong in our treatment of the Black. We cannot afford to wait for history to prove us wrong in treatment of the unborn. If personhood is bestowed by society only on those it views valuable enough, then which class of human beings might be next for the status of non-persons?

[APPLAUSE]

JOHN FRENCH: As a-- thank you, madam delegate, as a benchmark for future speakers, somehow or other, that speaker made an exactly two-minute speech. So if you want to know what a two-minute speech sounds like, that was one of them. We now move to microphone one for a speaker against the minority report.

GERI RASMUSSEN: Geri Rasmussen, congressional district four. For a decade, in this party, we have discussed and debated the abortion issue. It has not gone away. It will not go away. Women will continue to defend their right to choose and their health. I urge you to vote down this amendment that denies conscience to every person in this room, the precious guarantee of our Constitution that we do have the right to exercise our personal conscience.

I suggest to you that we would have an Orwellian nightmare of law if we enacted a prohibition against all abortion. I ask that you defeat this extremist measure, this right-wing measure. I urge that you support the majority report and respect freedom of choice.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

JOHN FRENCH: The chair recognizes delegate Lawler at microphone five to speak for the minority report.

ANNE LAWLER: Oh, Anne Lawler, district 53. Fellow delegates, as each year since the 1973 Supreme Court decision, which allowed the taking of unborn human life until birth has passed, the devaluation of born human life has continued to escalate. As many of us predicted, the slippery slope is difficult to reverse.

Mentally and physically handicapped infants are being denied routine medical care in the newborn nursery and being allowed to die by neglect. Infanticide is here and accepted. Cost-benefit analysis placing our disabled and mentally handicapped, aged and chronically ill adults, and veterans at risk of passive euthanasia is the favorite modeling game of public health and government accounting office operatives.

The families of our poor and disadvantaged are being told we, the state, will abort but not support. You're too expensive. Only the perfect, the productive, the wanted, the strong, and the genetically pure are defended in this society. The strong don't need laws to protect them. As Martin Luther King stated when urging the passage of the Civil Rights Act, we need a law to deny the powerful the right to control the powerless.

The public is rethinking this issue. They often are ahead of politicians and candidates. Euthanasia, suicide clinics, Nobel sperm banks, in vitro fertilization, massive forced sterilization of the poor and handicapped-- these current issues show how fragile our life and our humanity is.

Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of NARAL and leading abortionist, has written a dynamic book describing his change of heart because of the devaluation of life. The book is called Aborting America, and I urge you all to read it. This physician went from total advocacy and commitment to what he considered--

JOHN FRENCH: Delegate Lawler, finish, please.

ANNE LAWLER: --a caring position for women to a current support of a Human Life Amendment. Please--

JOHN FRENCH: Thank you. Thank you, delegate.

ANNE LAWLER: --this party should pass a Human Life Amendment resolution. Thank you.

JOHN FRENCH: Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

Delegate at microphone one to speak against the minority report.

WAYNE RHONA: Wayne Rhona, Becker County. Pro-life. We allow the president and Congress to pass an appropriation bill of $150 billion for the production of man killing weapons of warfare and not one red cent is to be spent on peace. Pro-life. Drugs and alcohol kill thousands of people each year. We allow it to continue. Pro-life. We are against handgun control, the gun used to kill hundreds of people. We are against it.

Pro-life. Who wants to drive 55 miles an hour when we can get there faster at 65 or 70? At least 40,000 people killed per year. We are against the lower speed limit. Somewhere along the line, we must have learned to hate that life we are trying to protect so vehemently when it's in the womb. To me, pro-life is an attempt at trying to do something after the proverbial horse is out of the barn. We should be talking prophylactic, not pro-life.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

BOB POTTER: Well, we have now had two pro and two con on the minority report, which calls for the Human Life Amendment. We will have one more speaker from each side, if they stick to the rules that they have adopted--

JOHN FRENCH: Are any of the microphones working?

BOB POTTER: --and then presumably, the vote on that particular matter.

JOHN FRENCH: Are you back with us? Is it back with you? Yeah, you're working. Talk.

WAYNE RHONA: OK, now it is. Yeah. Prophylactic is defined as preventive or protective. Let's do something before the pregnancy occurs. Let's tell our children at an early age what causes pregnancy, which I am sure you are all acquainted with.

We should be teaching prophylactic methods at home and in school, teach either total abstinence until the child is old enough to be responsible for his or her own actions, or how to use contraceptives if you can't wait. That is doing something positive and before the horse is out of the barn. Let's start talking prophylactic, not pro-life. I would like to relinquish the rest of my two minutes to this lady right behind me.

JOHN FRENCH: Mr. Delegate, you don't have any more time. I'm sorry. There's nothing to relinquish. Let's go back to microphone five for a speaker for the minority report.

CECIL NELSON: Cecil Nelson, 61A. First of all, I would just simply like to say that I am against abortion because I happen to be a Christian, which I know to many people here, they don't appreciate that. But number one, I see it as an act of murder against human life. When I say that, I don't say that with any bitterness towards the people that make those decisions. But that is my opinion, and I do feel it should be expressed.

Number two, the question of pro-choice-- it's always pro-choice to terminate. It's pro-choice to something, but I say it is pro-choice to what? The choice is to allow human life that exists, to live or to kill it. You are asking for pro-choice to kill a human life, and I think that is the main issue.

Number three, I am against abortion because I personally, as a Black citizen, feel that it is an attempt against racial minorities in this country, in third-world countries. In 1977, when abortion was legal at the '73 Supreme Court decision, 30% of the abortions were in the Black and minority areas when they were only comprising about 7% of the United States population.

Third, I am also against abortion, I am also against capital punishment, and I am also against warfare of any kind. And to say that pro-lifers are single-minded and are in favor of war, that I am totally against. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

JOHN FRENCH: Chair recognizes delegate Kastner at microphone one for the final speech against the minority report.

FLO KASTNER: Flo Kastner, 5th congressional district, 60th senatorial district. Most of you are aware that I am a longtime civil libertarian and constitutional law historian. And I would like to call the delegates' attention to the enforcement problems posed by the minority report.

If indeed a fertilized egg is a human being, with premeditation and malice of forethought I kill it, I am guilty of first-degree murder. This proposition would mandate first-degree murder charges for tens of thousands of American women, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

[APPLAUSE]

I'm delighted with the applause. You help my argument. This proposal would mandate compulsory coroner's inquests for every single miscarriage. This proposal would mandate monthly pregnancy tests for every woman in this nation, from puberty to menopause. This proposal would compel the government to take affirmative action to preserve all life and would involve the government in every aspect of individual decision and individual legal right in this nation.

How many passports shall issue to a pregnant woman? And if she comes back from Mexico or Sweden no longer pregnant, what is the penalty? There are enforcement problems with this that are nightmarish beyond belief that would make 1984 look utopian by comparison. I would urge you to defeat the minority proposal and uphold the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

JOHN FRENCH: Thank you. With that speech, the debate over the minority report has automatically closed. Obviously, we are going to do this in such a way that we can have a counted, prorated vote. The chair suspects that it would be adequate to do this by the tally technique that we've been using. Is there any strong objection to that? All right. Hearing none, the chair invites the delegation chairs to come to the tellers and get the tally sheets.

SPEAKER: Yes, there are.

BOB POTTER: And so at this point, the voting process will begin on the adoption of the minority report on the Human Life Amendment to the 1980 DFL Party platform. The minority report calling, of course, for Congress to pass that Human Life Amendment to overturn the Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal, and then, of course, to submit that to the legislatures of the states.

It probably take about at least 15 to 20 minutes to count this if past experience is any guide. And during the time they're doing that, I think it'd be a good opportunity to bring you a fairly decent-sized chunk of the speech that Vice President Walter Mondale gave here at about 10 o'clock or 10:15, something like that. It's going to take just a couple of minutes to sum up the vice president's speech, to the point where we are going to begin broadcasting his remarks.

He made a number of preliminary remarks and then noted that in 1964, when he took over the US Senate seat that vice-- or that Hubert Humphrey gave up when he was elected vice president, it was a good year to be a liberal. He said the Congress in 1964 and '65 and around in there passed about every kind of needed social and economic legislation that was needed, and they did it without causing a lot of inflation.

Mondale said those were good times, but they were different than the ones we have today. And we have to measure people and how they're performing today by today's problems. In the 1960s, Mondale noted that the United States imported about 14% of its oil. There was no OPEC. And, of course, as we all know, that's all changed now. The past 10 years, the rising world of-- the rising price of oil has caught up with everybody to the point where in Minnesota now, the average family is paying an additional $1,500 a year to meet the cost of imported oil.

Mondale then, of course, went on to praise the record of the Carter administration in dealing with the oil problem and with the ensuing inflation problem. Said Mondale, the president warned the nation in 1977 that it was facing the moral equivalent of war over the energy problem, but the nation wasn't listening at that time. Now, Mondale said, we are.

And this year, we will begin to deal with the problem of oil by passing the excess profits tax on the oil companies that will bring in some $200 million, and the proceeds of that will be used to hire American businesses and American workers to help develop America's energy resources.

Secondly, the vice president said that the Mondale administration, the Carter administration will balance the federal budget in 1980. $67 billion deficit at the start of the administration will be reduced to $0 by the time they're finished. And he said that the balanced budget has been accomplished without making major cuts in the social welfare programs that are a particular concern to the progressives in Minnesota. The Medicare, Job Corps program, Head Start, education, and other things have not been disturbed.

Mondale said that more people have been added to the workforce during the past three years than in any previous administration. And he went on to praise the administration's record in passing a number of education programs. One of the major themes of Mondale's address was that it's up to the DFL Party in Minnesota to press ahead and insist upon the progressive tradition, the liberal tradition that, in his view, has led to much of the progress that has been made on various causes during the past 10, 15, 20 years.

Mondale also noted that he has fought for various things for the state of Minnesota at every opportunity, where he said it was honorable to do so. He noted that the administration has succeeded in getting a $300 to $400 million high-speed rail system to help move grain from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area to markets by train in the southern part of the country.

He noted the appointment of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area as a so-called gateway city to provide direct flights between the continental United States and Europe, the northern tier pipeline, which will bring crude oil into Minnesota, the Alaska pipeline, or another pipeline that will bring Alaskan natural gas to Clearbrook, Minnesota.

We haven't gotten everything we wanted, Mondale said, of course, and he put part of the responsibility for that at the feet of Congress, noting that Congress rejected the administration's proposed labor law reform, hospital cost containment legislation, tax reform, and other proposals by the administration.

The vice president then called for the election of two good new senators from the state of Minnesota, as he put it. And he says we need at least four new congressmen. The vice president then went on to say that it's time for the DFL Party to reassert its role as one of leadership in Minnesota. And let's pick up the vice president's remarks now to the conclusion of his speech.

WALTER MONDALE: One night, when a story came in from the state about some dissent, somebody asked me, what goes on in Minnesota? Well, I said a lot of things. But one thing you have to understand is this-- the thought that a Minnesota politician would get a decent night's sleep is intolerable to the Democrats of our state.

[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

And in that, we have succeeded. I have not had a decent night's sleep in 30 years. But I enjoy it. Nothing's as quiet as a cemetery. And you'll find a lot of dead people there. This party is not dead. It's alive. It is not a cemetery.

[APPLAUSE]

We're open. We're diverse. We differ. And that's our strength. We debate the issues. We care about our platform. We endorse our candidates. And also, we organize to elect them. And that's what we must do very well, especially well in 1980. We must organize. We must get out the vote. We lost the legislature last time, I think, just purely on voter turnout. We've got to raise some money.

And we've got to get these fine legislative candidates. I don't like one vote majority in the State House of Representatives. I want to get it back. I believe with Hubert, there ought to be two political parties, one in and one out. And I think the Republicans ought to be clear out of that legislature, and we ought to elect that Senate and that House and give them the support that they need.

[APPLAUSE]

We need to add to our congressional leadership. And in 1982, we need to start working our way back in the Senate. And we need that governor's chair back belonging to the people of Minnesota again.

[APPLAUSE]

But to do that, we have to get serious again. As Hubert once put it, politics is a serious business. It's not a boy's game where you can pick up the ball and run home. If you think things, don't go according to your own idea. We've got to give unity not at any price. We've got to have our debates. We've got to be open. Let's round those edges just a little bit to keep the unity that we need. The Republican Party in this state is positively un-Minnesotan.

[APPLAUSE]

I never thought that I'd live to see the day that any political party in Minnesota would come out against the Equal Rights Amendment, never.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

WALTER MONDALE: No, don't worry about it. Thank you very much. And I never-- and I never thought-- and I never thought that any political party in Minnesota come as they do from educated people because we're educated in our state.

Seeing the horrors and the dangers of nuclear warfare would come out against the ratification of an agreement sponsored, among other things, by every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We need to control nuclear armaments. It's in our interest, and to be against that is to risk mankind itself!

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

And they've got the candidate that they want. They've got a fresh face named Ronald Reagan. What does he stand for? It can't be the value of a decent living because he's officially opposed to the minimum wage. It can't be the value of health and safety because he wants to abolish the OSHA Act.

It can't be the dignity of our seniors because he has publicly questioned the Social Security system. It can't be the integrity of our family farms because he said price supports are too high, and he doesn't understand parity. It can't be the independence--

[APPLAUSE]

It can't be the independence of this country because he said this nation's energy problems should be turned over completely to big oil. It can't be the value of equal opportunity because he called the Civil Rights Acts of the '60s the greatest mistake made by this nation.

It can't be the value of peace because Mr. Reagan said the first thing he will do as president is tear up the SALT II agreement on international television. He wants to deal with the problems of Afghanistan by blockading Cuba. That man doesn't need a majority. He needs a map.

[APPLAUSE, CHEERS]

Reagan once said, and I quote him accurately, "I have always thought that the best thing that government can do is nothing." And nothing is exactly what he'd do for us if he got elected, which he won't.

[APPLAUSE]

Now, some people say he can be elected. I was asked that the other day, and I said, look, in the last year, the Republicans have been debating the question of who will do the least for the working men and women of this country, and Reagan won that combat. The final election is who's going to do the most for the working men and women of this country, and we'll win that election.

[APPLAUSE]

This year, for the first time, the Republicans seem ready to nominate not one, but two candidates for president. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Reagan grew up 40 miles from each other, and they've been together ever since. Together, they voted against food stamps, against Medicare, the minimum wage, legal services for the poor, and the strong Voting Rights Act.

They stood together for Barry Goldwater for president of the United States. But now they say, forget all that. There's a new Anderson. Well, let's take a look at the new Anderson. Eight years ago, he voted to waive environmental standards to speed nuclear plant licensing. Five years ago, he voted against public service jobs. Three years ago, he voted against labor law reform. Two years ago, he voted against Humphrey-Hawkins.

And this year, he is the only candidate to run for president of the United States who says we ought to cut Social Security payments for the senior citizens of this country. That's the Anderson difference. And it isn't any difference at all. He's the same as any other Republican. And if we work together starting today, he'll be in the same losing column with his fellow Republican, Ronald Reagan, in November. And let's be sure that happens.

[APPLAUSE]

Now, it is our task in this convention and the remaining months to put this DFL Party in a role of leadership again, not just to talk, but to govern, to be the conscience of this state and of this nation again, to serve the needs of the poor and the sick, and the elderly, and the minorities, and the working men and women, and the people who want to work and can't find jobs.

This party has devoted itself to helping people since it was created. It has been the most powerful source of leadership and social justice in the modern history of our beloved country. I come to you again this morning as a public officer who has been blessed by your support now for 20 long years and holding thanks to your help and thanks to the reputation of the Democratic Party of Minnesota, the second highest office in the freest nation on Earth.

And I come to you today unlike I have so many times in the past. Because of my role, I have to spend so much time elsewhere around this nation and around this world discharging the responsibilities of that office. And that's what you want me to do. I don't have the time I'd like to be with you, the time I used to have as a Senator, as an attorney general, and as a field man for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

But I'm here today to ask each of you to, first of all, see, as I believe you do, the importance of a strong and powerful DFL Party, strong in values, strong in political effectiveness, strong in courage and in honesty. And secondly, to ponder the need to reassert the progressive forces with confidence and strength in America today, this party must lead, or it won't get done. You must help, or we can't win.

We must together find that special spirit that we've had and need again to understand, to care, to know, to love, to try and put this nation once again on the strong and this state on the strong and effective path toward social justice here throughout our nation and in the world. Thank you very much.

[APPLAUSE]

BOB POTTER: Vice President Walter Mondale in remarks delivered to this 1980 DFL State Convention at about 10 o'clock this morning. The entire speech ran about 40 to 45 minutes. And we brought you some of the highlights as the speech came to its conclusion, one of the toughest, most partisan speeches the vice president has delivered, at least in the state of Minnesota, in quite some time.

He really excoriated the Republicans, not only for their proposed-- or for their adopted platform taken last weekend in Duluth, but also for the very likely candidacy of Ronald Reagan as the GOP presidential candidate in the fall.

DICK DALY: I noticed, too, Bob-- and I did not notice this at the time he was giving a speech-- listening to the public address system and listening to it in that recording, Vice President Mondale was getting quite hoarse toward the end. He was beginning to lose his voice just a little bit because he-- again, really, it was a real stem-winder. He was really in full throttle up there at the podium.

BOB POTTER: Well, as he noted at the beginning of his speech, he has done just an immense amount of traveling since last fall. Actually, I think he said he's traveled some 125,000 miles or thereabouts. And that didn't include even some of the overseas trips that he has been making, just the ones here in the United States. I think that his experience in the vice presidency over the past few years has done a lot for his oratorical style, as obviously it would for practically anyone.

The one thing the vice president did not make any comment on was the pro-life issue. And that's what has been the object of some debate and discussion during the past 25, 30 minutes here at the convention. They are voting right now. Rather, they have completed the voting on and are going to be counting the vote on a proposal that would substitute a minority report calling for adoption of a Human Life Amendment. Pat Kessler is out on the floor with some reaction to this voting procedure. And let's go to him right now.

PAT KESSLER: I'm here with some delegates from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th districts, correct? Are those all the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th? A pretty wide smattering of delegate thought here. All of you are pro-life supporters. And the vote has been taken, although the results have not been announced. Are you confident, first of all, that this minority plank will be adopted? Anyone?

AUDIENCE: OK. No, at this point, we don't feel that our numbers are strong enough to take this, but we don't want to see our party take a position of being pro-choice. We have to consider the out-state candidates who are running for office. And as a DFL Party, we cannot take that back to rural Minnesota.

PAT KESSLER: Very quickly, the Republicans offer a Human Life Amendment in their platform. Would you consider leaving the DFL? Any of you?

AUDIENCE: At this point, I don't think any of us really want to comment on that. We want to see what happens here. We were very disappointed yesterday in being stripped and being disenfranchised of our rightful vote here.

PAT KESSLER: Here is the vote. Back to you.

BOB POTTER: All right, let's go up to the podium where John French is announcing the vote.

JOHN FRENCH: 1,214.99 votes were cast. The question was whether to substitute the minority report for the majority report. Those voting yes in favor of the minority report were 512.33 votes. Those voting no were 702.67 votes.

[CHEERS]

The percentages were 42.2% in favor of the minority report, 57.8% against the minority report. The minority report is defeated. And the convention now has before it the question whether or not to adopt the majority report under number 2, Human Life Amendment.

BOB POTTER: All right. Let's go back to Pat now and get some immediate reaction to the result of this vote.

PAT KESSLER: OK, we're back with the same delegates that we were at before. What's your initial reaction to this vote?

AUDIENCE: Well, of course, I'm disappointed, but we feel that this is just the beginning. It's gone on for a long time. And we're here to win. And eventually, our case is going to be stated long enough and hard enough, and people are going to change their minds.

PAT KESSLER: 42% of the voters voted in favor of this. Does that surprise you?

AUDIENCE: No. I think that's a real good indication of where we're going. We're building. I think that's great.

PAT KESSLER: Thanks very much.

BOB POTTER: All right, Pat, thank you for that report there from the floor. The result of this is, of course, that the minority report has not been substituted for the majority report.

DICK DALY: There's an attempt being made right now on the floor, Bob, to move the question, move the main question, the majority report, which, of course, opposes the Human Life Amendment. This kind of attempt has been made from time to time through the couple of days on some of these controversial issues.

It usually fails, but right now, they're having a standing division of the house to see if there are adequate people to rule out any further debate and just simply go ahead and vote, because obviously, we've just heard all the arguments, pro and con, in the consideration of the minority report. And if there is to be debate on the majority plank as proposed, it will be those same arguments restated once again. So it's possible this time the call for an immediate vote will succeed.

BOB POTTER: And the indication if the preliminary vote on the minority report can be viewed as a sign of what the sentiment of the delegation is, and it may very well be close to that, the opposition to the Human Life Amendment garnered about 58% of the total vote. It will take a vote of 60% to put opposition to the Human Life Amendment into the DFL Party platform. So I'm sure--

DICK DALY: May well be that neither side will have sufficient strength to prevail here

BOB POTTER: Although, given the fact that it's that close, I'm sure that there'll be a great deal of lobbying going on the floor--

DICK DALY: It will be an interesting vote.

BOB POTTER: --as the vote continues. And, of course, I'm sure that also will be a written vote as well. So we have really about come to the point where we're going to leave you now on the FM network. Our continuous coverage will proceed on KSJN-AM 1330, in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. Along with Dick Daly and the rest of the convention crew, this is Bob Potter.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

SPEAKER: Continuing live coverage of the DFL State Convention is a special events presentation of Minnesota Public Radio.

BOB POTTER: Back again at the Minneapolis Auditorium and Convention Center, where the convention delegates have decided what they're going to do on the human life question.

DICK DALY: They are going to close debate, Bob. It was the ruling of the chair and his several colleagues there who helped him eyeball the crowd and make an estimate that the move to close debate did get a 2/3 vote. And so they will proceed, I think, very quickly then to an actual vote on the main platform plank as proposed, which opposes the Human Rights Amendment.

And indeed, it will be fascinating to see if 60% can be obtained there within 2.2% of it on the basis of the vote, the test vote we've just had on the minority plank. And I think that Pat Kessler may have a-- I guess Pat is not quite ready on the floor.

BOB POTTER: I think what will happen once again is that if there is a written vote, that it will take somewhere in the vicinity of 25 minutes or so to tally the results of that. And we will have the results. One of the more interesting and controversial proposed planks to this 1980 DFL platform.

DICK DALY: Pat is now ready on the floor. Let's go out to him for further reaction to this whole controversial situation.

PAT KESSLER: I'm with Father Leo Tibesar, 4th district delegate, pro-life caucus. They've just voted to restrict the debate now on the majority platform. What about that?

LEO TIBESAR: Well, the speeches on the minority report seem to cover most of the issues about the pro-life resolution. So people probably thought that there was enough debate, and they're ready to vote on the significant question at hand.

PAT KESSLER: How long do you think you can fight in this party for the human life [AUDIO OUT] How long do you think you can fight in this party for a human life--