Program brings Goldwater, Minge to campus

It's not every day that students have the opportunity to chat with former congressmen, but Monday was an exception.

Barry M. Goldwater Jr. and David R. Minge spoke to students in Bidgood Hall about their personal experiences before, during and after their tenures in Congress, as part of Congress to Campus, a nationwide initiative designed to attract students to public service and leadership.

The program, which began in 1996, sends pairs of former members of Congress to universities across the United States to share their experiences and pique students' interest in public service.

This was the first time the program came to the University, and the first time both former congressmen had been to Alabama. The program was sponsored by the Honors College, the political science department and the Blackburn Institute.

Goldwater, a Republican who represented California's 27th District from 1969-83, started things off on a lighter note by telling students how he became exposed to politics, and how he reluctantly decided to run for Congress in a bar.

After campaigning for his father, Barry Goldwater Sr., an Arizona senator who lost to Lyndon B. Johnson in the presidential election of 1964, Goldwater said he had a "sour taste" when it came to politics.

"All I was interested in was making money," he said, which is why he became a stockbroker after graduating from Arizona State University in 1962. One night out at a local bar with his "political cronies," however, led to his run for Congress.

After shooting down their suggestions that he should run, Goldwater finally gave in. "After the third drink, I said, 'Yeah,'" he said.

Minge, who served in the House as a Democratic-Farmer-Labor party representative from Minnesota from 1993-01, had a very different story. The current Minnesota Court of Appeals judge got his start in his state's second District, one of the most rural areas in the country. The odds were against him, since he was running against a well-financed candidate, but Minge was determined to win.

"I wanted a soapbox I could speak from and try to communicate the mess and make an impact on people in the area, and make Congress do a better job," he said. When he won the election by 600 votes, he said, "I just sort of pinched myself."

Both men said their first days in office were surreal and were learning experiences.

"You hit the ground and you run and you learn fast," Goldwater said, admitting he had much to learn about his new post after being sworn in. "I swear to God, that was an experience I'll never forget."

Minge agreed and said, "For me the process was exhilarating in terms of being where decisions were being made."

More about those decisions and the former representatives' opinions on today's prominent issues came out during a colorful question and answer session that followed the speeches. Students and faculty members inquired about a range of topics from the energy crisis to foreign aid. The answer that drew the most laughs was Goldwater's when asked about the presidential race.

"Now, you heard it first here: Ron Paul, he's a sleeper!" he said. "He's the dark horse, he's coming up strong!"

On a serious note, Goldwater predicted John McCain would win, "not because he's a better person, but because the Democrats are going to beat each other up."

Minge said he couldn't comment because judges aren't supposed to get involved in politics, but his young grandson became a Barack Obama fan after attending one of his speeches.

When asked about his political philosophies, Goldwater said he is a Libertarian, because he believes the government should stay out of citizen's lives as much as possible.

"Don't elect people who are going to do things for you, elect people who are going to let you do things for yourself," he said.

That trickled into a discussion about foreign policy.

"We think we can whoop everyone in the butt and we can't. We can't be the policemen of the world," he said.

On a lighter note, when asked about partisanship, Minge said there weren't good relations between Republicans and Democrats when he entered Congress, which produced interesting results.

The congressional leaders went on a bipartisan retreat in Hershey, Penn., which Minge said was "the sweetest place on Earth," and played team-building games, all the while surrounded by Hershey's chocolate.

"The idea was we would all sweeten up," he said, laughing, but that was easier said than done. "You didn't see much cooperation, for the most part."

Still, Minge said, America's form of government has worked, and despite disagreements, has gotten things done.

"The political process of self-government is an incredible opportunity. We have had the process at work maintaining our country longer than any country in the history of civilization," he said. "It's not efficient - it's designed to be inefficient. We have to make the system work … to root out corruption and hold politicians' feet to the fire, yet not become so cynical we give up."

And, he added, students should join in.

"This is not a spectator sport, this is a participant activity," Minge said. "We're here at the University of Alabama to pass the torch, to pass it on to you like others have passed it on to us."

Goldwater ended on a different note. After announcing the April 15 release of "Pure Goldwater," a collection of his father's journals that he co-authored with John Dean, left students with a saying from his home state.

"In Arizona, we have a saying: Never slap a man in the face when he's chewing tobacco, never kick a cow pie on a hot day and know when to shut up. Roll Tide!"

Prior to the program, both former legislators said they hoped students would be inspired to take part in politics.

"I think we'd like to encourage the students to participate in public service and consider public office at some point in their life and recognize our institution is both accessible to them and that by and large public leadership is provided by people who have a deep commitment to public policy," Minge said.

Goldwater said the program should have an impact on students who attend.

"I think by our being on campus and meeting with these students they get a real time to develop an understanding about how Congress works," he said.

Judging from students' reactions, the two accomplished their mission. Charlotte Ingalls, a sophomore majoring in history, said she came to the presentation with her UH 105 class.

"I thought it was pretty awesome," she said of the presentation. "I thought they were very informative."

Joe Pritchard and Troy Davenport, both juniors majoring in political science, said the event was an important one that they were glad they attended. The two said they came to Congress to Campus because of their interest in politics.

"As citizens, it's important to understand how government works," Davenport said. "It's nice to see more in depth, to hear straight from the men that are doing it and not from a news outlet."

Pritchard agreed, and said, "It gives us a chance as students to ask questions of people we normally wouldn't have a chance to ask [questions of]."