Senator Normy Klobuman?

I used to dismiss as short-sighted the people who grumbled that there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between our two major political parties. However, after reading the Nov. 9 Pioneer Press piece claiming credit for securing more federal funds to prioritize additional rail-based transit systems, I can see how someone could say that now about our state's United States Senators. When both of them voted to override the veto of the "stuffed pork chop" water projects bill that emerged from conference committee over 50% larger than either the House or Senate pre-conference versions, it was further evidence for those who fail to see any significant difference in the campaign platforms or votes by our two U.S. Senators.

The only ways anyone could tell which Senator wrote the Pioneer Press piece would be by the references to an amendment passed last year, and to successfully lobbying Bush Administration officials. Yes, it was Norm, but after the Bush connections can no longer be mined, he will be either indistinguishable from our junior Senator, or will be at a disadvantage if anyone other than Giuliani becomes President.

If I were into conspiracies, I would have to consider the possibility that shadowy political consultants secretly extracted DNA samples from our two Senators after the last election, mixed them in test tubes, allowed for the creation of one male and and one female offspring, installed microchips into each of them with detailed voting instructions, and found a way to accelerate their aging to the point where both of the offspring are now acting as U.S. Senators in place of their genetic parents.

A more plausible explanation is that our senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota is a political chameleon the likes of which we have never seen here before. If he is able to sell Giuliani as a trustworthy leader for fiscal and social conservatives, we will know that our senior Senator has an almost supernatural ability to to transfer those chameleon-like powers to others as well.