Our View: Walter Mondale: A politician worth emulating

We were sad to hear of Walter “Fritz” Mondale’s passing last month at age 93.

It’s well known that Fritz served as our U.S. Senator before he became Jimmy Carter’s vice president in 1976, and that he was the Democrats’ candidate for president in 1984, winning just one state, Minnesota, in the electoral college. Now that he’s gone, we hope others of his integrity and dedication emerge in the political scene.

Minnesota knew, even when the rest of the country didn’t, what a spectacular and honorable politician Fritz Mondale was, and how his legacy shaped modern politics like few other Minnesotans before or after him. He had the courage to name a female vice presidential candidate, for example, at a time the country, for some odd reason, wasn’t ready for a female national leader.

And his local touch was impressive, too. Many of us have stories of our Senator and his impact on our local community and us personally. Cloquet’s own Joe Peterson met Mondale at the DFL bean fest held at the old Labor Temple in Cloquet in 1965, right after he was elected to the Senate. Bret Baker guided him on a fishing trip in later years. There were numerous local stories on Facebook in the days following his death. But we also know many other communities in Minnesota have similar stories about Mondale, making his impact statewide even more impressive.

So, we mourn not just the man and his legacy, but also the influence he had on our government leaders. We hope more people will come forward to run for public office in the same manner Fritz Mondale did: with a willingness to work and compromise with others of differing opinions; with a goal of success and prosperity for all Americans; and an unbreakable dedication to honesty and integrity. We know such leaders are out there. Please consider following in Fritz’s footsteps and step up.

We believe he’d want you to.

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