Politics Today: Alan Blinken (D) for U.S. Senate for the State of Idaho

By: Krystle Russin

Politicians have many kinds of personalities. There are those like John Ashcroft, who wouldn’t always fit in with average Americans. Then there are people like George W. Bush, blending into the crowd. Is it possible to be able to do both?

From New York businessman to someone spending the summer with their grandchildren, Alan Blinken proves that it can be done. Ambassador to Belgium during the Clinton administration, he is now hoping to be Idaho’s next U.S. senator. And according to Blinken, running a campaign is "a darn good time."

If elected on Nov. 5, Americans might also be hearing about Blinken’s prescription drug plan. While it is still too early to tell if it could become the most influential legislation in years, the idea is brought up in this interview - along with talking campaign issues and his life before politics.

Q: What are your goals for Idaho if given the chance to be in the Senate?

A: My primary goal is to help bring investment for this state, to create good paying jobs for the people of Idaho, and then we want to improve the schools. I just put out a plan for prescription drugs that cuts the price of drugs to all people’s prescriptions by at least 50 percent, providing all seniors with a $12-15 maximum per prescription.

Q: Your father was originally from Russia. Is there any advice he has given you that would help you in your role as U.S. senator?

A: My father’s advice to me was, "The best thing anybody could have, after health, of course, is a good education," and he helped me get a good education. I want to see that all the young men and women in this state get a good education. Then he said, "If you’ve got a skill, share it with your neighbors." My skill is creating investment which creates good paying jobs, and I want to share that skill with all my neighbors who are citizens of Idaho.

Q: Besides a political career, you have also worked on Wall Street. How is this useful if elected?

A: Wall Street, of course, is a great help to what I am doing now. In Wall Street, we learn how to create and help build capitol and investment, and that creates jobs. One of the companies I helped start was Southwest Airlines. At the same time, I was serving on the New York Zone Development Commission, whose job it was to bring investment and create jobs in the rural communities of New York state - not so different than the role of communities in Idaho: ranching and farming.

And then I served as U.S. ambassador for nearly five years. During that period of time, I helped send $6 million of investment back to the United States which created over 85,000 good paying jobs, and we want to get those kinds of jobs here in Idaho for the hardworking, educated people of this state.

Q: According to a New York Times article, you stated, "I heard far worse things when I tried to run for Assembly in New York." What are some of the things you like better about Idaho than campaigning in New York?

A: About running in Idaho - it’s actually been fun. First of all, my wife and I both fish, and I hunt. Traveling this state, we’ve seen little corners of it we hadn’t seen before. We travel the state a lot fishing and seeing folks, and the people here are very open.

It’s not a question of party, it’s a question of ideas. It’s been fun, whether it’s sitting down over a chicken fried steak at a little local café or having coffee with folks in the morning or talking to university students. The people are very open to what you want to say. I think that’s one of the reasons my wife and I chose Idaho.

My opponent was only born here; actually, we came here when he was first going to Washington, so that was 21 years ago. We chose it for the people, the hardworking people. We chose it for the beauty of this state. We chose it because it’s everything we love, and you know, we’ve got four children and eight grandchildren. We want them to learn (and they are learning) about this uniquely American state. The people are wonderful. I’m proud to be a citizen of this state.

People don’t know they have the wrong idea of Idaho. We’ve got two canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon. This state isn’t what some people on the outside say, just potatoes and some bad folks up north. Those bad folks up north have gone to Pennsylvania, and this state is 65 percent suburban-urban today.

It’s growing rapidly, but the problem is, it hasn’t reached everybody. We have the lowest pay of women in the United States. We have about the least spent per pupil on education in the United States. This state spends the least on economic development of any state in the nation and the District of Colombia, and the people deserve better. They haven’t been served well for years now, and the time has come to turn this around.

There’s no reason why a woman we met named Madeline Hanson should have to pick up tin cans behind bars at age 82 to pay for her prescription drugs. There’s no reason children should be shortchanged on the health thing because this state can't afford to match on Medicaid payments The state has been shortchanged on highway funds and it’s time that we got our fair share.

There are good people here. This state’s got one of the lowest absentee rates of any state in the nation, so people here don’t want a handout, they want a chance to move up. As far as that’s concerned, I’m a first generation American, as you noted in one of your questions. I worked my way up, and I lived the American dream to a certain extent. I’d like everybody in my state to have the same kind of opportunities that I’ve had and I’ll feel better about that and knowing I’ve done something for all of them.

Q: Other than politics, what can you say about yourself and your life outside of the campaign?

A: Life outside the campaign - that’s something else again. Of course, I’m not getting the time I wanted to hunt and fish, which is one of the reasons we came here, and our grandchildren, many of them have been here all summer. Traveling around the state with my wife, and we didn’t get spend as much time with them as we would like.

But I still keep myself busy when I get the chance. I’m chairman of the largest educational institution in the country that teaches children who are young men and women, junior year in college, about government and public service. It’s called the Washington Center, and we have about 1,200 kids go through that every year. I’m chairman of that, and I’m involved in lots of other endeavors.

So life was pretty good, and I was gonna do this, but I felt the need, the desire, a passion to help my fellow Idahoans, and what we’ve talked about the whole time of course is good paying jobs. It’s what’s going to turn this state around. That’s what’s going to make this state the kind of place it deserves to be.

Q: When asked about your campaign, "I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think I had a message," is what you replied to the Idaho State Journal. What is the main part of this message that you would like to bring across to voters?

A: The question is, would I have done this if I hadn’t had a message? Absolutely not. If I thought other people were better equipped to bring good paying jobs to this state, to help with education, to have a health care plan that makes sense for all Americans, I wouldn’t be running. But I’m running not because of me, I’m running because of the ideas we propound in this campaign, ideas that work to the benefit of all the people of this great state. So that’s why I’m excited, I’m proud, and I’m honored to be running for the United States Senate.

It is a singular honor, but I’m not running to get a job. That may be good enough for my opponent. He’s been a politician just about all his life, doesn’t know anything else, has an enormous government pension that’s about $5.7 million when he retires. I’m interested in doing this to help the people, so for me it’s not a job, it’s a responsibility.

Q: What is it like for you not only coming back to Idaho after so many years, but possibly having the opportunity to represent the state in Washington?

A: Coming back to Idaho, but having to serve in Washington: I think there’s another difference between my opponent and myself. I look forward to turning to people in Washington, but spending a great deal of time here - not just visiting, but being with my co-citizens of Idaho, listening to them, and hearing what they want to say. The big thing is hearing people and not lecturing to people. So we’re excited with this campaign, we’re excited with the opportunities it affords us to help people, and we’re having a darn good time doing it.

Krystle Russin writes for The State Journal-Register(IL) and contributes political articles/interviews to several publications including PurePolitics.com.