http://ap.brainerddispatch.com/pstories/state/mn/20040622/2252519.shtmlWASHINGTON — A longtime Minnesota Republican and former Supreme Court justice, Ed Stringer, is backing Democrat John Kerry in this year's presidential election. An Associated Press review of campaign finance reports found that Stringer, who also worked for President George H.W. Bush, has contributed $2,000 to Kerry.
Reached Monday, Stringer said he didn't make the contribution as any kind of public statement. "This is really just a very personal feeling on my part that the current administration simply did not represent the direction of the country that I would like to go," said Stringer, 69, a former chief of staff to Gov. Arne Carlson.
Stringer, a lawyer in the Minneapolis law firm of Briggs & Morgan, cited Bush's policies on issues ranging from Iraq to the environment.
"There's hardly anything that this current administration has done that I would stand up and salute, including tax cuts and right down the line," Stringer said.
Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, appointed Stringer general counsel of the U.S. Education Department in 1989. Carlson tapped Stringer as his chief of staff in 1992, then appointed him to the state Supreme Court in 1994. Stringer contributed $1,000 to Bush's 1992 re-election campaign, campaign finance reports show.
Stringer, who said he voted for Bush in 2000, described himself as a moderate Republican in the mold of Carlson — fiscally conservative, pro-environment and supportive of abortion rights. Stringer made this year's contribution at a Kerry fund-raiser in Minnesota two months ago. He said he had a brief conversation with the candidate.
"I wish I were more enthusiastic about his politics than I am," Stringer said of Kerry. "But I must say that given a choice between the two, there isn't any question that I think John Kerry would be a better president."