A reader describes a recent television appearance by our favorite Senator, Minnesota's own Mark Dayton (KARE 11 is a local TV station in Minneapolis):
Did you see Dayton and Coleman last night on this stupid "War in Iraq: A Teen Perspective" on KARE11 last night? I was pretty wiped out, I was heading to bed and figured I'd doze off to "Frasier" or something. Then this crap comes on with Majors and a bunch of teens asking questions and giving opinions on the war. First of all, who cares? (Or, "who kares?") They're teenagers. They can't vote.
But what struck me was watching Dayton and Coleman. They were "LIVE" from Washington. I suppose they really were live, but just in case, KARE stuck a "LIVE" up in the corner so we would know for sure. Especially so we'd know that Dayton WAS alive. He's like a zombie or something. I don't think the eyes we saw were his. I think it was glasses or some sort of prosthetic that was applied with spirit wax or something. They were like WIDE OPEN. And a ramrod straight back. Coleman looked really relaxed, but in a way that was statesman like. I just couldn't help looking at Dayton and not laughing. Even sat up for a minute to really get a good look at him (as if changing my viewing angle helped any) but I couldn't believe it was him. It was like he was taking himself so seriously that he had to sit up unnaturally straight and PAY ATTENTION with WIDE OPEN EYES.
A little known biographical fact about Mark Dayton is that one of his first jobs was working for the department store chain that used to bear his family's name. As a human mannequin. Former Dayton's store manager Lars Carlson recalls:
"People think it's easy being a human mannequin but it's much harder than they imagine. Marky was one of the best I ever saw. He was a natural. Shoppers would stop and stare at him for minutes at a time and if I had a dime for every time I heard one of them remark, "he's almost lifelike" I'd be a rich man.
And the faces. Who could forget the faces? Mark was able to distort his face into the oddest expressions and hold them for hours at a time. I think he really missed his true calling."
Dayton himself credits his insightful understanding of the middle class today to the hundreds of hours he spent as a human mannequin watching and listening to ordinary shoppers.
Spokesman for Senator Dayton would not comment on persistent rumors that Dayton's post-government plans include starring alongside Andrew McCarthy on the long awaited 'Mannequin 3: Hijinks in Washington' film project.
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