For several decades, the 3rd Congressional District has been the bastion of political moderation - first with Republican Congressman Bill Frenzel and since 1990, with Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad.

Ramstad has decided to retire, but that does not mean that the bipartisan centrism of fiscal conservatism and social moderation that Ramstad, and before him Frenzel, embraced in Washington, D.C. has to leave with him.

Three candidates are vying for the open seat in the 3rd Congressional District, which covers suburban Hennepin County and all but one precinct of the city of Coon Rapids in Anoka County, in the Nov. 4 general election. They are David Dillon, Independence Party; Ashwin Madia, DFL and Erik Paulsen, Republican. All of them were interviewed recently by a panel from the ECM Editorial Board.

For several decades, the 3rd Congressional District has been the bastion of political moderation - first with Republican Congressman Bill Frenzel and since 1990, with Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad.

Ramstad has decided to retire, but that does not mean that the bipartisan centrism of fiscal conservatism and social moderation that Ramstad, and before him Frenzel, embraced in Washington, D.C. has to leave with him.

Three candidates are vying for the open seat in the 3rd Congressional District, which covers suburban Hennepin County and all but one precinct of the city of Coon Rapids in Anoka County, in the Nov. 4 general election. They are David Dillon, Independence Party; Ashwin Madia, DFL and Erik Paulsen, Republican. All of them were interviewed recently by a panel from the ECM Editorial Board.

It was apparent from those interviews that all three seem to want to continue the Frenzel-Ramstad mold, but in our view Madia, a former Republican, offers the best hope that this tradition of moderation and bipartisanship will continue.

The candidates, no matter their party, believe that change is needed in Congress, but Madia attacks the issues head-on and is very specific in what those changes should be, notably with his prescription for balancing the federal budget and paring down the country's debt, which is his top priority.

Indeed, Madia talks like a deficit hawk and says he is willing to work with both sides, including conservative bluedog Democrats and moderate Republicans, to achieve a balance budget.

In the area of health care, the candidates' views have similarities - cost containment and an expansion of preventive care are top priorities for improving the present system, while maintaining quality and choice. But Madia offered very concrete proposals to boost cost containment - moving to more electronic records and giving the federal government the power to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceuticals, for example.

All the candidates, too, spoke of the need for the country to move ahead with energy alternatives to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil and all spoke of the need to for U.S. troops to leave Iraq over a period of time, depending on ground conditions, while at the same time boosting the U.S. presence in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda from establishing a greater foothold in that country.

But Madia has a unique understanding of the situation in Iraq because he served a tour of duty in that country as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. A lawyer by profession, his role was to help the Iraqis put in place a new legal system.

Paulsen has the prior political experience that neither Madia nor Dillon possess. He served more than a dozen years in the Minnesota House, including time as House Majority Leader, and before that he was on Ramstad's staff, both in Washington and Minnesota.

And Paulsen has shown the ability to work across party lines at the Minnesota Legislature - 79 percent of the bills he authored that became law were bipartisan in nature.

Madia can point to political experience of sorts. He was elected president of the University of Minnesota student body to represent some 40,000 students as a 21-year-old and as a Republican. But in this day and age, when the approval rating of Congress is about as low as it can be, political experience is not necessarily a good thing.

Change is needed in Congress and while it was close call, Madia is a better fit for the 3rd Congressional District than Paulsen. -- This editorial is a product of the editorial board of ECM Publishers, Inc.

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