One day there will be a photo on the wall in the Senate with the
inscription "Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller" and some dates.
But will the portrait be of Tarryl Clark?
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, by design has become the voice of the Minnesota Senate.
More than that, Clark is seen as potential statewide DFL candidate.
The notion that anybody else than senate majority leaders Roger Moe or Dean Johnson would stand before the TV cameras and speak for the DFL caucus seems unthinkable.
But this is a new era.
To some, Clark might have seen to have appeared out of nowhere - she won a 2005 special election after a couple of false starts.
But her apprenticeship goes back much further.
A fresh face
"I like to think of myself as a fresh face in the role of a senator but I've been working down here (the Capitol) for a long time," said Clark, a former lobbyist and DFL activist.
Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, recalled when he came to the Capitol in 1993, there was Tarryl Clark.
How Clark came to represent the proud DFL caucus may be straightforward enough, though Pogemiller's just or unjust reputation for shadow shows invites or even demands speculation.
Clark - as other DFLers - simply say the majority leader questioned why the assistant majority leader position even existed, given the lack of specific duties.
But the caucus wanted to keep it. So it was decided to give the position a more certain role.
"It's a real partnership," Clark said of teaming with Pogemiller.
"I wouldn't be doing this if I thought I would be window dressing," she said.
She's part of what's happening
Indeed, the very nature of being the voice of the caucus demands she be plugged in. "You can't do that (PR) if you're not part of what's happening," she said.
Still, what did Pogemiller get out of the arrangement.
Maybe space.
"He didn't want to be the public face of the Senate," said Betzold, Pogemiller's Senate seat mate.
What kind of job is Clark doing?
Capitol press core members see Clark, an attorney, as doing a good, maybe even very good job as spokesperson.
At least one Senate DFLer sees the same thing. "She's measured up to the task even better than I anticipated," said Sen. Leo Foley, DFL-Coon Rapids.
From the other side of the tracks
Approving words come from the other side of the tracks. "She's a nice person," said Sen. Betsy Wergin, R-Princeton.
Clark, who smiles often and takes pleasure in the belief the public
views her as approachable, said she and Pogemiller are generally on
track - saying the same things.
"Is there any grief giving from either of us on something we might say - of course there is. At this point it's part of our relationship," she said.
Pause:
"I'm pretty careful what I say," said Clark with a laugh.
She is.
Clark, who was born at a naval base in Virginia, is generally seen as a statewide candidate in the making.
Sensibly enough, she leaves the door open.
But she also talks about being focused on the now - considers herself fortunate to be doing what she's doing.
"It's very flattering," said Clark, 45, of being seen as a statewide candidate.
But she hints she's just not there.
Better difference for the state
"I think I would need to convince myself or be convinced that I would make a better difference for the state and for the people doing something else," she said of seeking higher office.
Betzold thinks Clark is very happy doing what she's doing.
And remember, too, he pointed out, that Clark twice lost before finally winning the Senate seat. Losing does something, explained Betzold, who struggled, too, as a candidate. "You don't start out thinking you're on a golden path," said Betzold. "It's tempered when you lose," he said of future political ambitions.
Clark spent her early career working as a counselor to young runaways and their families.
The insights she gained into government, the need for reshaping it or at least getting it out of the way, colored the rest of her professional career, she explained.
But will the portrait be of Tarryl Clark?
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
One day there will be a photo on the wall in the Senate with the
inscription "Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller" and some dates.
But will the portrait be of Tarryl Clark?
Sen. Tarryl Clark
More than that, Clark is seen as potential statewide DFL candidate.
The notion that anybody else than senate majority leaders Roger Moe or Dean Johnson would stand before the TV cameras and speak for the DFL caucus seems unthinkable.
But this is a new era.
To some, Clark might have seen to have appeared out of nowhere - she won a 2005 special election after a couple of false starts.
But her apprenticeship goes back much further.
A fresh face
"I like to think of myself as a fresh face in the role of a senator but I've been working down here (the Capitol) for a long time," said Clark, a former lobbyist and DFL activist.
Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, recalled when he came to the Capitol in 1993, there was Tarryl Clark.
How Clark came to represent the proud DFL caucus may be straightforward enough, though Pogemiller's just or unjust reputation for shadow shows invites or even demands speculation.
Clark - as other DFLers - simply say the majority leader questioned why the assistant majority leader position even existed, given the lack of specific duties.
But the caucus wanted to keep it. So it was decided to give the position a more certain role.
"It's a real partnership," Clark said of teaming with Pogemiller.
"I wouldn't be doing this if I thought I would be window dressing," she said.
She's part of what's happening
Indeed, the very nature of being the voice of the caucus demands she be plugged in. "You can't do that (PR) if you're not part of what's happening," she said.
Still, what did Pogemiller get out of the arrangement.
Maybe space.
"He didn't want to be the public face of the Senate," said Betzold, Pogemiller's Senate seat mate.
What kind of job is Clark doing?
Capitol press core members see Clark, an attorney, as doing a good, maybe even very good job as spokesperson.
At least one Senate DFLer sees the same thing. "She's measured up to the task even better than I anticipated," said Sen. Leo Foley, DFL-Coon Rapids.
From the other side of the tracks
Approving words come from the other side of the tracks. "She's a nice person," said Sen. Betsy Wergin, R-Princeton.
Assistant Leader
"Is there any grief giving from either of us on something we might say - of course there is. At this point it's part of our relationship," she said.
Pause:
"I'm pretty careful what I say," said Clark with a laugh.
She is.
Clark, who was born at a naval base in Virginia, is generally seen as a statewide candidate in the making.
Sensibly enough, she leaves the door open.
But she also talks about being focused on the now - considers herself fortunate to be doing what she's doing.
"It's very flattering," said Clark, 45, of being seen as a statewide candidate.
But she hints she's just not there.
Better difference for the state
"I think I would need to convince myself or be convinced that I would make a better difference for the state and for the people doing something else," she said of seeking higher office.
Betzold thinks Clark is very happy doing what she's doing.
And remember, too, he pointed out, that Clark twice lost before finally winning the Senate seat. Losing does something, explained Betzold, who struggled, too, as a candidate. "You don't start out thinking you're on a golden path," said Betzold. "It's tempered when you lose," he said of future political ambitions.
Clark spent her early career working as a counselor to young runaways and their families.
The insights she gained into government, the need for reshaping it or at least getting it out of the way, colored the rest of her professional career, she explained.
(Photos by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
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