Eschaton

Bob Novak is a race-baiting liar..

After refusing to comment for a week on speculation about whether he was on a short list of potential U.S. Senate candidates after Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page broke his silence Friday.

Angered by a syndicated column by Robert Novak, which ran in Friday's Pioneer Press, Page said that though reluctant, he had to comment.

"Because of this week's extraordinary circumstances and the column's insidious use of race, Mr. Novak's comments require a response. Beyond the use of race, the column is, in its references to me, factually inaccurate," Page said.

The Novak column said, "According to Minnesota sources, he (Page) was eager to seek the Senate seat. But the DFL apparently did not want to risk running the African-American Page in an overwhelmingly Caucasian state, and Page was quickly discouraged."

Page said that, contrary to the column's claims, he "did not seek to be nominated to the Senate seat" and that beyond his friends and "a number of supportive citizens," he was not asked to be a candidate. Nor, he said, was he discouraged.

He also said the Novak column inaccurately said he "led the state Democratic ticket in recent elections." Page noted that judicial elections in Minnesota are nonpartisan and conducted separately from the political parties.

"I find it offensive and unacceptable that forces beyond my control have used me as a vehicle to interject race into Minnesota's political debate,'' Page said.