Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
Encyclopedia
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...
as a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2008
United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008
The 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008. After a legal battle lasting over eight months, Al Franken from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate...
but was defeated by Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
.
Background
Jack was born as the youngest of four brothers to parents Wayne and Audrey Nelson in 1951. He was born and raised in Minnesota. He went to high school in Coon RapidsCoon Rapids, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 61,627 people, 22,578 households, and 16,572 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,718.1 people per square mile . There were 22,828 housing units at an average density of 1,007.2 per square mile...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, and then went to St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
in Northfield
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
. After graduating with a B.A. in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, he attained his Masters of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He has written several books on war, hunger issues, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, and foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
. For the past 15 years, he has been a professor at the University of St. Thomas
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is married to his wife of 25 years, Sara, with whom he has three daughters, Hannah, Audrey and Naomi.
2006 U.S. House election
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer announced his intention to challenge incumbent Democrat Martin Sabo for the Minnesota's 5th congressional districtMinnesota's 5th congressional district
Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts of Anoka and Ramsey counties. It was created in 1883 and was named the "Bloody...
U.S House of Representatives seat in early 2006. Following the announcement of Sabo that he was retiring, several other democrats announced their intentions to run for the House seat. At the district convention in May, Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison (politician)
Keith Maurice Ellison is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The district centers on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison is a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.He is the first Muslim to be elected to the...
won the endorsement after Nelson-Pallmeyer withdrew from the endorsement process and threw his support to Ellison, who went on to win the general election.
2008 U.S. Senate election
On October 10, 2007, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer announced his candidacy for the U.S Senate, for the seat held by RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
. He ran against Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
for the DFL Party
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...
nomination. Nelson-Pallmeyer established the Iraq war, education, universal single-payer health care, and global warming as some of his key issues. After a long fight for the party's nomination, culminating at the 2008 State DFL convention in Rochester, MN, Nelson-Pallmeyer lost the nomination to Al Franken.
Climate change
Nelson-Pallmeyer believes that global warming is anthropogenic (caused by humans), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
(IPCC) claims, and has proposed a plan in which 80% of greenhouse gas emissions are cut in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by 2030. He argues that we need a renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
economy, which would bring jobs to the United States.
War in Iraq
Nelson-Pallmeyer has been a strong critic of the war in Iraq since before the invasion occurred. The war in Iraq is, according to Nelson-Pallmeyer, a war about fear and oil. He calls for the U.S. to announce its commitment to end the war, and begin pulling out troops immediately with all U.S. troops removed in a time frame of six months. The money that has been devoted to fighting in Iraq should, in Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's view, be used for social issues in the United States and to help reconstruct Iraq and provide assistance for our troops when they return to the U.S.Health care
Nelson-Pallmeyer advocates a national, single-payer health careSingle-payer health care
Single-payer health care is medical care funded from a single insurance pool, run by the state. Under a single-payer system, universal health care for an entire population can be financed from a pool to which many parties employees, employers, and the state have contributed...
system. This would provide universal coverage for all Americans. It would reform the U.S. health care system
Health care in the United States
Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector...
.
Education
All three of Jack’s daughters have attended or are currently attending public schools for their K-12 education. Nelson-Pallmeyer supports increased funding for public elementary, secondary, post-secondary and pre-kindergarten education. He opposes No Child Left Behind, a policy implemented by George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Immigration reform
Nelson-Pallmeyer supports the repeal of North American Free Trade AgreementNorth American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Jack supports the Dream Act
DREAM Act
The DREAM Act is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001 and most recently reintroduced there on May 11, 2011....
and the right to organize for all workers, regardless of citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
status.
LGBT issues
Nelson-Pallmeyer supports full and equal rights for members of the LGBTLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community, with no exceptions.
Abortion
Nelson-Pallmeyer believes that the issue of abortion should be left up to individuals and not the state. According to him, abortions should be able to be performed safely and legally in the United States.Books by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
- Hunger for Justice: the Politics of Food and Faith. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1980.
- The Politics of Compassion. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1986.
- War Against the Poor: Low-Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith. Maryknoll: Orbis Books,1989.
- Brave New World Order: Must We Pledge Allegiance? Maryknoll: Orbis Books 1992.
- Families Valued: Parenting and Politics for the Good of All Children. New York: Friendship Press, 1996.
- School of the Assassins. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1997.
- Harvest of Cain. District of Columbia: EPICA, 2001
- Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2001.
- School of the Assassins: Guns, Greed and Globalization (2nd Edition). Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2001.
- Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2003.
- Worship in the Spirit of Jesus: Theology, Liturgy and Songs without Violence. (2005) with Bret Hesla. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press/United Church Press, 2005.
- Saving Christianity from Empire. New York: Continuum International, 2005.