by Elyse Kaner
Staff writer

Main Street Anoka is a political magnet of late.

First it was President George Bush in September with a surprise visit to the Brick House Deli. Now, it's Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Oct. 29, amid sound and light checks, last minute staff preps and flashing cameras, the governor casually strolled into the Lyric Arts Main Street Stage theater, glad handed the audience, descended the aisle stairs to center stage and donned earphones for his weekly WCCO-AM radio Friday morning show, "Good Morning, Minnesota."

But not without pinning an Anoka Halloween button to his shirt and warming up the audience first.

Learning that "Hansel and Gretel" will play at the theater in December, Pawlenty said, "I want to come to be the moderator when you have Charlie Weaver in tights."

Weaver, an Anoka resident and Pawlenty's former chief of staff, and the audience received the comment in good spirits. And spirits were what the week was about.

It was the Friday before Halloween in Anoka, the Halloween capital of the world. And the governor's decision to do a live broadcast from the remodeled theater was icing on the celebratory cake for a town that was abuzz with excitement about the fall festivities.

The Oct. 29 program, which played to an audience of about 150 - mostly townsfolk, Anoka County employees, Anoka ambassadors and local politicians - was a compendium of gaiety, serious business, news of the weird, an interview with a local filmmaker and a plug for the annual festivities in Anoka.

"It's great to be here in downtown Anoka, the Halloween Capital of the World," Pawlenty said in his opening program remarks.

Brian McClung, Pawlenty's press secretary, co-hosted the show. Sitting at a tapestry-draped table, with a half-dozen ceramic pumpkins in front of them, the governor's show was a sharp contrast to the somber, gray torch-lit medieval Roman castle garden background, bedecked by winged gargoyles and white rose bushes - the setting for the theater's popular production of "Beauty and the Beast."

Two of Pawlenty's security guards loomed unobtrusively in the background by a Roman column.

Halfway through the show, McClung, in the spirit of Halloween, appeared on stage dressed in a silver, medieval gladiator helmet and vest. He waved a mighty sword. More laughs and camera flashes from the audience. Pawlenty adeptly described the scene for the listening radio audience.

"I am genuinely frightened," the governor said, playing along with the gag.

But the show was not all frivolity. In a news segment, Pawlenty thanked Minnesota farmers for their hard work and reminded them to stay focused on safety while gathering their crops.

He spoke of plans for a new energy-power plant that will turn coal into natural gas and "bring a lot of jobs to distressed area on the Iron Range."

Pawlenty touched on the increased use of methamphetamine in the state. Next session, legislators will work with retailers to limit availability of pseudo-ephedrine, a basic ingredient in antihistamines and in meth that creates toxic waste and is becoming a growing problem in the state. Treatment for meth users will also be a priority, he said.

But Pawlenty devoted more than a few minutes to tribal gaming in Minnesota, the third largest gaming industry in the country. Only California and Connecticut have larger tribal gaming industries.

Pawlenty is currently in discussions with Minnesota tribes, whom he is asking to share about 25 percent of their gaming revenues with the state.

Tribes now keep 100 percent of gaming fund profits. Much of that money has been used to fund reservation communities - to build infrastructure, provide jobs and help tribal members, Pawlenty said.

Gaming is growing in Minnesota, he said, and he wants to fairly apportion the earnings. He said that 11 tribes reside in Minnesota - some operate gaming, others participate minimally, and, still, others are not involved.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all situation," he said.

Should the tribes decide not to negotiate a change, Pawlenty has entertained the notion of opening gaming to big-name Las Vegas concerns the likes of Harrah's and MGM Grand.

"I prefer not to do that," he said. "I hope they (tribes) take us up with an offer."

And on the week before the general election, he urged people to vote.

"If you don't vote in a democracy, things don't work so well," he said.

Pawlenty and McClung moved on to news of the weird.

Spiderman was the most popular Halloween costume this year. Princess costumes were second, McClung said.

McClung pushed the comedic envelope by recalling Halloween when he was a kid, growing up in South St. Paul, a time when parents used to make costumes for their kids, he said. His red hair made him a shoe-in for a Woody Woodpecker costume. He recalled another year when he was a robot. That year, his costume was a box wrapped with tin foil.

During commercial breaks, Pawlenty, dressed in a casual red shirt - one notch away from orange on the Halloween color spectrum - strode into the audience and shook more hands.

Back on the air, he conducted a phone interview with filmmaker, Mike Wilson, a Minnesotan, who wrote and directed "Michael Moore Hates America."

He wrote the movie not so much about Moore, but, instead, the movie's message is about a country where it's possible to live the American dream, Wilson said.

"America is this inspiring place where you can accomplish anything," Wilson - the other Michael - said.

The rest of the show was dedicated to Anoka's autumn celebration. Anoka Halloween President Gary Munkholm presented Pawlenty with an official Halloween clock and Maria Jenson, parade chairwoman, presented him with a Halloween sweatshirt.

"The celebration is getting huge," Munkholm told ABC Newspapers.

About 3,000 costumed elementary students were to march in the Big Parade of Little People later that afternoon. Two hundred units were scheduled to appear in the Grand Day Parade the next day. Oct. 23, a group came from Illinois to watch the Light Up the Night parade. Last year, about 40,000 people attended the Halloween festivities.

The talk show was upstaged by a group of pre-schoolers - dressed as witches, Pooh, and Spidermen - who packed the stage the last 15 minutes of the program. One boy dressed as a green tractor. His grandpa created his costume the old-fashioned way: from a cardboard box.

Pawlenty and McClung wrapped the show and exited stage left, giving way to dozens of excited pre-schoolers, eagerly awaiting to participate in the costume contest. But not before Pawlenty posed for pictures with the young Spidermen and princesses.

Elyse Kaner is at elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com

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