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| Franken's in limbo as the weeks grind on |
| 2009-05-03 |
| Six months after Election Day, Al Franken is a man in limbo, preparing for an office he's not entirely sure he's going to get, chained to a fundraising treadmill for a legal battle that goes on and on, and champing to get to work while precious committee assignments and pitched policy battles pass him by. He has hired a Minnesota state director -- Alana Peterson -- but she's working for free because he can't draw on any money budgeted for a Senate seat that has no winner. His office? Most days it's his Minneapolis townhouse. On Friday, it was the back corner of the Egg and I, a venerable breakfast and lunch joint on University Avenue near the line between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The restaurant is a few dozen feet away from a darkened office with a forlorn "For Lease" sign in the window and slightly peeling red letters that announce "United States Senate Office, 100 N" -- the former digs of Norm Coleman, who occupies a similar nether state as both sides prepare for oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in June. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 Franken(stein) and unqualified tax cheat, is stealing an election, right before our eyes. A sad day for our Republic. |
| Posted by: Mikey Hunt 2009-05-03 23:33 |
| #16 Regarding the comment that Coleman would have beaten Franken in a revote, that is just not provable. Certainly not without actually holding a revote, which is why people are proposing actually performing the experiment, dear Minnesota Central. Probability only talks about what might happen after all -- one still must actually flip the coin to find out which side lands facing up. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-05-03 19:41 |
| #15 Word, Zorba. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-03 18:01 |
| #14 Just how stupid ARE you people up there? Very stupid. Don't forget they also elected Farrakhan's buddy, Keith Ellison, to Congress. |
| Posted by: Zorba Craising6734 2009-05-03 17:58 |
| #13 Well, if I were inebriated Jesse Ventura would appeal to me too, because he'd probably make me laugh till I cried into my beer! |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-03 17:37 |
| #12 Inebriation? You say that like it's a bad thing. Jeebus |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-05-03 17:30 |
| #11 O.S. If Rochester Minnesota is any indicator, people were gorging on all the worst life has to offer, might explain there politics. Inebriation and heavy smoking is du jour. Having the Mayo Clinic nearby might afford one good healthcare down the road? Oh, and of course, one would be surrounded by open fields, Winnebagos, truck stops and some of the worst weather imaginable. Pretty depressing. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-03 17:27 |
| #10 Minnesota, vying for the most idiotic electorate in the union by electing jokes to office - first Jesse Ventura, now Al Franken. Just how stupid ARE you people up there? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-05-03 17:05 |
| #9 What about tax cheat? |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2009-05-03 15:55 |
| #8 IF Franken follows the path of working hard for Minnesota while not seeking the spotlight, he has a chance to be a productive Senator, develop the legislative experience that he lacks and be re-elected. Mighty big 'IF' there. What am I saying - we're talking Al Franken here. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-05-03 14:53 |
| #7 "I don't see the word 'buffoon' anywhere in M.C.'s post." See, Steve - I told you it was Al! :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-03 13:30 |
| #6 I don't see the word 'buffoon' anywhere in M.C.'s post. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-05-03 12:31 |
| #5 C'mon, |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-03 10:09 |
| #4 Great article that addresses FrankenÂ’s weakness Â… his lack of legislative experience. LetÂ’s applaud Franken for meeting with proponents of both sides and for his desire to work with all the other members of the Minnesota delegation Â… that may be trickier than working in the Senate Â… after all Congressman John Kline (R-MN-02) actually suggested to have deceased Democratic Senator Paul WellstoneÂ’s name taken off The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Regarding the comment that Coleman would have beaten Franken in a revote, that is just not provable. First off, another Democrat would have beaten Coleman quite easily Â… just look at the Klobuchar margin over Kennedy in 2006 and the Obama margin over McCain. Franken has personality problems Â… not issue problems. Klobuchar has good Favorability ratings and I doubt there are any significant votes that her vote would have been different than Franken. On the issues, Minnesota sides with the Dems. On the other hand, ColemanÂ’s problem is that he did not maintain the MN-GOP votes. His reach-out to the Independent voters (marked by his support for SCHIP and climate change while opposing drilling in ANWR) lead to hardcore conservatives to advocate throwing Coleman under the bus as they saw no difference between Coleman and Franken. The third-party candidateÂ’s vote tally that typically was in the 75,000 range went to 437,505 which was people driven by people that did not want either Franken or Coleman. In a revote, there is no guarantee that these people would bother to vote. IF Franken follows the path of working hard for Minnesota while not seeking the spotlight, he has a chance to be a productive Senator, develop the legislative experience that he lacks and be re-elected. |
| Posted by: Minnesota Central 2009-05-03 08:17 |
| #3 Illustrates the need for a run-off when no one gets a majority of the vote in the first round. No way Al beats Norm in a run-off particularly if Bambi is not on the ballot. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-05-03 02:43 |
| #2 Drop the legal challenge after 3 1/2 more years. |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2009-05-03 01:38 |
| #1 what about a revote? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-05-03 00:54 |