Ah, I screwed up. I remembered reading a lengthy political article on him, assumed it must have been in the NYT Magazine (where I tend to read such things), searched for it there, and lo! there was a big article on Al Franken, so I linked to it. But the recent article I recalled is actually from this month’s issue of Atlantic Monthly, here.
Yep. Now I have to vote Independence Party again. I hate it when that happens.
You don’t have to, that’s your decision.
You could make your vote count by choosing to vote for whichever of the viable candidates is closest to you on issues. That means paying attention to their position on issues, which requires some research, because the media will be completely obsessed by personalities & personal attacks.
By the way, the latest polls show Norm Coleman at 47% and Al Franken at 45%. These were taken last week, before the DFL endorsement, which should give Franken a short-term jump of around 5% or so.
Franken apologized for having once written a ribald article for Playboy and having once spitballed a joke about Andy Rooney drug-raping Leslie Stahl during a writing session at SNL, and he got the nomination. Not that he should have had to apologize for his former career, but the I guess Coleman doesn’treally have anything else to go after him on.
Franken is still polling dead even, in a year where the winds are blowing ill for Republicans and against a candidate in Coleman who is now scrabbling desperately to claw the stink of W off his face.
Considering that Norm Coleman was the Republican who lost to Jesse Ventura in '98, I think it wopuld be awesome bookend if he were also to lose to Franken now. He has a really good chance of becoming knpwn historically as the schlub who lost to both a professional wrestler and to a comedian.
(and speaking of Ventura, he is currently talking about jumping into this Senatorial race as an independent)
Why are Independence Party candidates not “viable” in MN? Jesse Ventura got elected governor on that ticket, didn’t he?
What’s interesting about that story, and not previously clear to me, is that Jack Nelson-Pallmyer “challenged Franken from the left.”
Yes, Franken certainly has an image as the more ‘moderate’ candidate, less progressive than Nelson-Pallmeyer.
But that is largely a media image, not much rooted in reality. If you look at their actual positions on issues, there is very little difference between them. That may have been part of the reason that the Convention delegates endorsed Franken – they saw little significant difference on issues, but they saw Franken as the better (more electable) candidate.
Minnesota is celebrating 150 years of statehood this year. And during that time, they have elected that one single person to statewide office. They have never elected anyone to the State Legislature, and I don’t think they have won any other elected offices at the city, county, or local level.
Given that there are hundreds of people elected every year in Minnesota, that one victory doesn’t seem like very good odds.
Last election, I think the Independence Party failed to receive the 5% vote needed to remain as a ‘major’ political party.
Oh, and I believe Jesse has left the Independence Party anyway, so he wouldn’t be running on that ticket.
No, I actually have to, because that is the only decision left open to me when I find neither of the major party candidates to be remotely acceptable. This has happened twice in the past - in my first experience as a voter when I cast a vote (and campaigned) for John Anderson, and when I voted for Jesse Ventura. Apparently there are more than a few others in Minnesota who also choose not to vote for candidates they do not actually wish to elect.
I believe that Ventura was actually elected Governor on the Reform Party ticket, then changed to Independence while he was in office.
Well, the fact is that one of those candidates IS going to be elected. If you choose not to participate, other voters will make the choice for you.
I find it hard to understand that you can’t find any difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates at all – their positions on most issues are quite varied. Surely some of those issues are important to you, and one candidate is closer to your views than the other?
So, why are both Franken and Coleman unacceptable to you?
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates.
Al Franken’s electoral prospects being seriously discussed in GD?
[BOOM! CRACK! [bolts of lightning and earthquakes]]
And you’re sure this fits into the general scheme of the Cosmos?
[dogs and cats living together, the Destroyer stalking the streets in the form of a giant marshmallow]
Then again, there was a time (regrettably long past) when the same could with much more justice have been said of Ronald Reagan . . .
[BOOM! CRACK! [sheep fucking deep-sea tube worms up the ass]]
Gad, I do my best to stay out of GD, and here Czarcasm goes throwing me right in there. I’ll probably do something terrible and get tossed out on my ear.
Well, Coleman is just a little too much of a Bushbaby for me, and Franken is, quite simply, a Buffoon.
I think the real question is this: Why would either of them be acceptable? I can think of a few reasons for keeping Coleman in (experience, balance of power when Obama wins, etc.), but I can’t see any reason to vote for Franken.
Looking at their records (in the case of Coleman) or lack of records (in the case of Franken), there is obviously a great deal of difference between them. I am at odds with Coleman on a multitude of issues, and I am also not in agreement with much of what I’ve heard Franken speak about. There is also a fair amount of personal distaste for both candidates influencing my decision.
I saw an old friend at our college reunion a few weeks ago. She’s a longtime Minnesotan and DFL stalwart. She thinks, with great regret, that Franken is going to lose to Coleman in November, FWIW. She thinks that the tax controversy and his past in-very-bad-taste comedy bits will sink him with the average Minn. voter.
If Coleman can make the whole election about Franken’s off-color jokes he will take it, but that’s going to be pretty hard to do. At some point he will have to defend his record and the more that becomes the focus the more he will be in trouble. In a nutshell, that’s the campaign. BUT, the IP will put out a candidate who could change the whole equation. If “The Mind” is in it all bets are off. 40% will be enough to win. Even Dean Barkley would throw a serious monkey wrench into the works. Pawlenty owes both of his gubernatorial wins to the Independence Party so their power is much in evidence.
New poll out. Coleman has an insignificant 3-point lead in the race. The poll, however, also measured a three-way race with Ventura in the mix and that showed Coleman with a 7-point advantage in that scenario (with 39% support).
Sadly, we are left with two less than acceptable choices for the job.
Stranger still, Jesse Ventura has hinted that he might run as an Independent. Now I voted for him as Governor (rather than Coleman or Humphrey), but for the life of me, I cannot imagine Jesse in the US Senate.
Looks to me like I’ll cast my vote for a third party, knowing they won’t win. Because I’ll be in the voting booth anyway, and I’d like to make the point that I can’t vote for either of these two guys.