# How's Al Franken's Senate bid going? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239 "2008-02-12T01:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/361 "2008-12-23T00:56:21Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > These duplicate ballots are mainly from overseas voters ( **often military** ) who can pull up their ballot online, print it out, vote on it, and mail it in to the county clerk. (bolding mine) Don’t military voters lean republican? Does the Coleman campaign have some reason to think the duplicated ballots supported Franken more than him, or is he just grasping at a straw? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/362 "2008-12-23T02:48:31Z")
How come they never have seem to have these election problems in Canada?! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/363 "2008-12-23T03:05:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How come they never have seem to have these election problems in Canada?! Because nobody cares about the candidates or issues there? D&R ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/364 "2008-12-23T03:23:51Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > (bolding mine) Don’t military voters lean republican? Does the Coleman campaign have some reason to think the duplicated ballots supported Franken more than him, or is he just grasping at a straw? Military **officers** do. Not so clear a trend with military soldiers in general. And even less so with the current ones, who are not enlisted military but mainly reservists. Nobody knows better than the soldiers on the ground whether they are finding any WMD’s in Iraq, whether the people of Iraq look on them as liberators, and whether they can claim “Mission Accomplished!”. Or even if they know what the mission is. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/365 "2008-12-23T03:32:44Z")
There was a widely-reported story earlier this year that troops now on duty in Iraq were donating to the Obama campaign 6:1 over the McCain campaign, IIRC and FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/366 "2008-12-23T03:37:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > There was a widely-reported story earlier this year that troops now on duty in Iraq were donating to the Obama campaign 6:1 over the McCain campaign, IIRC and FWIW. Yeah, but then when you looked into it, you saw that it was only a tiny handful of individuals who contributed to either, making it really hard to draw any wider conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/367 "2008-12-23T03:42:55Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > Yeah, but then when you looked into it, you saw that it was only a tiny handful of individuals who contributed to either, making it really hard to draw any wider conclusions. Ah. I’d never seen anything on how big the sample size was. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/368 "2008-12-23T03:45:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ah. I’d never seen anything on how big the sample size was. Thanks. Given the amount these troops are paid compared to their civilian jobs, and the effect on their family finances back home, I’m not surprised that they aren’t giving a lot of contributions. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/369 "2008-12-23T04:26:17Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s why Barkley got such a huge “none of the above” vote. Was interesting at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Six of the seven of us (adults) had voted for Barkley. Only my Fox News watching 70 year old mother voted for Coleman. She was awful quiet during that conversation. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/370 "2008-12-23T04:45:57Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Nate reiterated today that it will be Franken. I didn’t see that, but Franken’s 48 vote lead today is more meaningful than his 250 or whatever lead last week. This was Coleman’s best shot left to overtake him. Now he is in the position of hoping the absentee ballots, which his campaign has fought to exclude from the count, will come out in his favor. Although the Coleman campaign said today that the lead is “artificial” and there is “no doubt” Coleman will win. Ouch! I just noticed that Intrade has a $100 Coleman contract going for $15. The free market apparently thinks Coleman is toast. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/371 "2008-12-23T05:27:21Z")
I still think, no matter who wins, the other side will feel cheated . They will think they were robbed. A new election is the only way to cleanse the office. It will feel tainted. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/372 "2008-12-23T05:29:54Z")
State law does not ermit for another election, and if the losers feel cheated, let them prove it. If Coleman ends up pulling this out, I’m not going to cry foul. I’m satisfied that the Canvassing Board is doing an honest, above board job. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/373 "2008-12-23T05:32:19Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I still think, no matter who wins, the other side will feel cheated . They will think they were robbed. > A new election is the only way to cleanse the office. It will feel tainted. What do you do if the re-vote is too close to call? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/374 "2008-12-23T05:35:42Z")
> [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](#): > > Now he is in the position of hoping the absentee ballots, which his campaign has fought to exclude from the count, will come out in his favor. Both the campaigns have known the names of the rejected absentee ballot voters for weeks now. No doubt they have all been looked up on the campaign databases, and have been contacted by campaign workers to determine who their absentee ballot is for. So presumably both the campaigns have a pretty good idea of how these votes will come out. And since the Coleman campaign wants to exclude them, and the Franken campaign wants to count them, it’s likely that both campaigns came up with a total favoring Franken. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/375 "2008-12-23T05:49:58Z")
I love it that Coleman will end up with the unique distinction of having lost to both a professional wrestler and a comedian. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/376 "2008-12-23T07:32:48Z")
Maybe he can run against Garrison Keillor for a seat on the Minneapolis School Board, or something… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/377 "2008-12-23T08:00:26Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Maybe he can run against Garrison Keillor for a seat on the Minneapolis School Board, or something… Neither Norm Coleman nor Garrison Keillor reside within the Minneapolis School District. And there aren’t any Minneapolis School Board elections for 2 years, until 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/378 "2008-12-23T11:45:12Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > She was awful quiet during that conversation. 😛 Yeah, my grandmother is having similar problems. Both my Grandparents and my mom voted strictly Republican for the longest time. My grandfather, though, has done a 180 since retiring and now votes Democratic. My aunt was more politically apathetic until she met her new BF who is a personification of your politically active “working class Democrat.” Grandkids vote Democrat (my sister is getting her Ph.D. at BERKLEY and has assimilated). We’re making progress though. Last time we went up she gleefully volunteered how impressed she was with a recent Obama interview she saw. “He really IS a family man!” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/379 "2008-12-23T13:10:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](#): > > I didn’t see that, but Franken’s 48 vote lead today is more meaningful than his 250 or whatever lead last week. Especially since 48 was the number Nate predicted. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/380 "2008-12-23T21:49:48Z")
I know, I’m having a hard time regarding Nate’s prediction with anything less than open-mouthed awe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=20)