# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/601 "2009-01-09T20:25:15Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > I’ve already provided them in this thread. No you haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/602 "2009-01-09T20:34:35Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > I’ve already provided them in this thread. The only link you have provided in this thread was in regards to the FBI investigating the allegations. Please provide a relevant link that the Minnesota Supreme Court said that all parties had to agree, and if they didn’t, then it would be settled by an election contest. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/603 "2009-01-09T21:03:27Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Please provide a relevant link that the Minnesota Supreme Court said that all parties had to agree, and if they didn’t, then it would be settled by an election contest. My apologies, I thought I had pasted the link along with the quote from Page. In lieu of a news story, I hope you’ll find the actual ruling of the Supreme Court acceptable: [http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Other/2008%20Elections/Order.1.5.09.pdf](http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Other/2008%20Elections/Order.1.5.09.pdf) The relevant info starts in the middle of page 3. You are welcome. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/604 "2009-01-09T21:08:44Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > BrainGlutton’s earlier post brings to mind this old “Weekend Update” bit of Franken’s from his SNL days: Practical, yet slightly surreal, question: If SNL ever decides to do a sketch about this endless “election contest,” who will they get to play Al Franken? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/605 "2009-01-09T21:14:48Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Practical, yet slightly surreal, question: If SNL ever decides to do a sketch about this endless “election contest,” who will they get to play Al Franken? Tom Davis. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/606 "2009-01-09T21:28:19Z")
> [@UTejas](#): > > The campaigns had to both agree that the ballot was improperly rejected _without knowing who it was a vote for_. Once the ballots were opened, they would be subject to the standard rules for challenges on voter intent. There is no double standard between absentee and regular ballots–the difference is the absentee ballots have an extra layer of problems they can be rejected for and it was this level that both campaigns had veto power over **without knowing whether or not they were rejecting a vote for himself or his opponent**. In actual fact, this was not true in most cases. The absentee ballots were still sealed inside envelopes, but both campaigns had known for weeks the names of the voters involved. So they had long since looked up those names on campaign databases to see whether they leaned DFL or Republican. And for those not known, volunteers called them, notified them that their absentee vote had not been counted, and asked them who they had voted for. No doubt some people declined to answer, but most of them did. So even thought the absentee ballots were still sealed, for most of them, both campaigns knew who the voter had voted for. And I presume they both came up with a similar count, based on their reactions: at the start, when the County Clerks had identified about 1350 improperly rejected absentee ballots, the Franken campaign suggested just counting all of them, the Coleman campaign refused to allow that and insisted on the individual review process for each one. From those reactions, I presume that both campaigns had come to the conclusion that the majority of these rejected absentee ballots were for Franken. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/607 "2009-01-10T14:54:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The absentee ballots were still sealed inside envelopes, but both campaigns had known for weeks the names of the voters involved. So they had long since looked up those names on campaign databases to see whether they leaned DFL or Republican. You mean that anyone can obtain the names of those who cast absentee ballots in a specific election? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/608 "2009-01-10T20:30:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You mean that anyone can obtain the names of those who cast absentee ballots in a specific election? Yes, that is public information. Here in Minnesota, the Secretary of State maintains a registered voter database, which lists for each voter the last few elections, and whether they voted in person, by absentee, or not at all. And anyone can buy a copy of that data. But in this election, it became an issue when the Franken campaign found out that absentee ballots from some people had been wrongly rejected. (Like the head of the DFL Latino Caucus, who has a double last name – the poll worker looked up under the wrong name, didn’t find him, said he was not registered to vote, and rejected his absentee ballot.) So the Franken campaign asked for the names of all rejected absentee ballots. Most counties supplied this public data, but some refused. So the campaign went to court, and the Court re-affirmed the state law that says this is public information, and ordered all counties to provide this to both campaigns in a timely manner. (I don’t know if they had to pay the usual price for it this time.) P.S. These voting records became an issue here a few years ago, when a newspaper reporter examined them, and reported that several local elected officials (Mayor, City Council members, etc.) had failed to show up to vote in the Primary Election. They took some heat for that, and the lame excuses they gave. Some party volunteers (including me) formed a phone tree, and on election day we took turns calling those officials every hour on the hour, starting when the polls opened at 7am until they closed at 8pm, just to remind them that today was election day, and ask if they had voted yet, or needed a ride to the polls, etc. (I have to say, they took it in good humor.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/609 "2009-01-10T20:42:46Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Some party volunteers (including me) formed a phone tree, and on election day we took turns calling those officials every hour on the hour, starting when the polls opened at 7am until they closed at 8pm, just to remind them that today was election day, and ask if they had voted yet, or needed a ride to the polls, etc. (I have to say, they took it in good humor.) Well, it is Minnesota. Isn’t the harshest punishment you can dole out something like visiting someone and not bringing a rhubarb pie? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/610 "2009-01-10T21:01:25Z")
From Yahoo News, a bit of post-partisan New Years giggles… [http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/17233](http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/17233) **GOP sees Franken as top public enemy** > [@](#): > > With only a longshot court appeal standing in the way of Democrat Al Franken’s election to the Senate, Republicans are gritting their teeth and bracing for the arrival of a new senator whose every utterance will sound like nails on a chalkboard to them… (chuckle) > [@](#): > > …“I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey… “It’s one thing to lose to an honorable opponent, but Al Franken is not considered an honorable opponent by Minnesota Republicans.”… (snicker) > [@](#): > > …“I think it’s impossible to overstate the hostility Minnesota Republicans feel toward Al Franken,” Schier said. “He will be a very useful fundraising tool.”… (neener, neener) > [@](#): > > …Prominent conservative Rush Limbaugh,… telling listeners … Franken “won’t quit [the Senate race] because he doesn’t know how to get a real job…He’s a pathetic figure.”… Couldn’t score any oxy if his life depended on it, the lame-o! ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/611 "2009-01-20T09:57:16Z")
So has there been any news on how the election challenge is going? ---
**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:** [January 20, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/612 "2009-01-20T16:31:11Z")
Coleman’s team has seriously altered its legal strategy [http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/37853404.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:\_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsX](http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/37853404.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsX) This seems to be the opposite of what he said he wanted to happen in the past. I also strikes me that such a radical shift in position just days before the courts are supposed to start hearing the case indicates that the Coleman team is grasping at straws and is looking upon its original strategy as being unlikely to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/613 "2009-01-20T18:30:00Z")
Way to burn your bridges, Normie. Enjoy your new life on K Street - you can’t go back to Minnesota after this. ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/614 "2009-01-21T18:33:19Z")
You can watch the first hearing, Franken’s motion to dismiss Coleman’s case, live at this site: > **[The Uptake](https://theuptake.org/)** > > PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS Highlighting "How Love Won"  ANNOUNCEMENT: "HOW LOVE WON" NOW AVAILABLE ON NET EFFECT MEDIA How Love Won: The Fight for Marriage Equality in Minnesota, directed by The… The fun and games start at 2:30 CST today. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/615 "2009-01-21T18:55:44Z")
I can’t wait for the first time, in his official capacity, Franken makes a sarcastic comment, only to get rebuffed with 'What are you, some kind of comedian?" ---
**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:** [January 22, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/616 "2009-01-22T02:19:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Enjoy your new life on K Street - you can’t go back to Minnesota after this. Especially since his house is mortgaged for something like $750,000 but is only worth around $250,000-$300,000 according to the latest assessment. The mortgage crisis is really bad when your ex-Senator gets foreclosed on. (Except it won’t happen – the mortgage holding bank has the President as head of the state Republican party. Somehow, I think that is one mortgage they will just carry for a while.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/617 "2009-01-22T05:24:15Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Especially since his house is mortgaged for something like $750,000 but is only worth around $250,000-$300,000 according to the latest assessment. > > The mortgage crisis is really bad when your ex-Senator gets foreclosed on. (Except it won’t happen – the mortgage holding bank has the President as head of the state Republican party. Somehow, I think that is one mortgage they will just carry for a while.) Funny how this sort of generous financing seems to happen to politicians. Georgia’s Republican governor Sonny Perdue [somehow managed to get a $21 million loan with only $4 million or so in collateral](http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2009/01/18/perdue_loan.html%253Fcxtype%253Drss%26cxsvc%253D7%26cxcat%253D13). Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/618 "2009-01-22T15:43:57Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Especially since his house is mortgaged for something like $750,000 but is only worth around $250,000-$300,000 according to the latest assessment. > > The mortgage crisis is really bad when your ex-Senator gets foreclosed on. (Except it won’t happen – the mortgage holding bank has the President as head of the state Republican party. Somehow, I think that is one mortgage they will just carry for a while.) Are you serious?! Methinks you have no clue how mortgages work. The bank doesn’t foreclose on you just because the value of the house goes down. :dubious: They will carry the loan until he defaults on it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/619 "2009-02-16T23:03:54Z")
[Republican Senatorial Committee holds D.C. fundraiser for Coleman’s legal fees.](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18832.html) Even they can’t possibly believe he’s going to prevail; they’re just trying to keep the seat vacant as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/620 "2009-02-17T01:24:56Z")
They are at war to prevent no. 59. It is not about right and wrong. it is about politics and the repubs play it dirty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=32)