# 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:** 41
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/801 "2009-04-14T15:38:47Z")
From MSNBC: [THE GOP’S SILENCE ON MN IS DEAFENING](http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/14/1891134.aspx) > [@](#): > > Nothing yet from Michael Steele’s RNC. Nothing from John Cornyn’s NRSC. And we’ve yet to spot a post on yesterday’s three-judge decision from prominent conservative blogs like Red State or National Review’s The Corner. > > The silence is pretty deafening… Maybe they think that by not talking they can fly the stretching out of this case under America’s radar? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/802 "2009-04-14T15:51:00Z")
You have no idea just how much brain-bleach I just had to use, sir. My attorney will be in touch. Of course Normie’s gonna borrow Shukhov’s ‘ten days’ and have a little pow-wow with the big bosses at the RNC. Maybe he’ll have a change of heart and take the advice that he gave Al Franken on November 4th? Could happen… right? Right? ---
**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:** [April 14, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/803 "2009-04-14T16:45:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Maybe Norm! has had enough of being the RNC’s sacrificial butt-boy? Norm hasn’t done too bad out of it all. There were comments about how Norm had been at nearly every day of the Court hearings, while Franken wasn’t. Now the rumor is that Norm was there because he was being paid by his campaign committee his hourly rate as a lawyer (even though his law license has lapsed). I wonder if the contributors to his committee realize that. And he’s been hired by a Republican Jewish lobbying group, which has apparently been paying him all thru these hearings. And there’s always the likelihood that he will get a good-paying job from other republicans after this is all over. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/804 "2009-04-14T17:02:17Z")
I’ve been assuming for some time that Norm’s payoff is going to be some cushy, private sector job. I still think he’d have a chance to save his political career if he were to quit obstructing the Senate seat. A gracious concession and congratulations to Franken would be seen as classy (if calculated), and give him some chance to rebuild some good will in the state before the next gubernatorial electon. Of course, he’d also risk pissing off the mouth breathers in the Republican base, but who else are they going to vote for? Sooner or later these moderates\* are going to have to wake up and realize that pandering to the extreme is no longer a winning strategy. \*Coleman is, at heart, a moderate, no matter what he has to say to get Republican votes. I’ve heard through the local grapevine here that Coleman doesn’t personally give a rat’s ass about abortion or same-sex marriage, for instance, but he has to pretend he does for political reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/805 "2009-04-15T16:19:50Z")
Was Ventura a bad governor? He was certainly politically inexperienced, but I don’t know of any particular disasters that marked his term in office. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/806 "2009-04-15T16:44:10Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Was Ventura a bad governor? He was certainly politically inexperienced, but I don’t know of any particular disasters that marked his term in office. He wasn’t particularly effective, or so I’ve heard, simply because as an Independent, he had to wrangle with the entire legislature instead of being able to count on the support of about half of them. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/807 "2009-04-15T17:19:28Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Was Ventura a bad governor? He was certainly politically inexperienced, but I don’t know of any particular disasters that marked his term in office. He was better than I expected - though he had a pretty easy time to be governor - revenue surpluses make for things being easy. I was relatively impressed to watch him change his mind about some things as he learned - for instance, he campaigned on returning the entire surplus - he returned something like half when it was pointed out that reserves are a good idea. There were a lot of things he did that I didn’t agree with, but he was a fairly consistant pramatic Libratarian in a lot of ways. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/808 "2009-04-15T17:36:36Z")
Ventura did ok. He had a couple of minor accomplishments (light rail, tax refunds) and a couple of minor scandals (his son allegedly had parties at the Governor’s mansion and trashed the place. His Chief of Staff got arrested for jerking off in front of a cop in a steam room). He had no _major_ screw-ups or scandals, but his lack of party affiliation meant that a lot of his vetoes got overridden, and he had a thin skin for press criticism and routinely referred to the media as “jackals” (he was particularly prickly about coverage of his son). He didn’t do a whole lot, but he didn’t really do any damage either. I’d still rather have him in there over Pawlenty or Coleman. He was good on social issues. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/809 "2009-04-15T17:46:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I still think he’d have a chance to save his political career if he were to quit obstructing the Senate seat. A gracious concession and congratulations to Franken would be seen as classy (if calculated), and give him some chance to rebuild some good will in the state before the next gubernatorial electon. A concession back in December, or at the latest January when the recount finished, could have been gracious. I don’t think a gracious concession is possible four months after the end of the thing one’s conceding. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/810 "2009-04-15T18:29:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > …He didn’t do a whole lot, but he didn’t really do any damage either. I’d still rather have him in there over Pawlenty or Coleman. He was good on social issues. Just for those not on the Third Coast… Minnesota has a “weak governor” set up, he is empowered to declare Rutabaga Days open, couple other things, but not all that much. In my book, going to his Inaugural Ball in a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt and electric pink feather boa would cover a multitude of minor sins. Pity he was a lout, but what the heck… ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/811 "2009-04-15T18:52:54Z")
You know, Coleman keeps saying he is trying to maintain the integrity of the election and protect the disenfranchisement of a few thousand voters, but as he drags this on it’s becoming ever more clear that what he’s really doing is disenfranchising the 2.9 million who voted for a Senator. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/812 "2009-04-15T19:02:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > What is up with the “Minnesota Experiment” WRT electing politically crazy/unqualified people? Jesse Ventura, Al Franken? Jesus Christ. Next up: local hockey hero turns politician. Or has that already been done? Mayhap an ice-fisherman will have a Palin-like rise to prominence? > > You guys are crazy with the snow. CRAZY. Hey hey hey! I know it sounds crazy, but you had to be here. Jesse was elected because he ran a fine campaign and his 2 competitors were incompetent (one was Coleman) Someone was asked on the news why he voted for Jesse…and I think it sums up why he won: "The Democratic candidate wants to riase taxes and give it to the poor people (not me) and Coleman wants to take all the money and give it to the rich…that leaves Jesse. I voted D but I can see why Jesse won. I do have to take issue with your idea on Franken. I voted for him. He is intelligent and strong willed. Yes…he is VERY devisive but that’s because I truely believe that he believes in what he is saying and he doesn’t take shit. He is in your face and confrontational…not something right wingers are used to. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/813 "2009-04-15T19:05:39Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > He was better than I expected - though he had a pretty easy time to be governor - revenue surpluses make for things being easy. > > I was relatively impressed to watch him change his mind about some things as he learned - for instance, he campaigned on returning the entire surplus - he returned something like half when it was pointed out that reserves are a good idea. > > There were a lot of things he did that I didn’t agree with, but he was a fairly consistant pramatic Libratarian in a lot of ways. He really wasn’t too bad. He is a coward though. He could have won re-election but he didn’t because he didn’t want to lose. Coward. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/814 "2009-04-15T19:49:29Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > You know, Coleman keeps saying he is trying to maintain the integrity of the election and protect the disenfranchisement of a few thousand voters, but as he drags this on it’s becoming ever more clear that what he’s really doing is disenfranchising the 2.9 million who voted for a Senator. good point ---
**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:** [April 15, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/815 "2009-04-15T20:30:56Z")
Dare I hope this whole drawn-out process is entering endgame? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/816 "2009-04-15T20:53:03Z")
It entered endgame months ago. Since January, Coleman’s just been dancing his lone king around the board trying to avoid Franken’s bishop and knight. But everyone knows what the inevitable result will be. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/817 "2009-04-15T21:14:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It entered endgame months ago. Since January, Coleman’s just been dancing his lone king around the board trying to avoid Franken’s bishop and knight. But everyone knows what the inevitable result will be. What a nicely turned analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/818 "2009-04-15T21:27:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But everyone knows what the inevitable result will e. Stalemate? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/819 "2009-04-15T22:16:35Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Hey hey hey! > > I know it sounds crazy, but you had to be here. Jesse was elected because he ran a fine campaign and his 2 competitors were incompetent (one was Coleman) > > Someone was asked on the news why he voted for Jesse…and I think it sums up why he won: > > "The Democratic candidate wants to riase taxes and give it to the poor people (not me) and Coleman wants to take all the money and give it to the rich…that leaves Jesse. > > I voted D but I can see why Jesse won. > > I do have to take issue with your idea on Franken. I voted for him. He is intelligent and strong willed. Yes…he is VERY devisive but that’s because I truely believe that he believes in what he is saying and he doesn’t take shit. He is in your face and confrontational…not something right wingers are used to. As I said earlier, all I knew of Franken was that he was a comedian on SNL and a loudmouth on Air America. I didn’t know how politically active he really was until I actually looked it up, I also didn’t know that he’s highly educated, either. Not knowing really anything about either The Body or Franken, my (mostly) tounge-in-cheek post was an attempt to draw a parallel of Minnesota’s propensity for electing celebrities that are politically inexperienced. Now I know better. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/820 "2009-04-15T23:06:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Stalemate? [Not if played properly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_and_knight_checkmate). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=42)