# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/81 "2008-11-05T06:19:23Z")
Where is still out and how do they run? ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/82 "2008-11-05T06:48:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Where is still out and how do they run? As of right now, Hennepin County - the most populous and left leaning county - is only 77.7% reported. Next largest metro county, Ramsey is 99.44% done. Many of the more conservative counties have 100% reporting. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/83 "2008-11-05T07:42:50Z")
MSNBC is reporting 1212 vote difference, with 6% to go. Damn, that’s close. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/84 "2008-11-05T08:07:34Z")
If neither Franken nor Coleman get more than 50% of the vote, does it matter which one is ahead of the other? Won’t there be a runoff regardless? ---
**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:** [November 5, 2008, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/85 "2008-11-05T08:10:51Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > If neither Franken nor Coleman get more than 50% of the vote, does it matter which one is ahead of the other? Won’t there be a runoff regardless? No. The one with the most votes wins. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/86 "2008-11-05T08:47:09Z")
According to [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25381085/race/senate) Franken is still behind, but the Red counties are reporting 100% but the Blue counties are reporting between 84% in Duluth and 92% in Minneapolis. That seems like a recipe for Franken to surge as it closes in on a 100% statewide. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/87 "2008-11-05T08:53:05Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > According to [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25381085/race/senate) Franken is still behind, but the Red counties are reporting 100% but the Blue counties are reporting between 84% in Duluth and 92% in Minneapolis. That seems like a recipe for Franken to surge as it closes in on a 100% statewide. CNN has Franken ahead 1,188,073 to 1,185,786 for Coleman. > **[Local and National Election Results - Election Center 2008 - Elections &...](https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#mapSMN)** ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/88 "2008-11-05T09:09:14Z")
This is the race that I’ve had my fingers crossed about all day. I’m a huge Al Franken fan, and think he would make an excellent Senator. I hope he did campaign ads where he said things like: > [@](#): > > Vote for me… Al Franken. or > [@](#): > > I approved this message. That’s me… Al Franken. dammit I can’t find a clip of that old bit online. stupid interwebs. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/89 "2008-11-05T11:57:52Z")
Currently down by about 800 votes with 99% reporting. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/90 "2008-11-05T12:13:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > This is the race that I’ve had my fingers crossed about all day. I’m a huge Al Franken fan, and think he would make an excellent Senator. Same here; this is the race that has had my stomach in knots all day. I was pretty sure Obama would win, so I wasn’t worried much about that. (Though I must admit I’m quite astonished and thrilled by how large the margin of Obama’s victory in Nevada was.) But unless Al Franken wins his Senate race, the whole day will be much less awesome than it otherwise would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/91 "2008-11-05T12:14:52Z")
Still less than a thousand votes apart. I wonder if we’ll see a recount. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/92 "2008-11-05T13:15:50Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Still less than a thousand votes apart. I wonder if we’ll see a recount. They are saying there will be an auto recount. Doesn’t look too good for Franken though. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/93 "2008-11-05T13:21:12Z")
There will be a recount if there is less than 15,000 vote difference. Right now, CNN has Coleman with a 762 vote lead. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/94 "2008-11-05T14:50:53Z")
Al could still pull it off. Hope the recount can be done quickly and accurately. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/95 "2008-11-05T14:52:35Z")
571 votes, out of 2.4 million. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/96 "2008-11-05T14:57:19Z")
I can’t believe it is this close. Who did the independent hurt more? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanTigerTamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SuntanTigerTamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanTigerTamer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/97 "2008-11-05T15:06:16Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I can’t believe it is this close. Who did the independent hurt more? I would say he hurt both of them equally. A lot of people up here were sick and tired of the negative ads running all day every day. I work in television, so I had to see every single one that went by, and it was disgusting. Franken still got my vote, but I know that a lot of people found it hard to vote for either Franken or Coleman because of the way the campaign was run. All Barkley had to do to screw this up for either Franken or Coleman was remain a non-entity, and he did that perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/98 "2008-11-05T15:50:06Z")
Looks like Al is still hanging in there… [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/franken-not-conceding/](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/franken-not-conceding/) According to CNN’s results, when added up, the total percentage of votes received by all three contenders comes to 99 %. So maybe there’s still hope. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/99 "2008-11-05T16:15:56Z")
Losing by a few hundred has to be crushing. So close that you can touch it,then denied by so little.The time,the money and mental commitment is so life consuming. Then just emptiness. I feel sorry for whoever loses. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/100 "2008-11-05T16:20:25Z")
Yep, there’s something to be said for losing decisivly. At least then the message is loud and clear, this wasn’t your night. Nothing personal, kid. Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown. To lose by a razor-thin margin is something else. Just a liiiiitle bit more effort could have put you over the top. If you hadn’t made that one gaffe that one time. If you’d been a tiny bit more inspiring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=6)