# 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:** 58
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1141 "2009-07-01T02:42:48Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I seriously doubt **BrainGlutton** or anyone else on the SD thought this tread would go to 22 pages. Nor that the election would go to seven months after the voting. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1142 "2009-07-01T02:45:20Z")
> [@stolichnaya](#): > > I still can’t believe Al Franken is a Senator. I mean, really. I feel like Doc in _Back to the Future_. “Ronald Reagan? The _actor_?” Do the names “Ventura” and “Schwarzenegger” ring any bells? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1143 "2009-07-01T02:50:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, just for sake of paranoia, can someone press for court review on their own? Suppose someone is so incensed at the prospect of Franken that they are determined to press ahead, do they require Coleman’s permission? Ask the guys who sued to have Obama declared ineligible for the presidency over the birth-certificate thing. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1144 "2009-07-01T03:03:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > [$95K](http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/221441-coleman-owes-franken-95k-in-court-costs). > > Coleman on TV right now. He’s conceding. He just said he’s already called Al to congratulate him. It’s over. Maybe Senator Blutarski can give a fiery speech to rally ol’ Norm’s spirits in his hour of need: ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Q47bpOCTcaY/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q47bpOCTcaY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1145 "2009-07-01T03:59:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t remember that. I do remember on SNL when he declared that the Eighties would be the Al Franken Decade. Most people back then had lives and missed it. Others, like me, had VCRs, and we saw it and its reruns. I’ll toss you into the former group; life is happier there. ☹ ETA: To describe what a pathetic soul I am, I waited through the Late 80s and well into the 90s for a similar announcement and wasn’t surprised when, TEN YEARS LATER!, it arrived. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1146 "2009-07-01T04:51:03Z")
> [@imthjckaz](#): > > Well, Michele Bachmann is still around. Minnesota. Land of 10,000 Lakes. And now home to the Wit and the Twit. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1147 "2009-07-01T04:52:59Z")
I think you misspelled that last word. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1148 "2009-07-01T05:21:13Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Most people back then had lives and missed it. Others, like me, had VCRs, and we saw it and its reruns. I’ll toss you into the former group; life is happier there. ☹ > > ETA: To describe what a pathetic soul I am, I waited through the Late 80s and well into the 90s for a similar announcement and wasn’t surprised when, TEN YEARS LATER!, it arrived. ☹ At the end of 1989 (exactly 10 years after the annoucement of the Al Franken decade in 1979), Al brought his five-year old son Joe onto SNL and declared that the '90’s would be the [_Joe_ Franken decade](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/89/89iupdate.phtml). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1149 "2009-07-01T15:04:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yeah, but you have to figure that, if for no other reason than the research he did for his books, And a Political Science degree from Harvard…so theres that. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1150 "2009-07-01T15:11:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Do the names “Ventura” and “Schwarzenegger” ring any bells? Never heard of them. No, that’s not what I am saying, that it’s somehow bad or even unprecedented. I’m just kind of amazed by it. He did the work, and he got enough votes to win, and now he is going to be a Senator. I bet he is a little surprised himself at the moment. The Al Franken Decade thing is funny because it is sarcastic and self-deprecating. Now that it can be interpreted seriously, I think we’re in many ways down the rabbit hole. If he can use his residual fame and still be the sensible, humorous guy I find him to be in his books, maybe he will be a new kind of senator. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1151 "2009-07-01T15:18:13Z")
I still want to see him do his Paul Tsongas impression at a Senate prayer breakfast or something… ---
**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:** [July 1, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1152 "2009-07-01T17:36:26Z")
Dunno about that. I think Franken might consider imitating a twelve-years dead guy to be outside the bounds of good taste. Or maybe just not topical enough. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1153 "2009-07-01T17:47:06Z")
This is excellent news for the McCain campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1154 "2009-07-01T17:50:15Z")
The WSJ sums things up nicely:[The ‘Absentee’ Senator Franken wins by changing the rules.](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124640687950076679.html) > [@](#): > > Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern elections don’t end when voters cast their ballots. They only end after the lawyers count them. The GOP is just going to have to try _ **harder** _ if it ever wants to win any elections ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1155 "2009-07-01T17:56:29Z")
I never took the WSJ for a satirical news outlet. I’ll have to give them a second look. Stupid question time (REALLY stupid question): Does Al get to serve six years from today? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1156 "2009-07-01T18:15:18Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > The WSJ sums things up nicely:[The ‘Absentee’ Senator Franken wins by changing the rules.](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124640687950076679.html) > The GOP is just going to have to try _ **harder** _ if it ever wants to win any elections ever again. While the WSJ has always had a hard fiscal right editorial policy, I never thought I’d see the day that they’d crib from Free Republic. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1157 "2009-07-01T18:16:05Z")
The WSJ is now owned by Rupert Murdoch, so that’s why it looks like worldnetdaily these days. Kind of sad, actually. It used to be a legitimate publication. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1158 "2009-07-01T18:19:57Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I never took the WSJ for a satirical news outlet. I’ll have to give them a second look. > > Stupid question time (REALLY stupid question): Does Al get to serve six years from today? No; his term ends the same date it would have if the election results had been undisputed. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1159 "2009-07-01T18:20:50Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The WSJ is now owned by Rupert Murdoch, so that’s why it looks like worldnetdaily these days. Kind of sad, actually. It used to be a legitimate publication. What he said. ☹ ETA: And no, the term will end as originally scheduled. The machinations of Coleman have stolen 6 months from the term, roughly. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/1160 "2009-07-01T18:22:42Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The WSJ is now owned by Rupert Murdoch, so that’s why it looks like worldnetdaily these days. Kind of sad, actually. It used to be a legitimate publication. I’d forgotten about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=59)