I think he won’t because if he were to lose it would kill his presidential hopes. He’s obviously running for the GOP nomination for 2012. In a way, McCain did him a favor by not picking him. Coleman had already lost a run for governor once. Is he up for another shot at it?
According to people I know that know him, no, he isn’t.
Congratulations Al Franken. You join a long tradition of entertainers elected to high office in Minnesota. I hope that you carry the torch of such luminaries as Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, and do their legacy proud.
What is the consenus among Minnesotans on Ventura’s administration, anyway? Good, bad, indifferent?
He exceeded my dismal expectations.
Not that bad. Not great. Some entertaining moments, but not a disaster.
I’m not sure that’s fair. Jessie is about the only entertainer that I recall who was elected to high office in Minnesota – I say this an interested resident of a neighboring state. Jessie was elected not so much as a professional wrestler as a professional radio/television windbag (think of the guys who inhabit Fox opinion and our boy from the Missouri Boot Heel). Where Jessie ran into trouble is when he had to deal with reality instead of the mostly imaginary world he conjured up as a blue collar pundit. I suspect that Ol’ Jessie cooled on the difficulties of government well before the electorate got tired of him.
California, on the other hand, has a fine tradition of entertainers switching to public office. Off hand, there was Ronald Regan, Arnold Schwartzeneger (SP?), Sonny Bono, Clint Eastwood. Even more became mouth pieces for any one of a number of political causes.
Quite frankly the Senate appears to be full of people who have no sense of humor and are way too full of themselves. Sticking Al Franken in with that bunch should stir things up a bit.
Of course, there’s always the danger that Senator Franken will get so much national soundbite exposure with his witty quips and schticks that other senators with far less native talent in that regard will grow jealous and try to . . . emulate him. :o
I know both my US Senators. Believe me, they could both use a new routine. If Franken forces them to go hire a joke writer – more power to him.
It should certainly make C-SPAN more interesting.
How could Brian “Mr. Personality” Lamb possibly be any more interesting? 
Well, when he took over, the state had a good surplus saved in its’ “rainy day fund”, for use when, say we hit a recession and tax income is down but lots of state residents need help. Sort of like right now?
But Jesse spent all that on sending out rebate checks to people, which made him popular. And now our state has a $5.5 billion* deficit, and we’re facing really deep cuts in public services. Thanks a lot, Jesse!
- That’s a big amount – 11 days of the Iraq war/occupation cost.
He was incredibly thin skinned and pouty and whined excessively about the demon media picking on him. But that being said, he also had his sensible moments, and he has ten times the heart and humanity that that smarmy Pawlenty has.
Not to mention Helen Gahagan Wilson and Senator George Murphy.
Now that he’s in the Senate,
George’ll really have a chance
to give the public…
a song and dance!
– Tom Lehrer
Jesse attended his inaugural ball wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt and an electric pink feather boa. OK, he was a lout. OK, he seemed ever on the alert for some context where he could talk about having been a Navy SEAL. Did I mention lout? Yeah, OK.
But still - a Jimi shirt and feather boa? Not so much a matter of cutting some slack as tearing some. If Pawlenty put on a Hendrix T-shirt, he’d have to shed his skin before the proper season.
But Jessie is the kinda guy, you talk to him, he knows you’re a hippy, he’s gonna spend a lot of his time scratching his “tough guy” nuts.
Looks like Franken won’t be allowed to take his seat until all the court challenges have played out.
Nor should he.
Sure he should. He’s the winner. Pointless delaying tactics by the loser should not be allowed to undermine democracy.
It’s all academeic anyway. Coleman has absolutely no grounds for a contest. He might be successful in stalling Franken’s certification for a few weeks, but Franken will be seated. Despite what you may see on Fox News or hear on right wing radio, the recount process has been rock solid and unimpeachable and will stand up easily to any court challenge. This is not about any honest dispute over the result, it’s about trying to create a public impression that Franken’s win is not legitimate.
Or about being a petulant baby. Or both.
I was impressed that the five-member Canvassing Board’s decision was unanimous - and that included two Pawlenty-appointed members of the Supreme Court (one of whom, Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, is the governor’s former law partner and the other of whom, Justice Barry Anderson, used to represent the state GOP).
Coleman should pack it in. But I doubt he will.