The Wall Street Journal ran a pretty good article on Al Franken’s candidacy in Minnesota. Sure, the article treads the already well-trodden ground of the “will Franken’s humor be his downfall” story, the article also seems to be under the false impression that Larry Jacobs’ opinion matters, and it shamelessly reprints a list of Franken quotes put out by the MN GOP, but all together I think it’s a fair article. Why? Well, it honestly evaluates the effect of Franken’s past and doesn’t concretely pass a judgment. In fact, if anything, the article leaves the impression that Franken has a real shot here. But, of course, you should decide for yourself (it’s a fairly quick read). I’d put excerpts, but you should really just read the whole thing yourself.
Also, and I’ve said this before, you know you’ve made it when your mug has been converted into one of those black and white, pixilated WSJ portraits.
On the same point, I’d be interested to hear if anyone finds any of the reprinted quotes in the article (I’ve put them below the break) particularly offensive. Personally, and maybe I’m in the minority here, I find all the quotes pretty transparently satirical; that is, none of them are particularly offensive because the formulation of the jokes all seem to be aimed at nothing more than humor. But, again, you decide.
And, finally, this article made me wonder: where are people on Franken v Ciresi? Franken gets a lot of press but Mike Ciresi represents a pretty amazing candidate himself; who do you think should be the nominee? I’m putting a poll below and I would politely request that you only vote in it if you would vote in a Democratic Primary. Obviously you can break the poll if you really want, but what’s the fun in that?
Quotes from the article:
FRANKEN QUOTES
[talkradio]
Franken quotes included in a March 2007 press briefing put out by the Minnesota Republican party.
“Let me ask you … Isn’t George Bush a dink?’”
“The Democratic National Committee is coming up with a novel way to raise money. For $50,000 you can get a waltz with the first lady. For $25,000, you can dance a tango with Tipper. And for $25, the attorney general will come to your table and do a lap dance.”
* * *
From Mr. Franken’s 2005 book, “The Truth (With Jokes)”
“Minnesota Republican Norman Coleman is one of the administration’s leading butt boys.”
“Republicans are shameless d**ks. No, that’s not fair. Republican politicians are shameless d**ks.”
* * *
From Mr. Franken’s 2003 book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them”
“But you know, I don’t want to get into a whole partisan politics thing here. Not in this book, anyway. We’ll leave that for my next book, I F***ing Hate Those Right-Wing Motherf***ers!, due out in October 2004.” p115
* * *
From a satirical letter from Mr. Franken to Attorney General, sent in June 2003. Mr. Franken later apologized for the letter.
“Don’t be afraid to share a moment when you were tempted to have sex, but were able to overcome your urges through willpower and strength of character. Be funny! Did a woman ever think you were homosexual because you wouldn’t have sex with her?… I hope you can find time to inspire the next generation of sex-free leaders.”
* * *
From Mr. Frankens’s 1994 White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech
“..the President’s three strikes and you’re out proposal. Which means different things to different people. To Pat Buchanan it means to put a Nazi war criminal away he had to be a guard at three separate camps.”
“The Vice President continued to prove his commitment to the environment yesterday, when he agreed to change the policy on the stick up his butt. Evidently, instead of replacing the stick every day with a new one, he’s going to keep the same stick there throughout the administration. And if they get re-elected in ‘96, that will save an entire rain forest.”
“I admire the Vice President tremendously. I mean his advocacy of the Information Superhighway. Which again means different things to different people. To Al Gore it means unemployed aerospace workers accessing a video classroom to retrain themselves for the conversion from a cold war economy to an information economy. To Clarence Thomas it means twenty-four hour a day pornography.”
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I think it’s about time we had some politicians who would be willing to call a republican for the hack that they are. I think we would be a little better off with some more bluntness and a little less pandering, which is a quality I have to think Al will bring to the table. Can’t say that I expect that from Mike.
And I still think of the seat as Paul Wellstone’s, and can think of no one better to fill it than Al Franken.
We’d be a bit better off with some politicans who are willing to call the other side the hacks that they are. Enough of the cordial, we’ll talk about it bullshit. We’ve already given enough quarter and it’s time to take some back. I think Al will be one of the few people who’ll be willing and able to call a duck a whackjob republican duck when he sees it.
I still think of the seat as Paul Wellstone’s, and can’t imagine anyone better than Al Franken to fill it.
I think Franken is smart and good on the issues. However, I do think those comments hurt him. Regardless of them being jokes, many of them are distasteful and are pretty juvinile. This is what a lot of people are sick of about politics. Although I’ve supported Franken, I am, as of late, leaning toward Ciresi.
The comments - like Bush being a dink - are both true & accurate
& from my take of the outlying regions of Minnesota:
should resonate quite well.
All those farmers & small town types outstate
(and I have visited some coffee shops & restaurants out well beyond the beltway & overheard what people were saying) know this to be true.
I think Minnesota Nice & old time Minnesota honesty will appreciate Al’s sense of humor & directness.
QUOTING:
Mr. Franken has a ready response:
“People should give Minnesotans credit for knowing what a joke is and what it isn’t,”… — — -
It really is a good article which has his humor & wit come through!
I am saddened that Mike Cerisi is running for this office as well - I would like both in public service. Maybe Cerisi will have a go at Governor next time around.
Sadly, a lot of people aren’t going to find Franken’s comments “transparently satirical,” especially after the GOP spends millions of dollars twisting them out of their proper context. And its not just the jokes, its Franken going on the record actively supporting the Iraq war and opposing withdrawal. If Franken is the nominee, this race is going to be good Al Franken v. bad Al Franken. Ugh.
A question should be that if Franken were not a somewhat celebrity would he be a good candidate. He doesn’t have a background that would give him any particular insight on the biggest question we currently face. He has spent his life creating stories that make things funny and to be liked by an audience. I just seems like the last thing we need is another politician that is better at telling a story than understanding the mechanics of the subjects.
People that hate Republicans seem to like Franken for the chance it will give them to stick a thumb in their opponents eye and not for anything of substance. The strangest part seems to be that instead of taking advantage of a relatively bad time for Republicans and an unpopular war by supporting a fairly Liberal, consistently anti-war, and affable local the Democrats are rolling the dice with very little to gain. There is no reason to think Franken would get any more votes in the general election than Ciresi or JNP and many reasons to think he would get many fewer. If you feel this is Wellstone’s seat just Franken’s stance on the war in the beginning should tell you what you need to know.
“The strangest part seems to be that instead of taking advantage of a relatively bad time for Republicans and an unpopular war by supporting a fairly Liberal, consistently anti-war, and affable local the Democrats are rolling the dice with very little to gain.”
Exactly.
And where does this heir to Wellstone thing come from other than he was Wellstone’s friend?
The people seeing through the rhetoric? Like how high Pawlenty’s approval rating went when he vetoed the property tax relief the state had elected the DFL to provide?
Or like in ‘04, when the people voted to elect a man who would continue screwing them? Bush might have been the absolute choice for anyone making less than 100k a year - but he’d keep them thar gay people in there place!
And I have to say - being the person who’d stick it to the Republicans worked so very well for Howard Dean. Yaahhhh!
Whatever else you say about Coleman, he has proved he can seem like a nice normal person (emphasis: seem). The lesson of politics of the last few years is that a citizenry capable of seeing through the rhetoric is not an assumption a serious campaign can make. We can bemoan that all we like, we can attempt to change it through quixotic candidates, or we can accept the world as it is and beat Norm.
Solid Minnesota Senator vs. Juvenile Comedian is dynamic that is easy to set up, and hard to shake. Man Who Takes Money from Big Companies to Screw Little Guy vs. Man Who Takes Money from Big Companies to Give To Little Guy is a much harder fight for him to win.
Matt:
I think you and Lorne Michaels are the only people who think this is a “good article” for Franken.
Worst spin ever!
Franken has demonstrated consistently he will continue to play the role of comedian — he likes to poke fun at issues, individuals and groups. If he gets endorsed and elected he will continue to communicate as a satirist and we need to acknowledge this. Becoming a senator won’t make Franken statesmanlike - just like Klobuchar was not magically transformed into a progressive when she was elected. So do we want someone like Franken playing a national role? Should he represent Minnesota? The United States? How would he fare in Asian countries? In his writings Asians are a group Franken appears to be comfortable targeting. He even makes light of Japanese internment camps…so seriously folks - think about this.
But what about Franken’s snappy response - “People should give Minnesotans credit for knowing what a joke is and what it isn’t”?
Remember how everyone saw through those lame swiftboat attacks on John Kerry? Didn’t the electorate figure that out? Oops, I guess not.
Although I don’t find Franken’s humor offensive, I think the Republicans are salivating at the prospect of having him get the nomination. They’ve always been painting him as indulging in “hate.” Of course they gloss over their own champions of hate, but then Sean Hannity and Bill O’Rielly aren’t running for office.
We really need to win this one, and I think Ciresi would be a fine candidate and effective lawmaker and he would altogether duck the counter offensive the Republicans have prepared for Franken.
If Franken gets the nomination it will say a lot about the DFL. None of it good. It will hurt not only their chances of winning the senate seat but other local races as well.
If Matt’s analysis is correct that this is a “good article” for Franken, I’m sure his campaign will post it on their campaign blog.
So the poll asks who should be the DFL nominee for U.S. Senate, and the choices are between Franken and Ciresi. It seems to me like there might be another choice or two. Why have you eliminated them?
You could have mentioned at least two other candidates in the running. Or you could have given the option of “other” or “none of the above.”
So I will modify the poll myself and just write in: Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.
Michael Brodkorb:
You do not allow freedom of speech on your MDE site, Yet you expect to comment on MN Publius with the same expectations?
The St. Paul Legal-Ledger and The Hill magazine has shown nothing but love towards our next U.S, Senator James Broom Wellstone.
I think Mike B. should be blocked from commenting on MN Publius until he can garuntee freedom of speech on the MDE website.
Even though there is a “Broom” dispute going on over here, MN Publius still allows freedom of speech over here.
YOU COULD LEARN ALOT FROM MATT MARTIN…..MIKE B.
Brodkorb must be sitting on a swivel.
Dramamine is essential for his posts here.
It is truly delusional to think that this is somehow a really terrible article for Al. LOL.
The idea that Al has zero qualifications, is patently untrue.
Al hasn’t grown up inside the system, & directed his life since grade school to congress (neither has Normy really) but Al seems to have a good sense of politics & issues. Certainly his getting into Harvard vs Normy’s schooling might indicate intellectual potentials…
To posit otherwise means that perhaps the writer needs to revisit Al’s background - and the type of background that other people in office have. He should do as well as anyone & he seems committed to doing something for his country & state at this phase of his life.
When you get a comment from a representative in congress saying “often congressmen don’t read all the bills they sign” - what is the real criteria for such office?
I figure Al will DO the hard work & know what it is he is signing.
As for other choices — are there any with a real chance at beating Norm, even if Normy is nothing more than mediocre lapdog for Georgie?
Mockingbird gives what must be the weakest rational for a candidate I have heard in quite a while. Nobody said he had “zero qualifications” just not enough to make him a good candidate for a U.S. Senate seat. If there really were any qualifications other than a couple recent years of kissing other politicians asses I suppose they would have been mentioned. Since there aren’t any, the line “He should do as well as anyone & he seems committed to doing something for his country & state at this phase of his life.” will have to do. Thing is, this is a very important position and the DFL comes up with candidates that are not so terrible rather than ones with unusual skill and aptitude for the position. Franken wasn’t smart enough to be anti-war in the beginning when there was no pressure on him so why would he be smarter when he is being pressured to vote in certain ways?
As for there not being any better options who’s fault is that? You can’t blame it on the Republicans. Franken has the worst chance of beating Norm because so many people already know him and dislike him. He has created more ammunition to be used against him than anyone I can think of that hasn’t held office. He also is the one most likely to do something monumentally stupid on the campaign trail.
Mockingbird, I think any of our candidates does have a solid chance at beating Norm. The SurveyUSA poll from a little back showed Cohen, Ciresi, and Franken all holding Coleman to 49%. Even Cohen, Cohen did however only garner 37% or something like and have a higher not sure percantage but the fact that every single candidate, well known or no named, held Coleman at 49%. JNP Im sure will be able to do the same. Any of our candidates can defeat Coleman, its just a matter of picking who represents MN the best and who deserves the seat.
I am 100% JNP. He is the only guy I can think of that deserves to be in Wellstone’s old seat. JNP is the most like Wellstone, he actually knows the issues, he will be that anti-war, liberal progressive in the Senate that we lost when Wellstone died.
Franken is a huge fraud and should pack his stuff up and go back to NYC where he belongs. We dont need help from celebrities to take back our Senate seats. We are the longest running blue state for a reason.
I think the Angry Al is the quintessential Democrat candidate.
We could look under every rock in the state and not find another lefty with his unique combination of mindless hatred, his willingness to parade it in public and the celebrity to entice people to take note of it.
When I questioned him about his having pocketed charitable donations meant for poor kids in New York, his ears and cheeks flushed and he twisted the water bottle he was holding like a wet rag…I thought sure he was going to pop.
It’s only a matter of time until he does.
Add to that a palpable ignorance of economics, history, foreign affairs..well just about everything but where to score the best cocaine in Hollywood and as I say…the best man to represent the Democrat party to climb up out of the muck in years.
So Swiftee - if he’s the quintessential one, why would it be hard to find another person like him? And why would he be the most representative if he is the most unique?
But seriously folks, what I see here is a failure of branding. Franken has been running for six months, and there is no counter-brand being offered by the Franken campaign. The man doesn’t have the gravitas or the style to run as a Wellstone. That takes more than insults and smarm. He needs to be branded as something else, otherwise ‘jerk comedian’ will be the brand foisted on him, if Franken’s people don’t get cracking.
Just like Mike Hatch needed (and failed to get) a counter-brand to the ones Pawlenty and Hutchinson hung on him.
Hatch and Franken aren’t just getting “hung” with a brand. It is more to do with who they really are which is hard to shake. If they follow John’s advise it is only further evidence that the DFL is a hollow party more worried about how they appear than what they do.
Kerosene Hat-
Oh please. From the party of Pawlenty/Bush? ‘I’ll pass the buck on taxes from the state to the local level, and claim credit for cutting taxes’. And the insurgency seems to have been in its last throes for a quite a while now, no?
Or Kerry? Who got tagged as a coward by a set of draft dodgers? By a party that repeats the Big Lie, repeats the Big Lie, and thinks thats a substitute for real policy?
I love when we defend ourselves from y’all’s lies you call us dishonest. The good thing about the DFL is that while we have our problems, they beat the heck out of a party whose twin bibles seem to be 1984 and Brave New World. Big Lie, and hope you get believed.
The point remains: Hatch didn’t defend himself in the press, and lost. If Franken wants to follow in that road, and let a GOP distortions stand without an effective counter-attack, do we of the DFL want to nominate him to challenge Coleman?
Well John, I am not a Republican and after voting in every election since I turned 18 in 1990 I have voted for a Republican only once. I have been against the war for longer than any of the Democratic candidates for President (except Kucinich)or Franken. You can try and blame the failures of the DFL on Republicans all you want but you should start looking at yourself first. The Democrats consistently fail to act differently than the Republicans and then do just as you did and blame the Republicans bad behavior as a reason for their own. The Democrats do have their problems and it is to some degree because people like you defend and support people like Franken and Hatch. Neither is worthy of public office but that means little to those only worried about winning elections and playing the political game.
There are better people then those either party gets to run. They end up with the people they do because nobody worth while would play party loyalty the game necessary to get the nomination. People like you John will make sure that never changes. Maybe if the DFL got better on the substance they wouldn’t have to worry so much about spin.
Substance? As if that and message are mutually exclusive
For any substance to matter, they have to be elected. And all the substance in the world won’t matter if the electorate doesn’t know about it. Period. I don’t care if that upsets your sense of aesthetics, to win an election in a democracy, you can’t be too holy to fashion and communicate a good message.
It boils down to a similar conversation in the Pallmeyer thread: you can simplify and say they’re all the same, or you can focus on the very real differences between what candidates will do in office, and vote accordingly. Because there are real differences, and many real people without the advantages of the educated left often get to pay for those differences.
And frankly, thats what worries me about Franken. If nothing less than being the next Wellstone will do, when he is obviously not the next Wellstone, he is asking to get hosed by the GOP. And I guess I’m a bad progressive, but I’m not down with the whole glorious, noble getting thrashed thing. I’d rather elect a DFL Senator to take votes on the issues.
Sure John the easy path is tempting but electing people like Franken is part of the reason we are in a war. Wellstone was known for not being afraid to vote against the party if he thought it was the right thing to do. I often disagreed with him but could respect his independence. That independence should be the bare minimum required to be elected. If we don’t have the spine to take risks at this point in the process you will get the type of politicians that don’t have the spine to do the right thing when it matters. You can play it safe and watch things get worse slowly or take a chance in hopes of something will get better. I mean, why on earth should anybody vote for someone that voted for, or was not against, the war from the beginning?
Justin:
You can’t think of anyone better than Franken to fill Paul’s seat?
Did Al Franken create the best prescription drug plan in the country?
Would Al Franken eat a bullet on behalf of Paul Wellstone?
If your name is James Broom Wellstone you could answer yes to both questions.
It’s NOT binary. Why does the DFL continue to argue we can A)run a mediocre candidate who doesn’t have the guts to do what needs to be done OR B) we can run a candidate who will stand up and serve Minnesotans but there is no way he/she would win. I don’t buy it. I’m not voting for Norm Coleman AND I am not voting for Al Franken. If these two are my only options I will put in a write-in. If Franken and Coleman are the only names on the ballot and no other party gets ballot access for their candidate then politics in Minnesota is at an all time low.
If you view politics as self-expression, then sure, its not binary. There is always a candidate or a person you can vote for so that you feel that you have not compromised yourself.
However, if you view politics as selecting someone to represent the people in the Senate, it most certainly is binary. No third party is likely to become viable in the next year. From the point of engaging in the selection of one of Minnesota’s representatives in the Senate, it is either GOP or DFL. Because I regard voting as a civic duty, and not an act of self-expression, I take this view.
Voting for a boutique party like Independence or the Greens is an option. But for the purpose of casting a vote in the political sense, and not the self-expressive sense, it is the same as not voting at all. I may not like Franken, but this isn’t a middle school popularity contest. So if he’s the nominee, I’ll vote for him, because I want to be a one vote part of picking a Senator, not making myself feel good.
And every election the two major parties bank on people coming to that conclusion, John. They don’t really need to work hard to find good candidates because they figure heck our candidate is less rotten than the other candidate. I’m too tired of this set-up and refuse to play along with it for races where both candidate are so completely wrong for the job. If we elect Franken the DFL will simply keep fronting Hatch/Franken white guys who have a huge sense of entitlement. Heck I just learned Franken’s big position guru is some guy in California! He isn’t even turning to a Minnesotan to crank out policy! Auuuggghhh
Demure One is 100% correct. Anyone like John who sees voting as an obligation to his party rather than an expression of his political beliefs is a part of the problem. Those people who are sure thing votes for either party are truly the ones who are no different from those that don’t vote. Can a Democrat vote for the war? Sure, why not John would still vote for them. Could they take money from huge special interests and pay lip service to their constituents? Sure, because John would still vote for them. You can’t have much influence if there is no chance of you changing your vote.
Party loyalists are the fuel for corruption who get upset at people with principle because they lack it. They have abdicated their civic responsibility to be critical of their representatives just as much as those in congress voted for Iraq war resolution abdicated their responsibility as legislators.
Hey Broom - Wellstone, I like how you call the seat “Paul’s”. I was not aware that trhat senate seat has been oficially named for Paul Wellstone.
The fact of the matter is Paul held the seat for blip in time and he accomplished next to nothing during his time there. he made lots of noise and said things that make liberals feel all warm and fuzzy, but in terms of accomplishments he record holds very few.
I am also quite sure Paul was going to lose his seat had the accident not happened. Oh wait, you claim it was all a plot to get rid of Paul.
Not sure how one figures that when the guy was pretty much dismissed in the senate as a noisy whining liberal and was really no threat to anyone. By the end of Paul’s 2nd term he had become just what he said he was out to challenge. He became on of the good old boys in washington. He could not even stick to his big promise of only running two terms because he knew longer than that and you just become of the the cogs in the political machine. Which as it turns out happened to him before his second term was up.
I’ll say it slow and simple: civic responsibility is about more than just criticism, that noisily draws attention to how you aren’t part of the problem.
Our next Senator will be voting on a lot of huge issues. I think it is our obligation to make sure that person is the best we can get. On the left, that will be Franken or Ciresi. I can whine and pout about how neither of them gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, because frankly, neither is the kind of candidate who provides those really.
But come on people - in case no one told you, Senators still take their seats in the Senate, even if they were condemned by the good and principled. I am shocked that you can forget all of the policies that our next Senator could vote on, declare yourself un-interested in it all based on how the candidate makes you feel, and lecture others on their corruption, and their lack of civic-mindedness!
As citizens, we have the responsibility to pick the best representative we can get. And I’m sorry if how that happens violates your sense of aesthetics, but I think letting Coleman stay is too high a price to pay. To be blunt, I was inspired too much by what another Senator from Minnesota stood for to leave Coleman in his seat for another six years, and pat myself on the back for being principled.
To be blunt, I was inspired too much by what another Senator from Minnesota stood for.
Great for what he stood for, now how about what he DID? Which was damn little and that is a fact liberals cannot hide.
I find it funny you think Coleman staying is too high a price yet I think we could hardly afford another Wellstone anytime soon.
John you are such a short-term thinker! As long as the DFL continues to front candidates like Franken for REALLY REALLY important elected offices all of us lose. Voting for Franken is basically letting the party deciders continue to promote unsuitable candidates. There comes a point when voters need to let the party know enough is enough…this is that race. If it’s Franken of Coleman write in “NOTA”!! There are plenty of GOPers who have had it with Norm - they ain’t gonna vote for Al…this could catch on… Not Norm NOTA or Not Al “NOTA” “Just Vote NOTA!!” Fits on a bumper sticker…NOTA NOTA NOTA NOTA NOTA!!!!!!!
17 WE LOVE JAMES BROOM WELLSTONE
Sep 7th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Michael Brodkorb:
You do not allow freedom of speech on your MDE site, Yet you expect to comment on MN Publius with the same expectations?
The St. Paul Legal-Ledger and The Hill magazine has shown nothing but love towards our next U.S, Senator James Broom Wellstone.
I think Mike B. should be blocked from commenting on MN Publius until he can garuntee freedom of speech on the MDE website.
Even though there is a “Broom” dispute going on over here, MN Publius still allows freedom of speech over here.
YOU COULD LEARN ALOT FROM MATT MARTIN…..MIKE B.
I find this funny because posts here are deleted all the time when someone on the left is trounced in their argument.
This is a very liberal site and will not have their views totally trounced. :)
I see McBroom posts here too. I see he also needs to learn what the First Amendment is all about. The government cannot restrict speach, but private entities, such as any blog, can restrict speech.
Are you mad because you cannot debate Broom Wellstone?