Senator Al Franken?

At message 35 of the "O'Reilly evidence" topic" 2 1/2 years ago, a plane crash killed Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, about 2 weeks before the election. Former Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale became the fill in Democratic candidate, vs. Republican Norm Coleman. Norm Coleman won.After that election, Minnesota native Al Franken made the statement that he might be interested in returning to Minnesota, and running against Norm Coleman in 2008.Now the other Minnesota Senator, Mark Dayton, has announced that he will not run for reelection in 2006. I just heard from Al Franken, via a repeat of the Conan O'Brian late night TV show, that he is now looking to be moving back to Minnesota. I, of course, make the connection that he is lining himself up to run for the Senate in 2006.I would love there to be a Senator Al Franken.MoosePaul Wellstone topics:
Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone dies in plane crash
Was senator Paul Wellstone murdered?{Edited to fix the bottom 2 links. Also edited out the record of Admin having corrected my misspellings of Al Franken's name (D'oh) - Moose}This message has been edited by minnemooseus, 04-06-2005 04:33 AM

I wonder what is the political atmosphere of Minnesota. Do they lean Republican, Democrat or more Independent? Wasn't Jesse Ventura Republican? I would be curious what sort of Senator AL Franken might make, but popular enough to get elected?

Minnesota used to be pretty liberal/Democratic. But Minnesotans, as I see it, have also now fallen under the spell of the neo-con mentality. Run the phrase "tax cut" past a voter, and the become akin to Pavlov's dog. I'm pretty hazy on Jesse Ventura, as I was a Nevada resident for most of his term in office. My vague recollection was that he ended up being rather reactionary.What might have gotten Jesse elected, is that Minnesota has instant voter registration. You can show up at the polls, register, and vote.Minnesota did carry Kerry in the past Presidential election, but it was a lot closer than I liked. Even here it was pretty much a urbun/rural split.MooseAdded by edit: Jesse Ventura ran as an Independent. He was in that party of Ross Perot, I believe. Jesse had previously been the mayor of a Minneapolis suburb. As I recall, now Senator Norm Coleman and then mayor of St. Paul, was the Republican candidate.This message has been edited by minnemooseus, 04-06-2005 04:19 AM

Well, vote for the candidate of your choice. But, until Democrats stop dealing in caricatures such as depicted in the cartoon, and start to seriously address why Republican policies are seen by a majority of participating voters as the better alternative (not perfect; better), and offer serious alternatives, they will continue to lose elections.

This is true, the cartoon is a caricature. Most polls show that most Americans, and most voting Americans, do not support the Republican tax cuts. Or almost any Republican issue, for that matter. What decided the last two elections was "values"; most of the respondents could not quite explain what they meant by "values".

Well, this is adding to a serious topic stray (as interesting as Al Franken is) but the reason that the Republicans won last time was because most people felt they didn't have a choice. It was either Bush or Bush Lite. Seeing as how roughly 70-75% of voting age population is registered to vote and that 60% of those people voted in the last national election, that means that most people (~55%) of voting age did not vote in this election (or any election). So it is quite wrong when people say that the majority of americans support the Republicans, especially because of their policies.

Hmm, some polls show this, but other polls showed terrorism/homeland security and the economy as issues of primary concern. Like it or not, the Republicans had an edge in these polls on which party was betrer equipped to handle these particular issues. Tax cuts were indeed low on the priority list in most if not all polls, but this is not identical to strong opposition to them.The polls also indicate a majority prefer a bipartisan approach to governance, so it is possible the Republicans will overreach. There is a significant free-market libertarian wing in the Republican party that is not enamored of the religious right's agenda and might be open to moderate overtures on the part of the other party. It's early, but McCain and Giuliani, both moderates, top the GOP presidential preference polls for 2008 as of now. H. Clinton tops the Democratic preference polls and has been sounding a more moderate note of late.And thern there are the independents.

I've contributed to it myself.That said, please focus on what are Al Frankens qualifications, to be a U.S. Senator.The other stuff needs to go elsewhere.Moose

Hi Moose,Al Franken is definitely a brilliant writer and multitalented commedian. What he most definitely is not is a statesman. I can see him in the House of Reps maybe, but the Senate is supposed to perform government functions of the highest order. Authoring "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" is great, but not really a convincing qualification for why Al should be elected to work on nuclear treaties. There are probably more qualified people out there.Not to get off-topic again, but "values" voters have brought a field of republican idealogues and downright nutjobs. The way to counter this isn't by electing left-leaning loud mouths. Democrats need real candiates with charisma and the balls to take a stand other than a tepid endorsement of 'Republican lite'.

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There are probably more qualified people out there.

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But not in the Senate. I don't see how Franken is any less qualified than anyone already there to work on any kind of treaty or legislation. I am currently in a state that was recently represented in the Senate by a former pro football wide receiver (not that I'm criticizing -- I was a big Seahawks fan when he was playing).Seeing how a failed businessman with a C average from Yale would become President and a clueless B-movie actor could be elected President, both of whom presided over the most crooked administrations in the last 100 years, I think it's a bit late to start worrying about standards.Besides, to be serious again, I think the only qualification should be whether the voters trust the candidate enough to represent them. I would not rule out anyone, even if their only qualification is to be a left-leaning loud mouth. In the present political climate, that sounds good enough for me.Edited to add: Oops. After looking up Steve Largent, it appears that he was elected to the House of Representatives, not the Senate. I am a dolt.This message has been edited by Chiroptera, 04-06-2005 04:42 PM

Chir,You're right, someone like Al is probably about as good as it gets. But you cant fault me for hoping (praying?) for a rebirth of real statesmanship, can ya? Voters have trusted bigots and retards like Floyd Burnington and Strom Thurmond to accurately represent them; I think we should set our standards a bit higher than that. But again, not too likely to happen.Amusing (OT) Trivia: The action movie "Predator" has on its cast 3 governors and one gubernatorial candidate who was also a porn star. Apparently being an actor is a fantastic way of securing public office.

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'Most temperate in the pleasures of the body, his passion was for glory only, and in that he was insatiable.'

I'm from the state that has the best it can be, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold.My son is hoping that Russ declares a run for 2008. http://www.draftruss.comBy the way..who was the third gov in Predator. I remember Jesse and AHnold

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Asgara
"Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever....but get over it"select * from USERS where CLUE > 0http://asgarasworld.bravepages.com
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But I think a left-leaning loud mouth is exactly what we need to confront the neo-cons.Jim Hightower has also been promoted as a possible candidate. But he thinks he can do more good doing what he is outside of government. The question is, is it the same situation for Al Franken?Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, compromising your ideals is probably usually required to have any affect.I'll also direct the thinking back to the Is the Present Government Hurting U.S. Democracy with Fake News? topic. I think the greatest failing of the U.S. government system is that of the "fourth branch", the news and information media.Moose

Hi Asgara,I did a bit of research and I was off, only 2 govs from Predator, the Body and the Governator. I knew Carl Weathers ran in LA, and I thought he won, but apparently not. The other candidate (also lost) was Sonny Landham (the porn star). Pretty amazing.

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'Most temperate in the pleasures of the body, his passion was for glory only, and in that he was insatiable.'

Certainly, Russ Feingold is one of the best of the rather thin pickings of the "real progressives". I think that Dennis Kucinich is another. But look at the (lack of) attention that the mainstream media gave to his presidential candidacy. I have been told, Dennis actually had significant support from some "real conservatives". And I can respect a "real conservative". Someday I'll get my "Real Conservatives" topic launched.I think that Howard Dean is a good thing, as the designated leader of the Democratic party.But all this is something for another topic, or is it?Moose