Posted: 07/07/09 11:56, Edited: 07/07/09 11:59
by Dave Mindeman
Al Franken will be sworn in as Minnesota's newest Senator this morning. The end of one odyssey and the beginning of another. Senator Al will be a favorite of the Republican Senatorial Committee. Every utterance will be scrutinized. Every vote a potential commercial.
It was a vitriolic campaign -- just plain ugly. Unable to defend an unpopular Bush-friendly voting record, Coleman's campaign decided on a ruthless personal attack strategy. And, to be fair, Franken's team responded somewhat in kind.
But after 8 grueling months of legalese and microscopic examination, the race is done. Finished.
But there are some who will never let the bitterness and personal vitriol end.
Katherine Kersten for an example.
She believes that Franken's committment to Minnesota and his gracious manner is just an act. A clever political ruse.....
...... This past weekend, we saw Franken’s campaign to “mainstream” himself swing into high gear. It’s a two-step plan.
In Step One, Franken shoots for news reports that include only vague, general reminders of his pre-Senate life. This is the “forget-the-former-Franken” part of the campaign.
News reports – like the Sunday Star Tribune article – may acknowledge that our new senator was occasionally a “bit too edgy” in the past. But gone is any reminder of Franken’s ugly public disdain for Christians, or any question regarding whether a soft-core pornographic “satirist” is a suitable member of our nation’s most august deliberative body.
Step Two of the campaign is the reinventing of Franken as a serious, “nose to the grindstone” public servant. Say hello to our baby-cuddling, State-Fair-attending, blue-collar-buddy, constituent-service-focused new man in Washington.
I'm sure Ms. Kersten will never let us forget her images of Senator Franken. She wants the satirical pre-Senate Al. She relishes the pornographic writing. She wants to jump on any potential negative religious references.
She sees Al Franken with horns on each side of his head.
Oh, the satirical Al is still there. And on occasion, Al's satire will join the public debate. But Al never was consumed by his satirical personna. He is, in reality, a genuine caring person. He really does want to work for the best interests of Minnesota. That is not an act.
Franken has made every effort to heal the aftermath of a very divisive campaign. But Kersten won't accept that. She can't. Ms. Katherine seems to have a hard time understanding the difference between satire and real insults.
Apparently she is only good at the latter.
Let’s call a spade a spade. Franken is not only BEST fundraiser for the RNC … but he allows pundits like Katherine Kersten to blast away at the Democrat Party ignoring how they cringed at Norm Coleman’s actions.
Coleman’s support for SCHIP, immigration reform, climate change, fuel efficiency, TARP, etc caused problems … not to mention that the former Senator wanted to be known as “Minnesota’s Mayor in Washington” as his logic for authorizing the highest amount of earmarks in the Minnesota delegation. Heck, Coleman did not even get slammed for the U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose affair despite his altering of reality. He was handled with kid gloves on those issues, but wait until those types of issues come up … it will be easy to blast Franken.
And for that reason, maybe Franken’s best approach would be to expect it and assume that he will be a one-term Senator. He’s going to be in the limelight whether he likes it or not … the “SNL comedian” persona will be long forgotten by 2014 and the best way to do that is to see Senator Franken on some Sunday Talk Shows … suddenly, it will be about the issues and not the person. Anyone who listened to Franken’s radio show knows that he knows the issues and can speak passionately about them. A high profile media presence has not hurt Congresswoman Bachmann in her elections … Franken might be helped by following her lead. The more that Kersten continues to grab onto the “SNL comedian” persona, the more that people will see that Franken as a legitimate Senator … and their decision on their 2014 vote will be based on how the Senator voted on the issues … that’s why Coleman lost … he lost too many fiscal conservatives. Franken should take a visible and vocal stand on the Employee Free Choice Act and Health Care Reform … those in opposition will always be in opposition … but being meek will not help his case. Wellstone’s passion is what got him re-elected.