Al Franken: The GOP Gift That Keeps on Giving
I'm still in the Twin Cities where I'll opine here before heading to Rochester.
On this windy, stormy June day, the election in November looks to be even windier and stormier for the Republicans. Barack Obama wowed 'em at the X. John McCain looks old and tired. The DFL Legislature got its work done on time and in agreement with our GOP Governor.
But behind the clouds lies a bright shining GOP sun. Al Franken. A seriously flawed candidate who will make incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's star rise even higher when Coleman defeats Franken in a national GOP election debacle year.
Never mind Franken's machine sex fantasy in Playboy. Or his crass jokes about Andy Rooney raping Leslie Stahl. Franken's fatal flaw is lack of judgment. I fleshed that out earlier this week in Franken Fraught-O-Rama.
The diehard Republican in me wants Democrats to endorse Franken; the Minnesotan in me dreads that endorsement. Because if Al Franken is the DFL candidate, the election is about the latest chapter in Franken follies, not the issues. Nothing funny or satirical about that.
I'm betting we'll see lots more of Franken's bad judgment in Rochester: Every time he or his campaign blames his past thinking and writing on the Republicans. It ain't about the Republicans. It's all about Al.
Finally, the decades-long joke about DFL feminists eating their young is over. [The idea was the generation running DFL feminist groups didn't promote younger DFL women feminists.] Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury) and Rep. Sandy Wollschlager (DFL-Cannon Falls) were the first prominent DFL women to condemn Franken. They rightly noted they don't want to spend their summers defending Al Franken's idea of funny. They were followed by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN4), Planned Parenthood's Connie Perpich and Sarah Stoecz, and, (finally), U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D).
Collectively, they're teaching the next generation what's acceptable in political leadership and what's not.
In 2008, the raunchiest porn and the bawdiest jokes may be just a few mouse clicks away.
But porn and rape jokes still don't belong on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
I'll have lots more to say about Franken, tomorrow, from Rochester, where I'll be looking for the "DFL Feminists for Franken" caucus.
On this windy, stormy June day, the election in November looks to be even windier and stormier for the Republicans. Barack Obama wowed 'em at the X. John McCain looks old and tired. The DFL Legislature got its work done on time and in agreement with our GOP Governor.
But behind the clouds lies a bright shining GOP sun. Al Franken. A seriously flawed candidate who will make incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's star rise even higher when Coleman defeats Franken in a national GOP election debacle year.
Never mind Franken's machine sex fantasy in Playboy. Or his crass jokes about Andy Rooney raping Leslie Stahl. Franken's fatal flaw is lack of judgment. I fleshed that out earlier this week in Franken Fraught-O-Rama.
The diehard Republican in me wants Democrats to endorse Franken; the Minnesotan in me dreads that endorsement. Because if Al Franken is the DFL candidate, the election is about the latest chapter in Franken follies, not the issues. Nothing funny or satirical about that.
I'm betting we'll see lots more of Franken's bad judgment in Rochester: Every time he or his campaign blames his past thinking and writing on the Republicans. It ain't about the Republicans. It's all about Al.
Finally, the decades-long joke about DFL feminists eating their young is over. [The idea was the generation running DFL feminist groups didn't promote younger DFL women feminists.] Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury) and Rep. Sandy Wollschlager (DFL-Cannon Falls) were the first prominent DFL women to condemn Franken. They rightly noted they don't want to spend their summers defending Al Franken's idea of funny. They were followed by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN4), Planned Parenthood's Connie Perpich and Sarah Stoecz, and, (finally), U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D).
Collectively, they're teaching the next generation what's acceptable in political leadership and what's not.
In 2008, the raunchiest porn and the bawdiest jokes may be just a few mouse clicks away.
But porn and rape jokes still don't belong on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
I'll have lots more to say about Franken, tomorrow, from Rochester, where I'll be looking for the "DFL Feminists for Franken" caucus.
Morning Reports
