Al Franken Is a Genius

Team Stephanie, pay attention!

My admiration for Senator Al Franken is on record. Dan Richardt's disdain for the junior Senator from Minnesota is predictable.

But the red half of Red Blue & Purple gets Franken wrong in his predictable post on Franken's pow wow praise of Pelosi and South Dakota's lone Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Richardt calls Franken an "idiot" for aligning the Democratic Congresswoman with the Democratic Speaker of the House instead of the Republican House Minority Leader.

In an amazing departure from form, Mr. Richardt actually provides a hyperlink to support his Republican regurgitations: "According to Rasmussen, Pelosi has a 35% approval rating," he bleats.

So nice of Dan to provide a hyperlink... that disproves his own thesis. The same May 2010 Rasmussen poll that pegs Pelosi's nationwide approval at 35% finds Minority Leader John Boehner's approval at 23%. Republican owned and operated Rasmussen buries this finding under the methodology statement, the paragraph that usually signals, "Juicy stuff done, nothing more to see here, move along!" But it's there. Pelosi is more popular than Senate leaders Reid and McConnell, too.

Saying Pelosi is the most popular of Congressional leaders is kind of like saying she's the least squishy turd in the dog yard, but hey, numbers are numbers. Franken's statement set up a choice: do you want someone who would vote with Pelosi or with Boehner? That's a false dilemma—I want someone who votes like Dennis Kucinich! But posed with Franken's choice, a candidate would be silly to align herself with the guy with 23% approval instead of the gal with 35% approval.

So let's make a deal, Republicans. You guys roll in John Boehner to campaign for Kristi Noem. We'll roll in Nancy Pelosi herself to make the case for Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Looking at the numbers, not to mention good Democratic policies versus Republican obstructionism, I'll bet we'd win.

Senator Franken's statement Saturday was not a blunder or a gaffe. Franken stated the obvious—Dems tend to vote with Dems. Franken also stated something bolder: you don't have to let the Republicans control the narrative. You can point to the facts, the numbers, and the votes and stand up for Dems, even in South Dakota.

House Notes: SHS Leaning My Way with Franken

South Dakota's conservative blogosphere is erupting with joy at Senator Al Franken's visit to South Dakota. I'm rather pleased myself. In a speech at the Oglala Lakota Nation Pow Wow at Pine Ridge Saturday, the junior Senator from Minnesota endorsed our Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin thus: “She has voted differently than I voted on a couple of things, but we need to be able to have somebody here in South Dakota who’s going to vote for Speaker Pelosi, not for Speaker Boehner.”

This is a dream comment for conservatives who believe Nancy Pelosi (the name, not the actual woman or the policies) is toxic and want a convenient handle to persuade the inattentive, personality-based voters. The NRCC, source of 50% of Dakota War College's material, has surely already spliced Senator Franken's statement into an ad with unflattering photos of Al, SHS, and the Speaker, all caught in awkward, unflattering poses, looming toward the camera to the tune of ominous, crescending cello notes.

I will agree that Senator Franken's comment could give some Blue-Dog-triangulation-minded kids in the warroom heartburn. An important Dem strategy this year is to block the GOP strategy of nationalizing the race and keep voters focused on state/local issues. For the GOP Speaker Pelosi is generally unpopular among folks for whom she is a convenient abstraction of outsiderhood rather than the actual flesh-and-blood representative on the ballot. It's a lot easier to say "Herseth = Pelosi!" than it is to explain to voters why SHS's votes on specific policies are worse for South Dakota than the votes her challenger would cast.

The proper response for Herseth Sandlin: embrace Franken's endorsement. Look again at what he said: if you have a choice between the policies of Speaker Pelosi and those of Minority Leader Boehner, which should you pick? Well, consider everything Boehner and his obstructionist House Republicans have opposed in just the last couple years (this is a popular list making the rounds online; you'll find various flavors of the text on various sites):

• Senator Franken’s Anti-Rape Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill
  
• Benefits to homeless veterans and homeless veterans with children.
  
• Ending health insurers' pre-existing condition exclusions
• Health care for 9/11 First Responders
• Tax incentives to companies hiring new employees
• Giving community banks access to billions of dollars to loan to small businesses
• Financial reform
• Stimulus Bill (a.k.a. the reason we aren't in a Depression)
• Requiring identification of all donors to political campaigns
• Extension of unemployment benefits
  
• Fair Pay Act of 2009- Also called the Lily Ledbetter bill.

Now SHS has voted like Boehner on a number of my priorities, like health care, student loans, and credit card rules. But I know that if I want to promote the Democratic agenda, I can at least have the conversation with Herseth Sandlin. All we'll get from Noem is No! on a wide range of issues where America needs action, not vague faith in slogans and the invisible hand.

Stephanie, don't let the Republican shouters spook you on the Franken comment. Blow their minds: bring Al back. Bring Senator Franken to Rapid City, Pierre, Aberdeen... and Madison! I bet Senator Franken will do an outstanding job of explaining that, yes, the policies of the Democratic Party really are good for South Dakota, and that, yes, we really are better off with a Congresswoman who votes more often with Speaker Pelosi than with Congressman Boehner.

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Update 15:55 CDT: As Dr. Blanchard notes below, Senator Franken's South Dakota visit is getting national press—heck, if Al can get South Dakota attention, bring him back for more!

MinnPost observes that Franken was only stating the obvious... and that Republicans might not want to push this strategy too far, given the abysmal poll numbers of their own Congressional leadership.

Stephanie, seriously, change the game: bring Franken for more visits! Tell the people of South Dakota that, on most issues, Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic Party as a whole really do support better policies for South Dakota. Why run against both parties? Run against the Republicans; run with the Dems!

Senator Franken Schools Apologist for America's Inferior Health Insurance System

Hat tip to Bill Fleming!

Can East River ask to be annexed by Minnesota? I want Al Franken to be my Senator:



The Hudson Institute's Diana Furchtgott-Roth breaks Senate hearing tradition and fires an off-topic comment back at the Senator after he has yielded his time. Senator Franken schools her both ways, for veering off topic and for citing rigged stats. Beautiful.

Senator Al Franken: Calm and Sober Statesman

South Dakota's Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin could take a lesson in how to explain health care from her Demcoratic colleague in the upper chamber, Senator Al Franken from Minnesota. On the ground at the Minnesota State Fair, Senator Franken talks directly and honestly with a Tea-Party t-shirt wearer and other citizens about pre-existing conditions, medical bankruptcy, and the effectiveness of the Minnesota's ability to control medical costs. And when offered calm questions, he's ready with calm, specific answers. No wisecracks, no obfuscations, just straight talk from the closest thing we may have to a regular guy in the Senate:



Oh my—I know I'm asking for it, but I can't resist. Put this fine Senator together with Representative Anthony Weiner from New York, and you have a killer ticket for the Presidency: Franken-Weiner 2016!