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+--- Thread: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? (/showthread.php?tid=62650)
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Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - freeradical - 09-22-2008
It's now a three way race in Minnesota...
The late entry of a third-party candidate has upended the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, suggesting voter dissatisfaction with the state's two top candidates, as well as shaking Democrats' hopes of adding the seat to their Senate majority.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122204643394361665.html
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - Lux Interior - 09-22-2008
hehe... You said "three-way".
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - guitarist - 09-22-2008
I thought it was weird and risky for Franken to contribute, even indirectly, to Saturday Night Live's opener, a hack political hit job masking as comedy. Risky because it suggests an appearance of conflict of interest. I'm surprised Lorne Michaels went along with it. Imagine some Republican Senate candidate moonlighting as a script-writer, feeding a political ad disguised as comedy, into a broadcast network show, during the Senate race. The lines are so blurry. Since he's been trying to distance himself from his career in show business, in order to build credibility as a candidate, I thought the timing was questionable. If Franken's bit was outright funny (it was only slightly funny) I think it would have been so disarming it wouldn't have mattered.
I saw Franken speak at the U.W. about ten years ago, he was witty, engaging, deadly sharp, great show. He was part of a press junket, following a campaign, telling stories about his experiences. Since becoming an actual political candidate, well..I miss having him around as a satirist. He was good at it.
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - Gutenberg - 09-22-2008
Three points hardly means "voter dissatisfaction" with the major-party choices, and that's the number Barkley is posting so far.
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - $tevie - 09-22-2008
Al Franken gave Lorne Michaels the idea, and Seth Meyers called him to discuss it, but Franken did not write the skit or write parts of the skit. He inspired it, essentially. I'm not sure we can expect Franken to cut off all interaction with anyone who might run with something he happens to think up.
In the most recent Rasmussen poll, Coleman has 48 percent to Franken's 47 percent, in other words it's a dead heat -- with Dean Barkley showing at 3 percent. Even in polls where Barkley scores in double digits, Franken and Coleman are running neck and neck. So my question is, why do you consider this to be hurting FRANKEN's chances. Looks like it could be hurting either candidate or both of them. Or neither of them, for that matter.
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - freeradical - 09-22-2008
$tevie wrote:
...with Dean Barkley showing at 3 percent.
That's what one poll says; the average is 10%. Barkley is a wildcard - who really knows what will happen. But if his support is coming from dissatisfied voters, he'll cut into Franken's support much more than Coleman's.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/senate/mn/minnesota_senate-257.html
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - $tevie - 09-22-2008
freeradical wrote:
[quote=$tevie]
...with Dean Barkley showing at 3 percent.
That's what one poll says; the average is 10%. Barkley is a wildcard - who really knows what will happen. But if his support is coming from dissatisfied voters, he'll cut into Franken's support much more than Coleman's.
I still don't see how you are drawing that conclusion. As I already said in my previous post, even the polls where Barkley does better than 3% still show Franken and Coleman in a virtual tie.
I don't see any proof to your contention that it will cut into Franken's support.
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - guitarist - 09-22-2008
$tevie wrote:
Al Franken gave Lorne Michaels the idea, and Seth Meyers called him to discuss it, but Franken did not write the skit or write parts of the skit. He inspired it, essentially. I'm not sure we can expect Franken to cut off all interaction with anyone who might run with something he happens to think up.
That makes it sound like he casually burped a half-baked idea for a sketch, and he can't be expected to have any control over what NBC does with his conversation after he hangs up. What nonsense. This backpeddaling, plausible-deniability spin supports my point; even the perception that Franken played any role in a political SNL satire is something you'd think his campaign would prefer to avoid, much less take credit for, during a tight Senate race where his entertainment background is a weapon his opponents use against him. Maybe having won his party's nomination, he cleared a barrier and is less concerned about the link, compared to when he was in the primaries.
I'm just playing his campaign advisor.
Even if the link was indirect, it was highly publicized. If the sketch had actually been funny, to anyone outside the Democratic party, it could have been a harmlessly welcome addition to the discourse. Lampooning the other side's negative ads has an unintended circular irony. As his campaign consultant, I would suggest that it reflects the sour attitude of a sore loser rather than the easy humor of a destined winner.
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - $tevie - 09-22-2008
He actually did casually burp out a half-baked idea for a skit and SNL decided to use it. I just don't think it is something that even remotely approaches a scandal except in the minds of his opponents.
Anyhow, this is a state that elected a professional wrestler with the nickname "The Body" to be governor. You really think they will be freaked out because Franken inspired a political sketch?
Re: Does this mean the end of Al Franken's Senate dreams? - guitarist - 09-22-2008
$tevie wrote:
He actually did casually burp out a half-baked idea for a skit and SNL decided to use it. I just don't think it is something that even remotely approaches a scandal except in the minds of his opponents.
Anyhow, this is a state that elected a professional wrestler with the nickname "The Body" to be governor. You really think they will be freaked out because Franken inspired a political sketch?
Not suggesting it's scandalous by any stretch, just that it had "loser" written all over it. When Franken is crying in his beer after failing to win the election, he'll be calling me, his advisor, complaining that he should have listened to my advice. LOL