MmeGigs -> RE: Al Franken takes lead in Minn. Senate Race...Go Al!! (12/22/2008 4:46:31 PM)
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ORIGINAL: subrob1967 You gotta love Minnesota thou, first they elect a Crossdressing "Pro" Wrestler as Governor, and now an unfunny "Comedian" as a Senator. Must be something in the water, or their brains freeze up dere in Janurary. There are a couple of things that have been bugging me about this. First off, the election is in early November - our brains have not yet frozen at that time, except occasionally in some parts of the far north of our beautiful state. Now, about Jesse... I agree with a lot of what he believes, but I shudder every time he opens his mouth. He's kind of a whining idjit these days, but it was not always so. He was a different guy when he was running for governor. He had a really common-sense stand on a lot of issues. When he didn't know about an issue or didn't have an opinion, he said so. He was positive and constructive (unlike the Jesse we see today). He had some really good people working on his team - people who are highly respected throughout the state. I didn't agree with him on everything, but he was a straight talker and I really like that. He could do that because he expected to lose, but I really don't think that he has a choice - he's not a politician or a diplomat. He's going to say what's on his mind. The press cut him a lot of slack during the campaign because they expected he'd lose. He was a fascinating story - not many third party gubernatorial candidates get national press. His message got out. Skip Humphrey insisted that Jesse be included in the debates, partly, I'm sure, because he felt that Jesse would draw more votes away from Norm Coleman than from himself, partly because a lot of MNfolk were supporting Jesse and it was the right thing to do, and mostly because he didn't think that Jesse could win. Norm was having a tough time, and Jesse was making it tougher. MNfolk didn't really know what to make of Norm. He'd recently turned from D to R, and there was that danged NY accent. It made it hard for some folks to think of him as "one of us", particularly when he was running against Skip who is not only "one of us", he's progeny of a revered Minnesotan. But we've got a lot of R's here, and a lot of ticket-splitters. We really don't care for having one party in control, even if it's our party. We like checks and balances. I voted for Jesse. I pay attention to politics and government, as do a good many Minnesotans. We have a very active and engaged populace. At that time we were having some serious problems with partisan gridlock in the state, and we were rather disenchanted with both parties. I suspect that a lot of folks voted for Jesse as a protest, but I believe that most who voted for Jesse felt good about casting that ballot. I know that I did. In retrospect, it was a sad thing. He turned out to be really thin-skinned and very whiney. He set the third-party movement in the state back so much. I'm just bummed about the whole thing. I also voted for Al Franken. I had a hard time with that decision, but I feel really good about it. I really like Dean Barkley, but I knew he wouldn't win. If Jesse hadn't been such a whiner, Dean would have had a chance, but as it is... I would have voted for him anyway because I like voting third-party and wanted to make sure they got the 5% needed to remain a major party in the state, but I liked Al as much as I liked Dean and I really didn't want Norm to have another term. I don't think that Norm's a bad guy, but he's pretty much a nonentity. From what I can see, he votes party line if the Republicans need his vote, if they don't he votes however he thinks will look best to the folks back home. I expect more from a senator. I don't agree with everything Al stands for, but I think he's up on the issues and really cares about what's going on. He wants to be a legislator, not a politician. He's going to vote his conscience. I don't feel that way about Norm. I think that he has a true desire to serve the people of MN, I don't believe that he is in politics for personal gain, but I get the impression that Norm was working on a career path rather than looking to make a difference. I think that Al would be a senator in the mold of Paul Wellstone. While Al's surely a lefty, I don't expect that he will be a reliable D vote in the Senate. I expect that Al will be someone who will vote his principles and speak his mind, much as Paul was. I expect that on some issues, Al would be a thorn in the side of his party, much as Paul was. I'd like that.
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