October 25, 2002 was perhaps the worst day of my life. I was waiting for my statistics lab to begin at the Humphrey Institute when another student walked in and said, "on MPR they’re saying Sen. Wellstone’s plane crashed." In the ensuing hours and days, we both mourned our champion and struggled to ensure he wasn’t succeeded by a party-switching hack. Following Vice President Mondale’s defeat, I vowed to work to ensure Sen. Coleman only serves one term.
So I am committed to returning Sen. Wellstone’s seat to a progressive, a liberal, and most important, a Democrat. But I do not think Al Franken is that man.
While I don’t doubt Franken’s convictions, I don’t think he is the strongest candidate we can find here in Minnesota, and won’t be the strongest Senator we could send to Washington.
Many politicians are citing their inexperience in Washington as a strength. But in the Senate, experience as a legislator is hugely valuable. Franken has none. He may be brilliant, but there is a definite learning curve, and with all that’s wrong with our nation, I fear we don’t have time for on-the-job training.
Franken has made a career of saying inflammatory things and picking fights with the right. That’s why we love him. But the Senate is a place of comity and compromise. I believe Franken will struggle building relationships with Republicans who, like it or not, will play at least some role in the 111th Congress.
While myself and others have raised concerns about the volume of material Franken has written and said, I’m also concerned about how he might act as a Senator. We all cringe when he hear a Democrat make an inflammatory comment, only to spend the next week walking back their words. We don’t have the time or the energy for such fights, there is too much to do. And I fear that Franken would be a regular quote-machine for both the right and the lapdog MSM who spend so much time creating bogus controversies over offhand remarks.
So while I welcome Franken to the race, I think he can do a hell of a job softening up Sen. Coleman for others, and brining some levity and wit to the race, forgive me if I’m not putting up a Franken for Senate sign in my yard.