Al Franken has taken the lead in the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota. By all accounts by the end of the day all the challenged ballots will have been counted and Al Franken will be the next Senator-Elect from Minnesota.
This one was for Paul Wellstone.
e
So if you are a political junkie like me you have been obsessively following the Minnesota recount of the Senate race between Al Franken and the loathsome Norm Coleman.
Excellent coverage here
andhere.
This race is personal to me. Norm Coleman is an odious little man who oozes smarmyness and is always cutting corners. In fact he is under FBI investigation right now for improper cash payments to his wife and accepting thousands of dollars in free suits. I guess you can call him a male Palin.
Beyond his sleaziness is the fact that he took the seat from Paul Wellstone. That hurts.
To be accurate he took Paul Wellstone's seat after Wellstone and his wife died in a plane crash two weeks before the election in 2002 between Coleman and Wellstone.
Paul Wellstone was the last true liberal in the US Senate. He was a champion of the disenfranchised and had a way of explaining liberalism in a populist way that connected with the middle class voter who for too long has voted against their self-interests because of cultural wars.
Wellstone was my sisters advisor at Carleton College where he was a professor for many years prior to running for the Senate and by all accounts an intense and deeply committed man.
He was a personal hero of mine and my "Wellstone for President 2000" t-shirt still proudly hangs in my living room.
I cried when his plane went down and I cried when Norm Coleman won his seat and I cried today in happiness when I logged onto the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and saw the latest.
Congratulations Senator- Elect Al Franken. Do Paul proud.
Cross-posted at http://finnswake.wordpress.com/