Al Franken’s Problem

2:06 pm EST June 26th, 2008 | Democrats | 13 Comments

In the same poll that shows Sen. Obama with a 17 point lead in Minnesota, Al Franken is 10 points behind Norm Coleman. I’ve never been super wild about the Franken run (I don’t like entertainers and other media folks running for office most of the time), but I’m even less so now. Maybe he can still win, but that’s not a good sign.

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13 Responses to “Al Franken’s Problem”

  1. Duros62 says:
    June 26, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Too bad he isn’t a pro wrestler.

  2. anotherbozo says:
    June 26, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    “Too bad he isn’t a pro wrestler.”

    Good one!

  3. ed says:
    June 26, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    The worst part is that he’s losing to Norm Coleman, who’s got nuthin. Nuthin, I tells ya.

  4. mike in dc says:
    June 26, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    I think he’s got a couple problems to overcome–one is he comes across as a bit of a carpetbagger. Another is that he hasn’t succeeded in coming across as “Minnesota nice” yet.

  5. Repack Rider says:
    June 26, 2008 at 7:11 pm

    Hillary is a carpetbagger. Franken was born in Minnesota.

  6. Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle says:
    June 26, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    Hillary is a carpetbagger. Franken was born in Minnesota.

    By that standard, isn’t Obama a carpetbagger too? ;-)

  7. ed says:
    June 26, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Norm Coleman’s a carpetbagger too. He’s from New York. Still has the accent.

  8. Steve LaBonne says:
    June 26, 2008 at 9:28 pm

    As an Ohioan, I have a kind of “there but for the grace of God go I” sympathy for the poor souls of the Minnesota DFL. There was a brief period when, instead of the estimable Sherrod Brown (who was notoriously late getting into the race) as our Senate candidate, there appeared to be a sliver of possiblity that we might end up with… Jerry Springer. The horror, the horror.

  9. SpiderJ says:
    June 26, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    Clinton didn’t live in New York until juuuuust before she decided to run for Senate. Obama had lived in Illinois for years.

  10. Thad says:
    June 27, 2008 at 3:05 am

    Franken’s a little middle-of-the-road for my tastes, but I think he’s very smart and has his heart in the right place.

    I’m an Obama fan, but I also believe the 17% projection is VERY optimistic. While “polls showed the same lead for Dukakis, therefore Obama will lose just like Dukakis” is clearly faulty logic, “polls showed the same lead for Dukakis, therefore polls conducted four months prior to a general election may be unreliable” is perfectly reasonable.

    Franken’s numbers have fluctuated quite a bit over the last few months. I don’t think he’s out of the race yet; Coleman is a Bush puppet, and, as Duros62 pointed out, he IS running in a state that elected a pro wrestler governor.

  11. bill delyon says:
    June 27, 2008 at 3:17 am

    They haven’t had a debate yet. Once that happens, I fully expect Al’s numbers to jump in the polls. Franken’s a super bright guy, and Colman is a thick fucker.

    Folks like the Home Prairie Companions Garisson Keillor are behind Franken Iwhom has a huge audience in those parts.), I don’t see Al loosing in November. He’ll pull it out, that seat’s important, so I hope he does.

  12. fs mcgee says:
    June 27, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    You poor fools in Minn. will vote for just about anyone. i.e. your fav. wrestler.Franklen is a phony,a cheat and of course someone I would never entrust authority to transact business for the state of Minn.

  13. calling all toasters says:
    June 28, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Franken is a very good candidate, clever at framing the issues and reasonably charismatic, and he was speaking out against the right when damn few democrats were willing to. Here’s the reason he’s trailing:

    New York state officials stated that Al Franken Inc. illegally failed to carry workers’ compensation insurance for employees from 2002 to 2005. Franken paid the $25,000 fine.[14] [15]

    The California Franchise Tax Board reported that the same corporation owes more than $4,743.40 in taxes, fines and associated penalties in the state of California for 2003 through 2007 because the corporation did not file tax returns in the state for those years.[16] A Franken representative said that it followed the advice of an accountant who believed when the corporation stopped doing business in California that no further filing was required.[17][18] However, Republicans say that Franken made 32 public appearances from 2003 to 2007, including two on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno taped in Burbank, California, for which Franken would have been paid the standard union fee as a member of the Screen Actors Guild.[19] On April 29, 2008, Franken released a statement noting that he will pay about $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states dating to 2003. Most of the income at issue was from speeches and other paid appearances by the comedian-turned candidate, who said he got bad advice from his accountant, who told him to pay income tax only in his state of residence. Franken said he will seek retroactive credit from the states where he paid income tax that should have been paid in these 17 states.[20]

    I think this will fade in time and the salience of who supported Bush and who didn’t will be the most important thing.