GOP sees Franken as top public enemy

[Whoa_Nelly]

With only a longshot court appeal standing in the way of Democrat Al Franken’s election to the Senate, Republicans are gritting their teeth and bracing for the arrival of a new senator whose every utterance will sound like nails on a chalkboard to them.

While Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has filed suit to contest the results of a disputed recount process that turned his narrow lead into a 225-vote deficit, his likely defeat stands to turn Franken, the polarizing former “Saturday Night Live” writer, into the senator who launched a thousand direct mail fundraising appeals.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey, who cautioned that Coleman’s election challenge could still turn the results back his way. “It’s one thing to lose to an honorable opponent, but Al Franken is not considered an honorable opponent by Minnesota Republicans.”

Marty Seifert, the Republican leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives, said Franken’s long record of antagonizing conservatives would make it difficult for him to connect with voters who supported Coleman.

“It’s going to be hard for Franken to be very effective with any Republicans, in terms of having any credibility with us, just because he’s been so nasty in the past,” Seifert said. “He certainly has callous and very partisan behavior in the past that is beyond the pale.”

more at link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/17233

Love the line I bolded!
Too bad Franken will not play by their slimeball rules is how I read it :rofl:

[grannie4peace]

1. i love franken !!!!

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Me, too!

:hi:

[grannie4peace]

10. hi back :)

:toast: :hi:

[Brentwood]

30. I love Franken too. Can't wait to watch his floor speeches on CSPAN

Franken is a very intelligent man and graduate of Princeton. He is up on current events. I think that he will make a great Senator. I bet he will use his humor in his floor speeches that will help him effectively get his points across. I am looking forward to watching his floor speeches on CSPAN. I suspect the repubs will shun him at first, but he will have the dems, that are the majority, as friends and allys.

[lob1]

3. Franken is a comedian, and republicans are his punch line.

[47of74]

4. The GOP Waaaambulance Rides Again!

Their problem? It's that Al Franken correctly identified Rush Limbaugh as a big fat idiot.

[ikojo]

5. Of course he is...he is everything they hate

Hollywood insider
Relatively liberal
Jewish...yeah I know Normie is Jewish as well but Franken is a HOLLYWOOD Jew..they are despised by the reich wing.

What is it that a state as white bread as Minnesota has a Jew v Jew race so often (Coleman v Wellstone and now Coleman v Franken). Very interesting.

[mucifer]

8. There is a strong cohesive Jewish community in Minneapolis.

[ikojo]

9. We're between 50 and 60 thousand strong in the St Louis

MO metropolitan area, yet I cannot recall the last time there was a Jewish Senator or Congress person from MO. I applaud the people in Minneapolis.

[wellstone dem]

15. And Paul Wellstone beat Rudy Boshwitz

another Minnesota Jew. Rudy's family fled Nazi Germany in the 1930's. He was 3.

[Enthusiast]

25. He uses big words. nt

[Liberal Veteran]

6. He must be doing something right then.

[wryter2000]

7. I hope they go after him with everything they have

After all, it worked so well for Bill O'Reilly.

[bemildred]

11. Tough shit, get over it. Get over yourselves while you are at it. nt

[Turbineguy]

12. Intelligence and

a sense of humor. Yes, he is a threat to the republican party.

[petwlkr]

13. I just love how irrational they are becoming

In the end Franken won because "he's good enough, he's smart enough and doggone it people like him"

[katandmoon]

14. Oh those poor sensitive little flowers

[Metta]

16. Waaa. Waaaa.

Everybody needs a scapegoat - Malcolm X.

[kickysnana]

17. Wow, they are giving a freshman Senator with no political coattails lots and lots of power!

They are really off on their game, aren't they?

[Demeter]

18. When In Fact The GOP's Biggest Enemy Is Sarah Palin!

She's going to finish what Dubya started--the eradication of the party.

[PADemD]

19. Maybe it's because of his best selling books

"RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIG FAT IDIOT"

"Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right"

"The Truth"

[texastoast]

20. Oh, would that they had his sharp wit

It just intimidates the hell out of them.

[electricD]

21. NOW!?!?!?

NOW?...NOW???? THEY want to be bipartisan?...gimme a break

[BobTheSubgenius]

22. The disconnect!

You can't make this shit up.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. Al's an actual Democrat and they are not used to seeing one

Also they know he has real skills in life, and does not need to make wee deals to make a buck. Nothing like being correct, and funny, and beyond purchase to freak out the GOP.

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. They're used to Democrat politicians rolling over. It could even catch on. It's

traumatic for them. Paradigm shifts are very scary to entrenched vested interests.

They started the celebrity thing with Reagan, Bono and Schwarzenegger. They'd have no hope without distracting people from their actual policies. And now it's boomeranged.

[Swagman]

26. gee..a partisan politician ! Never see that in the GOP !

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[MasonJar]

27. Go, Al. Didn't the third party candidate take many Franken votes?

Or where they Colemaan votes? If Franken votes, he may win in a landslide next time. Hey, GOPers, we do NOT care if you work with AL. Go Cheney yourselves!!!!!!!

[Unca Jim]

28. Things that never get brought up about Al Franken and Norm Coleman...

Al was raised right here in St. Louis Park, MN. He went to both public and private schools.

Norm Coleman is a party-changing cipher who has no ideas of his own.

Al lives with his wife Franni, who he met in college.

Norm pays his wife to attend events. She lives in California.

When Norm was ahead by about 200 votes, he urged Al to bow out gracefully and not burden the people with legal challenges.

Once the legally-required recount was concluded and certified naming Al the winner by about 200 votes, Norm is mounting pointless legal challenges.

Why some Minnesotans didn't vote for Franken: 1. He's obnoxious and opinionated (which I personally like about him). That really rubs Minnesotans wrong. 2. He was a comedian for years and used foul language and somewhat derogatory language for comedic purposes. Again, many Minnesotans hate that.

Why some Minnesotans voted for Coleman even though he did nothing for six years except rubber stamp the chimp: 1. He claims to be pro-life (the fetus-worshipers are crazy here). 2. He is seen as pro police and law and order (which he, to be fair, was when he was mayor of St. Paul). 3. He's a...Mason! Okay, just kidding on the last one. He really is a Mason, though.


I watched the Canvassing board on live video feed during the recount. There were two judges appointed by a republican and two appointed by an independent balanced by a democratic SOS. It was *so* squeaky clean, reasonable, and fair that Coleman will never get anywhere!


That is all.

[8 track mind]

29. It's not that they don't like him, it's the fact that they are SCARED!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[Brentwood]

31. Yep - they are scared that Franken will call them out for what they are

Franken, IMO, will call out the repubs when they play their games & spew lies and he will do it with a lot of humor making his points more effective. I love it. Yeppers, I think they are scared of him.

[yellowcanine]

32. Good. Franken will win the PR fight - a comedian against a bunch of sore losers - not even a fair

fight. And he will deflect ill will away from Obama. Pubbies will lose this fight.