Coleman Liveblog

We’ll be covering Norm Coleman’s speech at the Humphrey Institute live today, starting at 10 AM.

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11:07–And we’re done.  I’m not sure Norm actually said anything.  Which is par for the course.  It wasn’t a bad event. Norm was witty and engaging, as he usually is.  But as with every Norm event, there’s just a hollow feeling in the middle, that there’s no “there” there.  No, it wasn’t bad.  But it wasn’t particularly filling afterward, either.

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11:06–The GOP is “hurting.”  But they’re the party of reform.  This would ring more true if the GOP had done anything by way of reform between 2002 and 2006.

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11:02–Giuliani supports abortion.  You’re pro-life.  What the what?

“There is common ground,” says Coleman, citing partial birth abortion.  Which Giuliani supports, or at least used to. 

“I think Rudy Giuliani could be the Republican nominee for president. [...] Could I support Rudy Giuliani?  Absolutely.”

Are the social issues no longer a litmus test?  “Is that something that you weigh?  Absolutely.”  Cites activist judges as an issue.  Of course, given that Roe has been the law of the land for thirty years, it would take an activist judge to overturn it.

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11:00–Would you support tax increases to pay for the war?  “I don’t want to rule anything out,” but doesn’t actually support them.

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10:58–Can we afford the war in Iraq?  Norm answers, “Can we afford not to be secure?” 

Norm says we will be less safe if we leave Iraq. 

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10:57–Will you support withdrawal next year?  “I’m not going to even answer that question.”  And then he doesn’t.  Good work, Senator!

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10:53–”We’re going to be in Iraq a long time.”  That’s–that’s not going to be a winning line in 2008, Senator.

The issue is whether we’re going to be in the crosshairs of a sectarian war or not. 

According to Norm, by this time next year, we’ll start redeploying by this time next year, or we’ll see Iraq doing much better.  I’d take door number three–no change–so long as Commander Guy is still the decider.

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10:50–Does Norm support benchmarks with consequences?  Yes, he says he does.  For those keeping track at home, Norm currently supports strong benchmarks. 

Norm does not, however, support consequences that would “undermine” the troops.  As opposed to the Democrats, who have been arguing that we need to take all weapons away from troops.

Assuming Coleman is talking about the Democratic bill, for those keeping track at home, Norm currently opposes strong benchmarks.

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10:47–Can we win in Iraq?  “Yes, we can ‘win,’ and then you have to define ‘win.’”  Talks about a stable Iraq government that has power sharing.  Pack a lunch, senator.

Says the battle in Iraq is to keep the extremists from winning.  Noted that al Maliki is complaining about having to bring Sunnis into the government–which hardly engenders confidence that we will win.

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10:44–Says he’s in favor of offshore oil drilling and points to Hurricane Katrina as proof that oil drilling isn’t an environmental risk.  Reiterates opposition to ANWR.  Says there is a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Independent Democrats in favor of it.

Also says the GOP suffered from hubris in their deliberations, and that’s part of why the Democrats won.

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10:39–Coleman is saying he’s in favor of nuclear energy.  “The French are not braver than we are, but about 80% of their energy comes from nuclear energy.”  That’s a good line–because liberal or conservative, we are all united in our hatred of the French.

He’s also coming out in favor of coal gasification, which doesn’t help global warming.

To which Norm says, “Is there global warming?  Yes.”  Good to hear a Republican who isn’t completely insane on this issue.  Now he’s talking about carbon sequestration, which may or may not be useful, but at least he’s talking about reality, which is refreshing.

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10:37–Norm’s noting he has a good relationship with Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor.  That’s good, because with his series of injuries that have kept him from developing into the pitcher he once appeared to be, Pryor lacks many friends on the North Side of Chicago.

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10:35–First question: “What do you think of centrism as a philosophy?”

Coleman: “I don’t wake up saying, ‘I’m going to be a centrist today.”  He says he wants to be a problem solver, with a conservative philosophy.

And now he’s yammering on about being mayor of St. Paul.  And if I were Norm, I would, because he was a good mayor.  Indeed, many of us would like him to be mayor to this very day.

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10:33–Norm is already ending his remarks.  I’m not quite sure what he said.  But I have the sense it was a good speech.  Thus it ever is with Norm.  He is the Minnesota politician most at peace with the glittering generality.

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10:29–Having liveblogged Klobuchar’s address on global warming, it’s impossible not to compare that address with this one.  One of the things that is striking is how general Coleman’s speech is compared to what was a pretty wonky, detailed speech by Klobuchar.  Now, that’s not to criticize Norm, really–he’s giving a pretty standard, engaging–if scattershot–speech.

But it is scattershot.  Norm is basically saying, “Paean to bipartisanship.  A few random anecdotes.  Joe Lieberman, Pete Sessions, Evan Bayh.  Random anecdote.”  It’s got a very loose, off-the-cuff feel to it.  That’s not all bad.  But it’s not all good.

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10:27–Norm’s talking about how he and Klobuchar will agree on the farm bill.  And yes, they will–Minnesota’s a farm state.  One expects they’ll both be working on overdrive to get as much money as possible for the state.

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10:24–Coleman is now on the America Competes Act, the least controversial act in the history of Congress, which is all about stopping brain drain and trying to increase American interest in science.  What this has to do with anything, I’m not quite sure, other than that Norm is now fetishizng “bipartisanship,” which is appropriate, as Norm himself is bipartisan.

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10:19–Let’s be blunt: the reason both Klobuchar and Coleman are pushing forward–

Wait, Norm just said he was a “Republican with Democrat [sic] roots.”  Democratic, Senator. You were one as recently as a decade ago.  You should remember.

–anyhow, the reason Klobuchar and Coleman are both pushing forward on renewable energy is that for a Minnesota senator, there is absolutely no political downside to it.  It benefits corn farmers, and the Pipestone area is full of wind turbines.  Whether you believe global warming is real or not, for Minnesota, the potential benefit of renewable energy to the economy is undeniable.

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10:17–”There is no question that freeing our nation from our oil addiction will make a man on the moon look relatively simple.”  True dat.  Norm is telling a story of how he once advised Bush to take a strong stand on oil–one assumes that since it wasn’t said by a Bush aide, the President simply ignored it.

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10:14–Norm is comparing Lincoln and the Civil War to Global Climate Change.  I’m not quite sure how it worked–but it almost seemed to make sense.  And that, my friends, is how Norm is Norm. 

He’s making the national security argument for renewable fuel.  This is a good one, and underutilized by both left and right.  It would certainly be nice to send less of our money to Saudi Arabia and more to…well, pretty much anywhere else.

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10:11–Norm’s also telling the story of how Hubert Humphrey (the Vice President, not Skip) once taught him to put his name tag on the right side of your blazer, not your left.  This is good advice in general.

I’m not sure about Norm’s statement that Humphrey belongs not just to the Democrats.  Unlike Norm, the happy warrior always pretty much knew what he believed.

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10:08–Norm is also noting that just about every word he says is recorded, especially by blogs.  Resistance is futile, Senator.  You will be assimilated.

Seriously, Norm’s point is well taken–he hopes that liveblogging and YouTube won’t dissuade candidates from speaking bluntly.  I certainly don’t think that’s what would dissuade Norm.

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10:07–Norm is talking about how you age, you learn what you don’t know.  Presumably, he’ll now share how college is the best time of your life, and how he can’t stand music these days.

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10:06–Larry Jacobs just almost said Norm had switched from the GOP to the DFL.  Well, as we all know, “Paul Wellstone is a Democrat, and [Norm is] a Democrat.”

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10:04–Norm came and shook hands with the bloggers, which is classic Norm.  He’s wearing a tan suit, and he does appear to have aged about twelve years in the past six months. 

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10:01–Fewer liberals and more conservatives here today as compared to Amy Klobuchar’s presentation.  Cap’n Ed is on hand, as is Mike Brodkorb.