State GOP Playing a Dangerous Game with Franken, Kerrey
Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 11:58 am
- 2 Comments
The Republican Party of Minnesota is playing a dangerous game with its current round of attacks against Minnesota senatorial candidate Al Franken and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey.
Kerrey hails from a state generally regarded as ruby-red in its political leanings, and was himself one of the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. Senate during his time there. The state GOP has recently taken note of his support for the Iraq war, in an attempt to somehow call Al Franken out on his evolving position on Iraq.
This particular brand of attack has significant potential to blow up in the collective faces of the Republican Party leadership.Much has already been written about Franken’s change of heart on Iraq. He has said in the past that he erroneously believed Secretary of State Colin Powell’s assertion before the United Nations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction at the ready, and Franken’s campaign now sticks assiduously to its message that the occupation needs to end as quickly as possible. His journey toward the truth about America’s involvement in Iraq is the same journey taken by many since 2003.
This is not a dig at Franken’s fellow DFL candidate Mike Ciresi or any other Democratic leaders who opposed the war from the beginning. Quite the contrary — they were right from the start and have dealt with wide-ranging repercussions for their unswerving devotion to the truth. But Iraq represents a serious danger for the Republican Party: They risk uniting Franken with moderate voters, many thousands of whom have had the same change of heart.
And now the GOP writes a press release entitled “IRAQ WAR HAWKS FOR FRANKEN,” detailing what they say is Franken “playing politics with national security” (Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.) by bringing Bob Kerrey to town for a veterans rally. This increases the risk for the GOP: Moderate and perhaps conservative voters, unsure of the Republican Party’s attention to their values, may observe a familiar set of values in Kerrey and start asking, “If this guy supports Franken, what are the Republicans not telling us? Maybe he’s not as evil as Ron Carey and his minions are telling us he is.”
The Republican Party’s message team is still playing a dangerous game by trotting out four-year-old talking points in the face of massive public dissatisfaction with events in Iraq, and may very well find that they have bitten off more than they can chew with this one.
Check back tomorrow for an interview with Senator Kerrey.
2 Comments
Comment posted November 11, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Walking memory lane with Bob Kerrey Bob Kerrey also appeared at the DFL State Central Committee meeting yesterday in Savage. In his short speech, Kerrey gave a sincere homage to a number of Minnesotans who have made a remarkable contribution to the national political scene. He started with Paul Wellstone, of course, and thanked us as a state for sending this amazing college professor to Washington. He went through a short list, which included Hubert Humphrey, asking us to imagine what our nation might be like if Humphrey had beat Nixon in 1968.
But he forgot a very important name: Eugene McCarthy. Gene made a contribution that, I believe, will outshine nearly all others for many decades still to come. Not only was he right about the war in Vietnam, while others were still stuck in the quagmire, but he energized an entire generation of young people to become involved in electoral politics. And, by and large, they are still involved.
Ask around. Ask the movers and shakers of the DFL today how they first became involved in politics. More times than not, they will invoke the name of Gene McCarthy.
Sadly, Al Franken reminds me much more of HHH at that time: slow to understand the tragic ramifications of war, too late to speak out against it.
This seat belongs to Paul Wellstone, that former political science professor from Carleton College. Let’s not forget that the same seat was also occupied by Gene McCarthy, a man who had taught econ at St Johns and sociology at St Thomas, another visionary of his time.
In my opinion, the very best Senator Minnesota could elect to this seat is also a man of vision, a man who is also a college prof from St Thomas. If you filter out the noise, it seems to me that Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer would be the very best person that Minnesota could sent to the Senate.
Comment posted November 11, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Walking memory lane with Bob Kerrey Bob Kerrey also appeared at the DFL State Central Committee meeting yesterday in Savage. In his short speech, Kerrey gave a sincere homage to a number of Minnesotans who have made a remarkable contribution to the national political scene. He started with Paul Wellstone, of course, and thanked us as a state for sending this amazing college professor to Washington. He went through a short list, which included Hubert Humphrey, asking us to imagine what our nation might be like if Humphrey had beat Nixon in 1968.
But he forgot a very important name: Eugene McCarthy. Gene made a contribution that, I believe, will outshine nearly all others for many decades still to come. Not only was he right about the war in Vietnam, while others were still stuck in the quagmire, but he energized an entire generation of young people to become involved in electoral politics. And, by and large, they are still involved.
Ask around. Ask the movers and shakers of the DFL today how they first became involved in politics. More times than not, they will invoke the name of Gene McCarthy.
Sadly, Al Franken reminds me much more of HHH at that time: slow to understand the tragic ramifications of war, too late to speak out against it.
This seat belongs to Paul Wellstone, that former political science professor from Carleton College. Let's not forget that the same seat was also occupied by Gene McCarthy, a man who had taught econ at St Johns and sociology at St Thomas, another visionary of his time.
In my opinion, the very best Senator Minnesota could elect to this seat is also a man of vision, a man who is also a college prof from St Thomas. If you filter out the noise, it seems to me that Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer would be the very best person that Minnesota could sent to the Senate.
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