“Fundamental Dishonesty”: Franken Responds to Coleman Attack

Double Standard i find your logic interesting and unfortunately banal.  Minnesota and the twin cities in particular are known for having a highly intelligent electorate.  I had hoped to find in your blog cognizance of that and at a minimum the simple ability to see the forest and not get lost in the trees. 

why do you demand perfection from a democratic candidate and let  a republican one spin away as lives continue to be wasted in Iraq?

Franken is being blamed for not instantly recognizing the moral turpitude and arrogance in the Bush adminstration.  I suppose you would equally condemn Wellstone for not recognizing instantly Coleman’s mandacity years ago.

So the large forest for you is not being cynical enough?

thanks loads.

12 flip flops by Norm Eric,

The thing that I find interesting and that I point out in my post about this attack, is that Norm has flip-flopped 12 times that I’ve been able to count, 8 in the last year.

http://www.mnblue.co…

Furthermore, the fact that a sitting Republican Senator is attacking a potential nominee 11 months out from the election is a sure sign that Norm and his campaign are worried about Al Franken.  The Republicans standard strategy will be to talk as little as they can about Norm’s record, but to attack.

An example of their strategy appeared today in the Mankato Free Press and I examine it:

http://www.mnblue.co…

Democrats need to keep pointing out Norm’s record, because Norm sure won’t talk about it.

Thanks for all you do …

The Big E

What is the point? Guys, let’s keep this real.

What matters about any of this?  Voters have shown that “flip flops” are not the worst thing that a candidate can have in their background – but hypocrisy is.  For some very strange reason, campaigns love to focus on “flip flops” even though there is no evidence to show that this resonates with the public.

Now, what it can do is get an opponent off-balance, and that might be what they are trying to do.  To that effort, you are trying to influence the press, which often does get overheated about “flip flops” for reasons that are utterly inexplicable.  That can put pressure on a campaign and lead to it going off balance.

So what’s the point?  Simple.  You guys in the press, and the blogosphere, are being used.  You never seem to care about it, but it’s true.  Franken’s reply can be translated this way:

We don’t care what you say.  We’re ignoring you.

That makes it the right response to what Norm is saying.  This is a macho kind of thang, a standoff.  Franken isn’t blinking. 

As for what anyone in the press and near-press says, it’s irrelevant unless you really start to pick up on Coleman’s line, in which case the Franken people will have to say more.  They’re counting on you realizing that he isn’t blinking, and I suggest you understand that.  There are more important issues that actually matter to – get this – the voters.  Remember them?  I started this out by saying that they don’t care about these things in the abstract, only to the extent that they make a candidate look like a hypocrite or an idiot, and that’s not happening.

Please move on.

Double Standard i find your logic interesting and unfortunately banal.  Minnesota and the twin cities in particular are known for having a highly intelligent electorate.  I had hoped to find in your blog cognizance of that and at a minimum the simple ability to see the forest and not get lost in the trees. 

why do you demand perfection from a democratic candidate and let  a republican one spin away as lives continue to be wasted in Iraq?

Franken is being blamed for not instantly recognizing the moral turpitude and arrogance in the Bush adminstration.  I suppose you would equally condemn Wellstone for not recognizing instantly Coleman's mandacity years ago.

So the large forest for you is not being cynical enough?

thanks loads.

12 flip flops by Norm Eric,

The thing that I find interesting and that I point out in my post about this attack, is that Norm has flip-flopped 12 times that I've been able to count, 8 in the last year.

http://www.mnblue.co…

Furthermore, the fact that a sitting Republican Senator is attacking a potential nominee 11 months out from the election is a sure sign that Norm and his campaign are worried about Al Franken.  The Republicans standard strategy will be to talk as little as they can about Norm's record, but to attack.

An example of their strategy appeared today in the Mankato Free Press and I examine it:

http://www.mnblue.co…

Democrats need to keep pointing out Norm's record, because Norm sure won't talk about it.

Thanks for all you do …

The Big E

What is the point? Guys, let's keep this real.

What matters about any of this?  Voters have shown that “flip flops” are not the worst thing that a candidate can have in their background – but hypocrisy is.  For some very strange reason, campaigns love to focus on “flip flops” even though there is no evidence to show that this resonates with the public.

Now, what it can do is get an opponent off-balance, and that might be what they are trying to do.  To that effort, you are trying to influence the press, which often does get overheated about “flip flops” for reasons that are utterly inexplicable.  That can put pressure on a campaign and lead to it going off balance.

So what's the point?  Simple.  You guys in the press, and the blogosphere, are being used.  You never seem to care about it, but it's true.  Franken's reply can be translated this way:

We don't care what you say.  We're ignoring you.

That makes it the right response to what Norm is saying.  This is a macho kind of thang, a standoff.  Franken isn't blinking. 

As for what anyone in the press and near-press says, it's irrelevant unless you really start to pick up on Coleman's line, in which case the Franken people will have to say more.  They're counting on you realizing that he isn't blinking, and I suggest you understand that.  There are more important issues that actually matter to – get this – the voters.  Remember them?  I started this out by saying that they don't care about these things in the abstract, only to the extent that they make a candidate look like a hypocrite or an idiot, and that's not happening.

Please move on.