Comments on: Franken: Our own Ollie North

By: artlover

artlover — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:04:30 +0000

I have been a Franken admirer for some time. I agree he worked hard to achieve the DFL endorsement. My problem is that I want him to spell out why I should vote FOR him. What is his vision of what he hopes to accomplish in the Senate? We all get that he hates Coleman, but this has to be more than a grudge match.

By: ericf

ericf — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:52:24 +0000

Why is there this bizarre assumption on the part of Democrats, apparently nationally and not just DFL, that Coleman was a weak candidate? His approval rating hovering at 50% are just a sign of vulnerability, not that he's going to lose. That's the core fault with that Observer story, besides a questionable analogy to the 1994 Virginia race. The only thing I might fault Franken for is staying too long with an endorsement campaign and saving the good Coleman attacks for the base. Good ads have been web-only, but they have to go on TV to have an impact. The Republicans went into general election mode earlier, and they're riding this advantage. I'm frustrated Franken isn't hitting Coleman much harder on repeated factual misstatements, but I never expected an easy win and it's far too early to give up.

By: limabn

limabn — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:54:32 +0000

Franken won the nomination because he works harder than anyone I've ever seen.
He works the phones, he works the delegates, he works the streets, and he walks the walk of a candidate who really wants the job. Don't sell him short.

Besides, Coleman flies in small planes more often than Franken does, and the FAA still hasn't gotten the funds required to properly calibrate its automated radar locating service for small community airports.

When Wellstone's plane went down, the reason the pilot was heard saying "Huh?" when he came down below the cloud cover was because he was two or three miles from where he expected to be, so he wasn't looking at the end of the runway. The radar transponders
work by triangulation, and they have to be calibrated regularly. The FAA has been starved for funds to the point where they require vacationing employees to divert to any transponder within 200 miles of their intended route, climb the tower, and calibrate the machine on their own time.
This has not proven to be either popular or effective, but it does prove the efficacy of relying on prayer. Sort of like our bridges. (Don't you pray more often now? Every time you go over or under one?)

By: jimdscott

jimdscott — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:36:50 +0000

The party overwhelmingly won an open Senate seat in 2006, but also lost the governor's race. It's not been all roses for the DFL in the last 2 years. Franken has not run a particularly good campaign so far, but there's a lot of race left to be run. Most polls have Franken significantly trailing, but it's still a close heat in the Rasmussen polls (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/...).

By: artlover

artlover — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By: ericf

ericf — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why is there this bizarre assumption on the part of Democrats, apparently nationally and not just DFL, that Coleman was a weak candidate? His approval rating hovering at 50% are just a sign of vulnerability, not that he’s going to lose. That’s the core fault with that Observer story, besides a questionable analogy to the 1994 Virginia race. The only thing I might fault Franken for is staying too long with an endorsement campaign and saving the good Coleman attacks for the base. Good ads have been web-only, but they have to go on TV to have an impact. The Republicans went into general election mode earlier, and they’re riding this advantage. I’m frustrated Franken isn’t hitting Coleman much harder on repeated factual misstatements, but I never expected an easy win and it’s far too early to give up.

By: limabn

limabn — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Franken won the nomination because he works harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.
He works the phones, he works the delegates, he works the streets, and he walks the walk of a candidate who really wants the job. Don’t sell him short.

Besides, Coleman flies in small planes more often than Franken does, and the FAA still hasn’t gotten the funds required to properly calibrate its automated radar locating service for small community airports.

When Wellstone’s plane went down, the reason the pilot was heard saying “Huh?” when he came down below the cloud cover was because he was two or three miles from where he expected to be, so he wasn’t looking at the end of the runway. The radar transponders
work by triangulation, and they have to be calibrated regularly. The FAA has been starved for funds to the point where they require vacationing employees to divert to any transponder within 200 miles of their intended route, climb the tower, and calibrate the machine on their own time.
This has not proven to be either popular or effective, but it does prove the efficacy of relying on prayer. Sort of like our bridges. (Don’t you pray more often now? Every time you go over or under one?)

By: jimdscott

jimdscott — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The party overwhelmingly won an open Senate seat in 2006, but also lost the governor’s race. It’s not been all roses for the DFL in the last 2 years. Franken has not run a particularly good campaign so far, but there’s a lot of race left to be run. Most polls have Franken significantly trailing, but it’s still a close heat in the Rasmussen polls (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/minnesota/election_2008_minnesota_senate).