Politico has an exhaustive, heavily linked post documenting all the back-and-forth between Begich and Franken, with pdfs of both men’s letters (Begich cited his familial-political roots on Minnesota’s Iron Range), including a dot-to-dot puzzle that Begich sent along as a guide:

Franken traces the source of his talent to another kind of puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle from his youth:

First of all, let me be clear that I am very well aware that Alaska and Hawaii are states. It’s just that when I was a child, my parents gave me a wood puzzle-map of the United States, which then included only the forty-eight contiguous states.

It wasn’t until years later, sometime in the early to middle sixties, I believe, that Hawaii and Alaska became full-fledged members of the union. Please know that I have assigned a staffer to get me the hard data on this.

Anyway, the point is, I learned only the forty-eight states on the wooden puzzle given to me by my hard-working parents. To include Alaska and Hawaii, while certainly common-sensical, would, I am afraid, dishonor the memory of both my mom and dad.

However, since you are a colleague that is a sacrifice I’m only too happy to make.

Below is the YouTube of Franken drawing the (lower 48) states in three-and-a-half minutes, at a April 28, 2007, DFL fundraiser in Rochester, just two months into what became a two-and-a-half year struggle to reach the U.S. Senate. In the course of drawing the map, Franken keeps up a running commentary:

You know why Minnesota is so windy? The Dakotas blow and Wisconsin sucks. … Here’s where my wife’s from: Maine. No, it’s not the northernmost state. Don’t be ridiculous. We [Minnesota] were until– By the way, I will not draw Alaska and Hawaii. I refuse to. … I don’t know about you but I’m incredibly impressed. … Watch it speed up as we go out West where the states have too many electoral votes for [their] population.

On a personal note (and maybe I should send an actual personal note as Begich did), I’d like to ask Franken to include a dot for Mount Steller, in the Aleutian Islands — from which, as Begich says of Little Diomede Island, you can see Russia.

Photo: Chris Steller

Al Franken’s first bill in the U.S. Senate passed unanimously — kinda. His plan for a pilot project to provide service dogs to disabled veterans got tacked onto by unanimous consent to the Defense Authorization, which passed the Senate by a 87-7 vote last night. All with no apparent fanfare from the former showman. 

The program envisioned by the Franken-Isakson Service Dogs for Veterans Act still must survive a conference committee before it goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

Franken pushed his first piece of legislation through without making a floor speech either last night or days earlier at its introduction. ”No hoopla at all,” according to spokeswoman Jess McIntosh. “[A] staffer filed the papers,” she told the Minnesota Independent.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) joined Franken in introducing the bill. Other co-sponsors included Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Begich (D-Ak.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and John Ensign (R-Nev.).

But the idea was really Franken’s, a product of the long months he waited to be seated, according to McIntosh in an email sent hours before the Senate passed the legislation:

He authored it himself – this was something he was thinking a lot about during the election contest, so he was ready with the idea when he was sworn in. Sen. Isakson was really receptive to the idea and became the lead co-sponsor, and more senators are signing on every day, so things are really moving.

Alaska’s result has reverberations in Minnesota mostly because both states have yet-undecided races on which Democrats’ chances for a 60-vote filibuster-proof bloc in the Senate depend.

But another echo between Minnesota and Alaska has been sounding this year, as Stevens’ trial and conviction increased the likelihood that his colleagues might soon bounce him from his seat should he win it again. And that would leave Gov. Sarah Palin in a situation somewhat akin to Wendell Anderson’s when he was governor of Minnesota and U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale was elected vice president in 1976.

Anderson resigned and was appointed to replace Mondale in the Senate by his own replacement in the governor’s mansion, Rudy Perpich. Voters punished both men two years later, denying them re-election. Alaska law seems to allow Palin to appoint a temporary replacement but requires a special election within three months.

If Stevens is the winner after the last Alaska vote is counted tomorrow, what advice would Anderson have for Palin? Reached at his office today, Anderson asked to be reminded about the scenarios in the Far North, then demurred for the time being. “Let’s wait and see what happens,” he said.

More intriguing to Anderson at the moment is the possibility of a victory for Stevens’ Democratic rival, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who is a relative of the politically active Begich clan of northern Minnesota. His uncle, Joe Begich, was mayor of his hometown of Eveleth, Minn., before nine terms representing District 6A in the Minnesota Legislature. (Joe continues to serve the area as a member of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.)

Gov. Wendell Anderson was on what became an iconic Time cover Aug. 13, 1973, illustrating the story, "Minnesota: A State That Works."

But the idea that Palin would be wise to study Anderson’s precedent has been rampant on the Internet at least since her star began its rapid rise in August — and to a surprising degree for what some might consider a significant footnote on the national political scene. And Palin has apparently done that homework, or has at least considered the choices that Providence might put before her: whether to appoint herself to the Senate (temporarily) or run in a special election. Last week she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer the latter option was a possibility, but not the former (video, Senate discussion at 6:00 mark).

The high cost Anderson paid for his two years in the Senate can’t be his favorite topic of discussion. But he agreed to talk again after the dust has settled in Alaska.

With Democrats now controlling 57 Senate seats — just shy of the veto-proof majority they’d gain with 60 — all eyes are on Minnesota’s race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken… as Huffington Post’s All-Al-All-the-Time dedicated page (see logo above) suggests. The margin has narrowed considerably between the two, but has held firm most of today at 239.

NBC’s Doug Adams takes a look at the Dems’ journey to 60. If Franken can squeak out a victory, the party will have 58 seats. And a D-column win in Alaska’s race between convicted felon Ted Stevens and Mark Begich would bump it to 59. (Begich trails Stevens by a 3,400 votes, but some 55,000 absentee ballots haven’t been tallied yet.) That leaves the 60th seat up in the air: in George, where neither Republican Saxby Chambliss nor Democrat Jim Martin won a majority vote on Tuesday, a December 2 runoff has been scheduled. John McCain — and possibly even Sarah Palin — will be heading there to campaign on Chambliss’ behalf. A request for a Georgia visit by President-Elect Barack Obama has already been requested by Martin’s campaign.