Does Al Franken have any kind of a chance of coming back?

[ificandream]

I'm still fuming over the whole Al Franken thing. I think he got railroaded unjustly. Yes, the USO pics sucked, but he admitted it and profusely apologized. I'd never support Kirsten Gillibrand because of her actions. Given her candidacy for president, she used that to boost her standing nationally.

That said, I would love to see Al come back. We need him. If he'd run against Trump he'd win. He'd be better than Beto. Maybe Biden will pick him for a running mate. That'd be fantastic.

Any thoughts?

[Sneederbunk]

1. He doesn't want to move to VA.

[hlthe2b]

2. If he WANTS to, I think so, yes. I'd surely welcome him...

To think that his comedic photo wherein he never even touch anyone (and public campaign photos with "supporters" who later claimed-- with NO validation== that his hand slipped in those very PUBLIC photos) are being equated to overt sexual assault and rape among our current crop of scandalous politicos is beyond infuriating to me.

[brooklynite]

5. The accusations against Franken were NOT being equated to sexual assault...

The question is what the threshold for unacceptable behavior is and whether you feel he crossed it.

[hlthe2b]

7. I didn't say they were THEN, but now in discussions equating to the Fairfax situation--repulsive

and YOU can NOT tell me you have not seen them. I know you hate Franken and adore Gillibrand, but that is damned bullshit.

[brooklynite]

11. Point to any statement I've made that "hates" Franken and "adores" Gillibrand

Franken was one of the Senators I met with and supported financially from the start. And my only comments on Gillibrand are that she doesn't deserve to be selected for special blame in asking him to step down. Fortunately, everything I've posted is searchable, so feel free to try.

[hlthe2b]

13. your vendetta is obvious

[brooklynite]

15. So is the fact that I've publicly said I'm supporting Hickenlooper in 2020

But if my vendetta is OBVIOUS it'll be easy to prove, won't it?

[hlthe2b]

16. You show up in every single Gillibrand or Franken thread to defend G and excoriate Franken so yes

all anyone has to do is a detailed search.

[brooklynite]

19. Waiting to see the post showing me excoriating Franken

As for defending Gillibrand, sure. She deserves no more blame than every other Democratic Senator (except perhaps for Manchin).

[hlthe2b]

20. Not at all necessary. DUers have seen these threads for more than a year now.

[brooklynite]

39. In that case, I'll invite anyone else in this thread to show my flaws

[brooklynite]

3. If he ever runs for office again, he'll have to revisit the charges...

Regardless of how you feel, it's a fact that he apologized for his behavior. That means he can't simply say that "nothing happened" in which case he'll need to have a response.

[hlthe2b]

10. He apologized because he is an ethical person and wanted to give both the women & supporters benefit

of the doubt, assuming they might have had an honest misunderstanding. He likewise gave that benefit to fellow Democrats who basically exploited him and sacrificed him sans any honest investigation or process in order to achieve the deserved win in Alabama against the despicable R, Roy Moore.

Your continued attacks on Franken, in the hopes of building up Gillibrand against those who believe she was behind the coordinated "sacrifice", are obvious to all.

[Meowmee]

25. Agree nt

[ificandream]

30. No, he can't but ...

... at least he'd be honest about it, unlike the doofus on Pennsylvania Avenue. And I think that'd put him a step ahead of Crooked Donald. Certainly,the Rush/Sean Brigade of Liars would make him their target. But I think enough people would be happy to see him run that he'd overcome that.

[AncientGeezer]

4. Unlikely....

[bdamomma]

6. I would love to

see Beto going after Cornyn's seat.

[walkingman]

29. As a Texan I would also - however, Cronyn is not as hated in Texas as Cruz.

Cornyn seems to be more like for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson - mealy mouth and pretty much votes straight party lines and keeps his mouth shit on most issues except Veterans and Jesus. Judging from most of my my neighbors they have pretty much heard mentality and will vote GOP until it becomes out of style. The word "liberal" is almost as bad a "socialist" and it is hard if not impossible to change these opinions. The key for Dems in Texas is getting out the vote. Especially Hispanics who tend to have bery lows numbers. I think a lot of that is intimidation and a culture of "not rocking the boat". Look at Mexico and you can clearly see why they have little or no faith in government.

[Calista241]

8. I'd love to see him back on SNL as a first step.

[juxtaposed]

9. His USO pics were just a comedian doing comic things. The whole USO thing was total Bullshit.

Gillibrand is in the same house as Collens from Maine, good luck.

[elfin]

22. Plus the woman involved was NOT sleeping IMO

In on the joke. And happily so because she wanted more entree into show biz by parlaying her frequent USO trips with real celebrities to getting bigger roles.

I miss him so much.

Truly HATE KG. Her followers not so much as she was the successful manipulative leader of the lynch mob piggybacking on the MeToo movement for political traction. The rest piled on for various and weak-kneed reasons. Don't think they would have done it without HER.

[OnDoutside]

27. I suspect that's why he wanted that Ethics investigation so stuff like that could be exposed.

[Trumpocalypse]

42. What about Harris, Sanders, Warren, Booker and

the over 30 other Senators who called for Franken to resign the very same morning?

[Hoyt]

12. It will be tough, but he has a better chance than most. Sophomoric photos surfaced at worse time,

unfortunately.

He probably could have weathered storm, but I don't fault Democrats who called for him to resign. It was a 'Perfect Storm" to catch Franken. Miss him a lot.

[ificandream]

31. If he could have weathered the storm, why quit?

I don't get that. It would have been tough had he not quit. But maybe after being out a while he can come back. Hope so.

[UniteFightBack]

14. I feel like he will be coming back to the public sector. I mean if he was not then he should of

gotten a show on TV or been a contributor to rip apart this shaministration. I feel he is very silent. WHY the silence when the people rallied around him. Looks like the ratfucking or whatever it was worked well to shut him up.

[IluvPitties]

17. He should!

[andym]

18. He can run for President

Why not? And he will contrast well with Trump-- certainly better than the kitty cat grabber-- Franken took responsibility for his #meetoo issues.

[ificandream]

32. Agreed ....

He's one up on Doofus already.

[rainy]

21. he should absolutely come back!!!

[Meowmee]

23. He can come back

I don’t think he’d ever win as prez, due to him being jewish and the antisemitism in this country but many still support him so for something else for sure. What happened was crazy and ridiculous- there is so much hypocracy about that here and about many other things.

[ificandream]

33. Maybe veep?

How about Vice President with Biden?

[Meowmee]

35. Maybe

But I would say no😿 that is prolly why Gore lost own state

[2naSalit]

24. I wish he would/could. What that whole

catastorphuck taught all of us, victims and perps, is that ratfucking works.

[old guy]

26. There would be a very slim chance for him to return successfully.

The short answer is no.

[ooky]

28. I think so.

I didn't get the impression the voters wanted him to resign. If he ran again, we'd give those voters a chance to be heard.

[ificandream]

34. Same here...

I'd like to see him at least make some kind of statement and get back in the public eye.

[customerserviceguy]

36. He'll need to be re-elected to a statewide office in Minnesota

before he can make a comeback. The jury of public opinion at the ballot box is the only really effective means of acquittal in a trial that was conducted by the media.

I guess he'd better hope for Sen. Klobuchar to be either president or vice-president, that will free up a seat.

[Sunsky]

37. I hope so

He should run for a house seat in a safe district.

[smirkymonkey]

38. I hope so, at least in some capacity.

I am still sick over what happened to him. He was a brilliant, principled politician and an asset to our party. We lost a lot when he left. He was such a strong, intelligent voice in congress and I am sure the republicans were all too happy to see him go.

Such a waste. If I had my wish, he would be president.

[ificandream]

40. Would have loved to see him run ...

And I bet he'd have beaten Dumbo, too.

[Raine]

41. I wish he would, I would love him to but

he's probably had enough of the dirty backstabbing politics in DC.

[Trumpocalypse]

43. His best chance would be to

run for Governor of Minnesota when that office opens up.

And just for the record over 35 other Senators called for Franken to resign on the same morning. It is unfair to single out one especially when it was Booker & Harris who immediately benefited by getting seats on the high profile Judiciary committee.

[Mr. Sparkle]

44. Thinking about things now, he really should have held out and not crumbled under the immediate..

pressure. Democrats need to stand up for one another and not resign at the first sign of pressure. Let investigations happen, if the case needs be. The senate is a lesser body without his presence.