2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumMother Jones: Al Franken Was Liberal Enough, Tough Enough, and Doggone It, People Reelected Him
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/al-franken-minnesota-senate-model-progressive-campaign?google_editors_picks=true-snip-
One evening a few days before the midterm elections, Sen. Al Franken stood on a low raised platform at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's St. Paul headquarters, addressing a few dozen loyal supporters. Chris Coleman, St. Paul's mayor, had introduced the freshman senator by telling the crowd that Franken had fulfilled the legacy of the late progressive icon Paul Wellstone, whose Senate seat Franken now holds. "Thank you for saying I've been your Paul," Franken replied solemnly. "There's no higher compliment." Then he dove into a Wellstone-esque speech selling progressive policy ideas in simple, everyman terms, spelling out exactly how he'd raise taxes on Minnesota millionaires to help students refinance their loans. "We up here believe that the economyand not just our economy, but our community and our stateit works from the middle up," he said. The speech exemplified how Franken campaignedand why he won.
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Cross-posted in the Populist Reform of the Democratic Party Group
JEFF9K
(1,935 posts)msongs
(67,347 posts)He needs to avoid flying in small planes. We need to keep him around.
Cal33
(7,018 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 19, 2014, 09:43 PM - Edit history (1)
Al Franken defends mass surveillance.
He supported SOPA and PIPA.
He joined with Republicans to defeat an amendment restoring funds to the food stamp program.
He wil not seriously challenge the corporate takeover that is dismantling democracy in this country.
We can and must do much, much better. We need Bernie Sanders or someone very like him.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)is way up there on my list of inspirational moments.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Al Franken voted for NDAA and the Patriot Act. He defends mass surveillance.
He supported SOPA and PIPA.
He joined with Republicans to defeat an amendment restoring funds to the food stamp program.
He will not seriously challenge the corporate takeover that is dismantling democracy in this country. We can and must do much, much better. We need Bernie Sanders or someone very like him.
Cal33
(7,018 posts)also check the reasons for Franken's having done what he did.
Darb
(2,807 posts)to a purist. Only absolute purity matters, not the details of every tough decision and their consequences, just the purity litmus test.
Franken is a douchebag, obviously.