SD DEMOCRACYFEST CROWD BOOS DISCUSSION ON AL FRANKEN SEGMENT RE: CA-50!

[emlev]

Full story here:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3071

Live Air America Broadcast from Heart of U.S. House Special Election Controversy Interrupted by Shouts, Jeers, Cheers from Audience of Activists in Attendance!

Filed by Brad Friedman in San Diego…

As I standby in a hotel room in San Diego, near the DemcoracyFest! venue, to hopefully post some big breaking news momentarily, Al Franken is broadcasting his show from the site.

In a discussion moments ago with reporter Ruben Navarette, the previously quiet crowd gathered at the live broadcast broke into boos and disapproving shouts when the interview led by Franken implied that "Busby had lost" the recent special U.S. House Election in California's 50th district due to a "gaffe" made prior to the election.

Audience members have erupted in applause when it was mentioned that "some believe the election was not run cleanly." Franken, and his guest regarded the election as legitimate which led to boos and protests from the crowd who became unruly during the discussion, rejecting the announced results that "Bilbray won the election."

Navarette also was booed when he implied that George W. Bush "beat" Al Gore in 2000. Event organizers had encouraged Franken to have me on during today's live broadcast, taking place smack dab in the middle of the country's largest election controversy prior to the November general election right here in San Diego. Franken, instead chose to have Navarette to discuss Election Integrity in Mexico and elsewhere, along with a rep from Common Cause New Mexico to discuss other election issues.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Several threads already

and yes Navarrete WAS an idiot and a tool...

[wryter2000]

2. Franken never agreed that any of the elections were valid

Franken did tell the crowd to be polite a few times. But, he never agreed that the Busby/Bilbray election was fair. Nor did he agree that 2000 was fair.

At one point, Navarette said, "I guess Katherine Harris caused Gore to lose TN. He lost his own state." To which, Franken answered, "Bush lost his own country." That was loudly applauded.

If you want to roast the man for having Navarette on and for behaving civilly to him, have at it with my blessing. But please don't misrepresent Franken's position.

[Misskittycat]

3. I like Brad but I was there in the room, and it was the reporter

from the San Diego Union-Tribune who added to the general comment about the last minute gaffe, by saying that Busby implied that illegals could VOTE. The audience tried to correct his; the reporter stood fast on his INCORRECT statement, and then the audience went wild with booing. Franken was civil, but did not agree with teh reporter that illegals could VOTE was the nature of the inadvertent, last minute gaffe.

Then the reporter went on to complain that Francine Busby may have won if she had been a better candidate, and that lots of Republicans couldn't stand Bilbray, so he was implying that it was Francine's deficiencies -- as perceived by him -- that cost her the election.

The background of this is that he is an editorial writer for the Union-Tribute, a notoriously Republican newspaper that would endorse Attila the Hun if he were running as a Republican. So the crowd of progressive Dems, including lots of San Diegans, wasn't about to let this self-appointed "expert" reporter off the hook.

Franken made some kind of comment about 2/3 of the way through about taking the guy's shovel away from him, because he was digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself. Then, of course, the reporter continued digging by saying that Gore was an unattractive candidate, blah blah blah.

The entire morning was a lot of fun, but sticking it to the Union-Tribune reporter was the highlight.