The Big Lie on Franken

CommentBy John Nichols
January 7, 2009

There is no one Republicans were more determined to keep out of the Senate than comedian Al Franken. It wasn't just that Franken had ridiculed their misrule over the past eight years with a stack of bestselling books and a three-year stint on Air America radio. GOP bosses who listened to what Franken was saying as he challenged Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman came to recognize that while the Saturday Night Live alum knew how to get a laugh, he was also a policy wonk with a "great communicator" flair for getting to the heart of economic matters. Ultimately, it was that skill that allowed Franken--a smart critic of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's initial schemes for bailing out Wall Street--to overcome the brutal assault from Coleman and his corporate cronies.

And overcome it he has. After one of the longest Senate recount fights in recent history, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party contender for the seat once held by his friend Paul Wellstone was certified January 5 by the state canvassing board as the winner--by 225 votes. That's something of a landslide in a contest that saw the margin between Franken and Coleman fall to single digits at points during the two-month review of 3 million ballots. But the fact that Franken has prevailed won't stop the cruder players in a down-on-its-luck Senate Republican caucus and their media mouthpieces from trying to deny Minnesota the senator it has chosen.

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Should be interesting when Franken is finally seated. Tom