How The Far Right Elected Al Franken
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey. “It’s one thing to lose to an honorable opponent, but Al Franken is not considered an honorable opponent by Minnesota Republicans.”
If Mr. Carey and the rest of the Republicans would like to see how they’ve come to realize their - as well as Bill O’Reilly’s worst nightmare - they need only look in the mirror.
When I sat down in 2002 to speak with Franken about how seemingly adversarial conditions played a positive part in his life for my book, “Great Failures of the Extremely Successful… Mistakes, Adversity, Failure and Other Steppingstones to Success,” he had no idea that some of his greatest adversaries would help him to become a member of one of America’s most exclusive clubs…the U.S. Senate.
Air America was not yet a twinkle in the liberal’s eye, and despite his book, “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot and other Observations” Franken was still more known for his comedy than he was for his political stance. His “Strange Bedfellows” bits on Comedy Central during the 96 election with then Republican Arianna Huffington were just a small hint of the direction Franken was heading.
The straw that broke the far right wing’s back came in the form of a 2003 law suit where the right-wing elevated the comic/author Franken from comic and author to Michael Moore danger level.
Penguin Books published Franken’s book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right,” which included a cover photo of O’Reilly and a chapter accusing O’Reilly of lying. The book had sold fairly well, but would have run its course until Fox News, pushed by O’Reilly taking the bait, sued claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase “Fair and Balanced.” A federal judge found the lawsuit to be “wholly without merit” and Fox then filed to dismiss it. With the media attention drawn by the legal folly, Franken’s sales and his public image went bonkers. He not only beat O’Reilly and made him appear thin-skinned and toothless, but his books and satirical approach taught the Democrats to fight back creatively. More importantly, he gave open-minded Republicans a bit of the truth behind far-right talk show zealots claims. Claims that had pretty much gone without scrutiny even by the so-called liberal mainstream media who were happy to book people like Limbaugh, O’Reilly and Ann Coulter to get their take on politics.
Franken began his Minnesota campaign far behind Coleman, with all talk show hosts writing him off as a ridiculous no-chance candidate. After winning the Democratic primary, the Minnesota Republican Party released a letter about an article, Franken, a long time satirist, had written for Playboy magazine in 2000 entitled “Porn-O-Rama!” The letter, signed by six prominent GOP women, including a state senator and state representative, called on Franken to apologize for what they referred to as a “demeaning and degrading” article. Radio Right grabbed the story and pushed it for weeks.
Rather than paint Franken as a deviant, it drew even more support and closed the divide between him and Coleman. The more venom the right threw at Franken, the more money came in to his campaign and the less he had to spend to get a camera or microphone in front of him. Franken had already had notoriety but the Republicans attempt to turn Franken into Fagin gave his race a national je ne sais quoi.
Meanwhile, O’Reilly, continued to attack Franken as well as whomever didn’t lay down for Bill’s side of an argument. O’Reilly’s public skewering of then presidential candidate, Chris Dodd, who fought back toe to toe, sent Dodd’s campaign coffers to over-flowing. Bill’s frequent jabs and well-publicized distaste for Keith Olbermann that fueled the MSNBC franchise’s rating confirms he has yet to learn that there’s always a hook hidden within the bait.
It’s not a stretch to believe that without O’Reilly, Franken wouldn’t not have entered the Senate race, let alone won.
Carey and pretty much any other Republican pundit you put a microphone in front of today will tell you Franken stole the election. It won’t keep him from taking his seat and just makes them just look all the more the loser.
This isn’t to say the Left is unfamiliar with aiding and abetting their own demons. For years the left has built up Limbaugh’s profile by making him their number one enemy. Moveon.org’s General Petraeus/Betrayus ad backfired big time. Barack Obama has made Sean Hannity so much of a talking point that radio talk’s number two now uses Obama’s Hannity soundbites as his radio show’s intro.
They say the negative campaigning works . My guess is that neither side will ever learn that throwing dirt not only gets your own hands dirty but it can boomerang into making the person you aimed at extremely sympathetic.
It’s not that Franken won’t have a rocky road in the Senate. Normally, no matter how dirty the campaign, the victor has a honeymoon period. Franken won’t even have time to lock the hotel room door before the honeymoon receives its cease and desist order. He can only hope that O’Reilly won’t stop trying to ruin the marriage.
Steve
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14 Responses to “How The Far Right Elected Al Franken”
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I agree. I live in Florida and still gave money to his campaign for much the same reasons you state above.
Like “Dutch”, I, too, gave money to the Franken campaign for the reasons you state in your article.
And I live in Texas and subsist solely on disability.
Also, as a retired disabled-on-the-job federal officer, I’m no liberal.
I never listened to Air America. But, I did, always, read the late Mr. Buckley’s columns.
I prefer intelligence to insolence
Me too. I live in Oregon and it’s the unorthodox politicians, Tom McCall, Bernie Sanders, Barbara Lee to mention three, who make a difference in the country. I believe Franken will become a much-admired senator. With his wife Frannie by his side, he’s bound to be a great success!
Is there some concern about the word “politicians?” Not sure what the problem might be. Perhaps I should have used the word “populists?”
Live in Massachusetts and donated — the bottom line is that Al Franken is a good and wise man who speaks the truth to power and fights for the best interest of the majoritiy of Americans and not the small band of economic elites who pay for the campaigns of their right wing shills.
That is why the Right Wing has targeted him.
Pure and simple.
Sure, the Republicans hate Franken and he is sure to replace Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank as the Right’s favorite liberal boogey-man.
But the real question remains: How could so many Minnesotans have voted for a sleazy hack like Norm Coleman?
“…neither side will ever learn that throwing dirt … can boomerang into making the person you aimed at extremely sympathetic.”
As your post shows, it doesn’t really need to make them sympathetic, only better known.
I live in Washington State, and also gave to Al. I love and listen to Air America, and Schultz etc. I remember on one show Al said he had been doing talk radio for over 1 and 1/2 years and had never been accused of lying….. Stop and think about that. When all facts support your positions, you don’t have to lie. Al will make a great Senator. Godspeed.
A friend lent me the book and I was genuinely stunned with how nasty, filled with lies, and just plain anti-truth Fox news had become. Don’t like the main stream press much, so I never watched the extreme right or left for my news. When Franken use the facts to trounce and grind up the lies the far right had been peddling for years… Well it made me start almost feeling liberal.
I hate the left nearly as much as the right, but HAD I known that a fairly smart comedian was running for congress, I’d have probably given money too just to shake things up. I have GOT to say this trend of NON-lawyers becoming politicians is something I am beginning to love.
Wrestlers, Comedians, Teachers, and what ever other strange professions out there that want to change our government from within, I say:
Power to you! You just might save the republic!
I live in Charleston, SC and our household, too, gave modest donations to Franken’s campaign. Our dream was an Obama presidency and Franken as Minnesota’s junior senator. Dreams can still come true. Perhaps we can end the raid on the US treasury this real stolen elections administration has perpetrated.
This is a no-brainer. Franken, a comedian, is trained to follow world and national events closely, to be skeptical, witty, incisive, and to recognize irony, all the skills we’d look for in any politician. Coleman, on the other hand, has distinguished himself by being dull, pedestrian, and a lapdog and yes-man for the dumbest, laziest, and arguably, the most dishonest of all US presidents. The only mystery to me is why it took so long for Minnesota voters to recognize this contrast.
I love to see brains and wit rewarded. Things are really looking up in this country when intelligence is being admired in our new President and with new senators like Franken, might start a trend.
After the abject misery of the last eight years of national nightmare and shame, what a UTOPIA that would be!
Smart, learned, honest, kind people who think, like to think, think thinking is pretty cool.
It would be a different and very sweet world…
I like the idea of having Al Franken in the Senate. He will have so many occasions to smile and tell people, very politely, that they are terrible people, and always while smiling. They will never see the knife coming, but there it will be, showing from back to front, dripping blood.
Al says things in a way that makes the situation entirely understandable to everyone. He is very smart. Coleman is a two faced rat. Then, there is the fun of knowing it galls Billie Boy knowing that it is Senator Franken. Hope he gets some good assignments, something that pisses off Billie. : - )
Joannes last blog post..Air America vs. Fox News