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Minnesota voters to Franken: Don’t quit — let us fire you
Hot Air.com ^ | December28, 2017 | ED MORRISSEY

Posted on 12/28/2017 5:40:06 PM PST by Kaslin

Luther Strange isn’t the only current US Senator on his way out the door. In a few days, Al Franken will submit his resignation as promised last week, and Tina Smith will take his seat at least until a special election in November chooses his successor. As it turns out, Minnesota voters aren’t entirely happy about Franken’s resignation — and half of them want Franken to renege on his pledge to resign, according to a new PPP poll:

-50% of voters think he should not resign, to only 42% who think he should go through with his planned resignation. There is little appetite from Democratic voters at the state level for Franken to go, with 71% opposing his departure. A majority of independents- 52%- as well think he should not resign, with just 41% favoring his exit.

-Franken remains well above average in popularity for a Senator, with 53% of voters approving of the job he’s doing to 42% who disapprove. PPP rarely finds Senators with majority approval in their home states. Franken’s continued popularity is being driven especially by women. 57% of them like the job he’s doing to 37% who don’t. By contrast Donald Trump stands at 40/58 with women in the state.

-Minnesotans don’t like how the process with Franken’s resignation has played out. 60% think the Senate Ethics Committee should have completed its investigation (including 79% of Democrats and 61% of independents) before any decision was made about Franken’s future, while only 35% think he should resign immediately. Beyond that 76% of Minnesota voters think their voices should have been more important in determining whether Franken stayed in the Senate or not, to only 12% who think that should have been determined more by his fellow Senators in Washington.

Interestingly, the gender difference on the due-process question is almost within the margin of error, and what difference there was might surprise some people. Women were more likely to support a Senate Ethics probe than resignation (62%) than men (59%), and significantly fewer support his immediate resignation (31% as opposed to 39% of men). The gender difference on electoral accountability was even less significant; women thought that voters should have had the opportunity to make the final decision on Franken 75/12, with men at a virtually identical 78/12.

But would Minnesotans have “fired” Franken if they had the chance? If PPP’s survey is accurate, almost assuredly not. Even after that terrible photograph of Franken and Leeann Tweeden went viral, Franken’s approval rating remains in positive territory. As noted above, he’s seen even more positively by women than men. In three years, that photograph would have been shrugged off as old news, with a New And Improved Feminist Franken ready to seek justice for All Women. His continued presence would have given Republicans a stick with which to beat Democrats in 2018 and 2020, but it would have been difficult for the GOP to “Akinize” Franken while simultaneously defending Donald Trump.

In other words, Democrats badly overreacted to a perceived political problem by forcing Franken to quit. It won’t cost them much, electorally speaking; Democrats will likely hold the seat in 2018 unless Republicans make a concerted effort to find a candidate who can successfully compete statewide, which they haven’t done in a dozen years for any office. It might cost Democrats some cash and a 2018 distraction, neither of which they can afford, plus some credibility when it comes to due process over hysterics. Had they just stood pat, the political crisis might well have passed after Doug Jones’ election in Alabama and a rational approach to due process and accountability could have been developed. Now, however, Democrats on Capitol Hill have drawn a nonsensical “zero tolerance” line in the sand that will come back to bite them repeatedly over the next few years.

With all of this known now, will Franken still resign? Almost certainly, although he could renege at any time. Despite getting back-stabbed by his colleagues with a coordinated effort to shove him under the bus, Franken seems determined to be a team player and get out of the way as quickly and quietly as possible. And after the events of the last few weeks, who can blame him?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: abortion; alfranken; franken; markdayton; minnesota; plannedparenthood; polls; ppp; resignation; saturdaynightlive; saturdaynightvile; sexualharassment; tinasmith; zerotolerance
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To: Flaming Conservative

Mosquitos lay eggs in water and they are frozen until spring arrives. They hatch in the warmer weather.


21 posted on 12/28/2017 6:49:10 PM PST by mplsconservative
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To: Flaming Conservative

I don’t know, but from my summertime visits, I can tell you two things:
Minnesota mosquitos are so big they all have “N” numbers and need a clearance to land, and they can have sex with a jack rabbit standing flat-footed on the ground!


22 posted on 12/28/2017 6:53:56 PM PST by vette6387
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To: vette6387

Uh huh, the one and the same


23 posted on 12/28/2017 6:54:36 PM PST by Kaslin (Quid est Veritas?: What Is Truth?)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

Liberal women don’t like themselves


24 posted on 12/28/2017 6:56:49 PM PST by Karoo
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To: vette6387
My husband used to have a picture that someone had drawn with big mosquito on it.

On the top of the picture was written: Minnesota State bird

25 posted on 12/28/2017 7:03:04 PM PST by Kaslin (Quid est Veritas?: What Is Truth?)
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To: Kaslin

Minesotans are as dumb as most the people here in California.

I hope Trump does not waste money campaigning in that state again. Like CA, IL, NY, NJ, MA, CT, RI, MD, DE, VA, CO, NM, NV and VT


26 posted on 12/28/2017 7:35:22 PM PST by Angels27
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To: Kaslin

Minesotans are as dumb as most the people here in California.

I hope Trump does not waste money campaigning in that state again. Like CA, IL, NY, NJ, MA, CT, RI, MD, DE, VA, CO, NM, NV and VT...its a lost cause.


27 posted on 12/28/2017 7:35:53 PM PST by Angels27
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To: vette6387

One of only two admitted steroid abusers ever elected governor.

Both elected for their tough talk about girly men and not taking personal responsibility.

Both caved at the first sign of opposition.


28 posted on 12/28/2017 7:50:46 PM PST by Zuse (I am disrupted! I am offended! I am insulted! I am outraged!)
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To: Flaming Conservative

Speaking of that, how in the world do mosquitoes winter over in that cold? I know they survive dry spells by sort of hibernating, but those brutal winters!”

“There are four stages to a mosquitoes live. These are egg, larval, pupa and adult. The total time it takes for a mosquito to go through all four stages depends greatly on both temperature and species. In a typically warm weather, the life cycle takes 14 days or less, but it can vary from 4 to 30 days.”

They don’t “hibernate,” they die off. I suppose the eggs survive winter


29 posted on 12/28/2017 7:59:03 PM PST by vette6387
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To: adorno

Good points. Speaking of the liberal media; can a liberal media be considered a valid source of news any longer? I think not. They are no longer ‘the media’ they are just the propaganda arm of the DNC; no more no less.


30 posted on 12/28/2017 8:52:33 PM PST by Boomer (Leftism is a Cancer on society; Pray for a Cure!)
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To: Kaslin

31 posted on 12/28/2017 9:08:04 PM PST by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: Kaslin

I just want a Republican to win the seat.


32 posted on 12/28/2017 9:21:06 PM PST by Impy (I have no virtue to signal.)
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To: Kaslin

And yet this Minnesotan is gonna get fried:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3617702/posts


33 posted on 12/28/2017 9:25:52 PM PST by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: madprof98
These are the same women who now scream rape if a guy says hello in the wrong tone.

And the same ones who would gladly line up for their turn to give Bill Clinton BJs or get penetrated by him.

34 posted on 12/29/2017 3:09:03 AM PST by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

“Democrat men are pro-aborts...”

They just love cultivating women as a herd that caters to their whims and desires, with the promise to the women of getting rid of the results of rolls in the hay with pro-abort Progressive men.

(Progressive men just love female cattle.)

IMHO


35 posted on 12/29/2017 9:59:16 AM PST by ripley (ose who dis)
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