Posted on 01/02/2018 3:09:46 PM PST by Kaslin
Those who bet on Al Franken changing his mind had better prepare to hear from their bookies. The Star Tribune reported earlier this afternoon that Franken formally submitted his resignation to Gov. Mark Dayton as promised, two months after a series of allegations regarding sexual misconduct emerged. His replacement will join the Senate tomorrow as planned:
U.S. Sen. Al Franken is quitting the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Franken said he had formally submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Mark Dayton. A copy of the letter was not immediately available, but the spokesman said the resignation would take effect in the afternoon.
Franken’s replacement, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, will be sworn in Wednesday when Congress reconvenes.
That ends what little drama remained in the Franken story. As noted earlier, Franken insists he will remain politically active, but that may be a lot more aspirational than prophetic. He’s enjoyed a brief renaissance since his December 11th resignation speech as a symbol of the damage done by moral panics, and there is still plenty of room for debate over the unfair treatment Franken got from his fellow Senate Democrats. However, Franken chose to resign rather than stand up for himself when he had the chance, as that picture of him humiliating a sleeping Leeann Tweeden will be impossible to overcome. Franken’s public moment has expired without much to show for it after nearly nine years in office and several more as an activist.
Minnesota Democrats will throw their weight behind Smith now, who agreed to pursue the office in 2018’s special election to fill the last two years of Franken’s term. She’s not likely to face a serious primary challenge; the whole point of Chuck Schumer’s intervention with Dayton was to avoid a primary fight that would require national-party intervention in a cycle that’s already tough enough for Democrats. That might change in 2020, depending on whether Smith impresses in Washington or not, but the value of incumbency will probably outweigh the individual political ambitions within the DFL.
The Republican primary will be wide open, however, and may have already attracted one well-known candidate. Last week, former Congresswoman and presidential aspirant Michele Bachmann told televangelist Jim Bakker that she’s discerning whether to make a run for the 2018 special election:
“I’ve had people contact me and urge me to run for that Senate seat. …And the only reason I would run is for the ability to take these principles into the United States Senate and be able to advocate for these principles,” Bachmann told The Jim Bakker Show on Dec. 27.
Bachmann, a conservative lawmaker who resigned after 2014, added in the recent interview she is weighing “should it be me, should it be now? But there’s also a price you pay” and the “swamp is so toxic.”
“If you’re a billionaire you can maybe defend yourself, [but] we’re not money people. …So we’re trying to be wise—should we do this, shouldn’t we do this, what?” she added.
Bachmann also makes the point during the interview that she may not weigh the possibilities for victory as part of that calculation. She tells Bakker that her 2012 presidential run was a success because it forced all of the other candidates to adopt a hard line against ObamaCare. In a Senate race, however, she’d be less likely to move candidates to harder-line conservative positions than to act as a foil for Republicans to capture the middle.
While Bachmann does have a significant following in her former district and proven ability to raise money, the chances of success would probably be slim at best. She and Keith Ellison have the same issue — a district that supported both but a state in which neither could win a majority. Bachmann is too much a hard-line conservative to beat the DFL in a very purple-to-blue state, where no Republican has won statewide office since Tim Pawlenty’s re-election in 2006. Appearing on Bakker’s show is not likely to help with that issue either, and neither will her 2012 remarks attacking vaccination when she tried to get to the right of Rick Perry.
The Republican field will likely begin to emerge soon, however. State senator Karin Housely has already thrown her hat in the ring, which gives the state GOP a solid conservative in the race with a track record to build confidence in her bona fides without the controversy. Bachmann would make the race more interesting and more national, but the Minnesota GOP might have their own incentives for keeping it a local affair, too.
She (at least in that photo) looks prettier than most 30 year olds.
She is prettier than most 30 year olds.
She is prettier than most women of any age.
Gee, let’s not care about the candidate let’s just get someone who can win. NOT! That is a formula for a huge loss. NO more RINOs. Free Republic is getting so Establishment. Blah blah blah.
Yep. Bad choice. Though Freepers won’t like him, the most likely person to win either of those seats is Tim Pawlenty.
Was just talking to a MN activist the other day. Trump’s access Hollywood vid lost a lot of votes there. A lot of Minnesotans are old-school Lutheran, prim, proper-—conservative and populist, but not given to brashness. He thought we could nevertheless take all three seats (2 Sen and gov) with an all-in by the national GOP and Trump. Somalis wearing on Minnesotans, too.
We heard that about Trump. She can win.
Coleman isn’t gonna run but Tim Pawlenty might. He’s our best bet.
A lady State Senator is running already.
She has been right about the muslims in Congress.
Get someone who can freakin’ win this time, Republicans.
No, she can’t.
And, I always thought Trump could win.
She’s not Trump. She’s almost the equivalent of Katherine Harris in FL. Harris, like Bachmann, barely held a GOP House district. Harris had toxic-level approvals from even Republicans and predictably lost in a landslide when she ran for the Senate, and that in a much more GOP state.
The only thing that matters is keeping the majority. Otherwise, no Trump judicial appointees get thru. It’s a simple as that.
Yeah, by all means run another boring inane RINO Establishment candidate. A sure fire winning strategy. /sarc
Michee would be a SUPER addition to that BRAIN DEAD SEnate!! She’s a SWAMP DRAINER! TRUMP NEEDS HER!
He never WAS elected.....they CHEATED!
Well, here’s to hopping whoever runs learns the lessons on how to win. Trump taught the right how to, only an idiot would ignore it. I am hoping she is smart enough to pick up on it.
So he could put “ til ‘18 on his resume.
She should run. We will lose OUR WAY but then who knows.
I have always liked her. She was gutsy and took a lot of flak for having conservative values when there were few people defending them. It’s much easier now for people to claim to be conservative, but she was doing it at a time when it was unpopular, when other supposedly conservative politicians distanced themselves from her.
Most politicians just check which way the wind is blowing, then jump on whichever bandwagon they think will get them elected. Bachmann is one of the few with principles, one of the few true leaders.
I don’t know if she is “electable”, but if I were in Minnesota she’d have my vote.
Unfortunately, she does not have the political skills and the quick mind that are necessary to protect her campaign from the Progressive mad dog news media.
I don't think she can win a statewide election in Minnesota.
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