Theory: Al Franken is angling to be HRC's running mate.

[Ken Burch]

That is, that Al has accepted the Hubert Humphrey theory that a Minnesota liberal can only become president by becoming the running mate of a more conservative Dem and then succeeding that more conservative Dem as president.

That's the only explanation that makes sense of Al deciding to go on point for HRC to the degree that he has.

Nothing else explains why he'd be working this hard to stop Bernie.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. "That's the only explanation that makes sense of Al deciding to go on point for HRC...

to the degree that he has."

Really?

Says who?

[NowSam]

2. Strange. Franken has always known better.

Why all of a sudden selling out?

[Contrary1]

3. Don't think so...

Franken on the ticket would bring even more Repubs out to vote for Trump.

[Trajan]

4. Tammy Baldwin too?

Poor Tammy is getting hammered in FB ...

[Ken Burch]

5. Don't know what it's about with Tammy. n/t.

[Trajan]

9. She posts very similar hagiographic material as Franken

And taking her lumps along with it ...

[bettyellen]

16. has no one made up a CT on that one yet?

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Not!

[MineralMan]

7. Doubtful. I don't think he has any

Ambitions beyond the Senate.

[Todays_Illusion]

8. I am not certain anymore that Al Franken is more liberal than Hillary.

Here is his student debt offering:

From his Senate page, http://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3356


Give student loan borrowers the opportunity to refinance their federal and private student loans at a lower interest rate, thereby reducing their debt and putting money back into the pockets of people who invested in their education.

· Ensure that Pell Grants keep pace with rising education costs by indexing a portion of the grant to inflation, which would provide critical support for middle-class families trying to pay for college.

· Waive two-years of community or technical college tuition for students.




Weak for a nation as wealthy as ours.

Under the Issues tab, this on crime.

I’ve always had a deep respect for anyone who works hard, and no one works harder—or does a more important job—than our nation’s police officers. I believe our best bet in the battle against crime is to give our law enforcement officers the resources and training they need to do their jobs right. Every day, improved technology makes it quicker and easier to transfer critical information between law enforcement agencies. These programs allow police officers to obtain mission-critical intelligence, and prevent accidents on the job—making sure that one law enforcement agency isn’t inadvertently interfering with the operations of another. I will always support the personnel and technological needs of Minnesota law enforcement.

Good law enforcement also means smart law enforcement. We need to fight crime and prevent it. If we have new, reliable technology that can help us fight crime, we should use it—and if we find a problem with that technology, we should work hard to fix it. I strongly support scientifically proven, effective forensic technology—especially techniques that rely on DNA analysis. I also support improving other techniques that have yet to earn their scientific bona fides.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will push for a tough and smart criminal justice system.

[zappaman]

10. "Nothing else explains why he'd be working this hard to stop Bernie."

Unless he's not trying "to stop Bernie" but rather feels Clinton is the better candidate.

[NanceGreggs]

11. Thanks for the "theory", Ken ...

... I'll take it for what it's worth.

I guess it never occurred to you that Al "deciding to go on point for HRC" is probably because he thinks she'll make a great president, and wants to support her bid for the White House.

"Nothing else explains why he'd be working this hard to stop Bernie."

Now, there's a telling sentence. People supporting HRC are doing so for the sole purpose of stopping Bernie?

Hate to break it to you, but the majority of Dem voters are behind Hillary because they believe in her abilities, and NOT because they want to "stop Bernie" - and the arrogance inherent in that mindset is rather startling.

This isn't about Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! to the exclusion of all other considerations - and trying to make it all about him just comes off as childish rhetoric.

[Ken Burch]

12. No, it isn't just about Bernie...

It's about the people's movement for justice for all that Bernie represents.

That's the biggest difference between Bernie and HRC.

She would be a mundanely competent president, and I'll support her if she does end up getting nominated(although not with any belief that anything beyond maintaining the status quo could ever happen while she was president).

But she isn't now and hasn't ever been about building a long-term effort to make real change in this country. If elected, she will basically tell everyone who supported her(other than the ceo's, of course)to go away...that politics should be left strictly to "the grown-ups".

When politics is left strictly to "the grown-ups", when activists and those on the bottom in this country are disregarded and left out in the cold, everything ends up dying out. Change stops.

HRC needs to learn from what is actually happening in this campaign. She needs to initiate the effort to reach out to those who are actually working for change, who are challenging corporate power and the supposed inevitability of war after war after war. She needs to open her mind once again to everything she gave up on after 1972 or so.

And if Bernie doesn't get nominated(something I'm honest enough with myself about to admit is a possibility)voting for his candidacy is the only way to get HRC to even consider that, to even consider letting go of her pointless dismissiveness to activist types and towards people who can't just reach for their checkbooks and hand her a massive donation.

It's not just about Bernie...it's about whether we are to be a living, enthusiasm-and-ideal-and-ambition-based party or an empty shell that wields power in name only.

[NanceGreggs]

15. It was your statement ...

... that by supporting HRC, Franken was trying "to stop Bernie".

I think that pretty much says it all.

[Ken Burch]

17. Well, you have to stop Bernie as a candidate as early as possible...

...if you want to be able to dismiss the Sanders movement.

[NanceGreggs]

19. He'll be stopped of his own accord ...

... simply because he doesn't have as much support as HRC. No need for anyone to interfere in the process.

[Ken Burch]

22. That's not what tonight's results show.

At one point last year, HRC had a fifty point lead in Iowa.

I get it that you back HRC, but this result proves that you have to take the Sanders movement seriously, and that HRC can only win in the fall(if nominated)if she meets it halfway on the platform in Philly.

Everything is changing, and all cause for smugness has now vanished.

[NanceGreggs]

23. It has nothing to do with smugness.

It has to do with numbers. Hill's got 'em - Bernie ain't.

[Ken Burch]

24. That is now changing.

This result can only boost Bernie's chances everywhere.

Now that he has shown he can get real support, people who were on the fence or were soft HRC supporters will take another look.

Especially considering the polls that continue to show that Bernie does better than HRC against the Repubs in the fall(remember, the argument used to be that we HAD to choose HRC because supposedly she was the only Dem who could win).

[NanceGreggs]

25. Bernie having support is not news to anyone.

People have seen the rallies, the crowds, etc. He's done very well for himself.

And no one is shocked that Bernie stands to do well in states like Iowa, Vermont, NH, where the demographics favour him.

But once he hits states like SC, he's not going anywhere without AA and minority votes.

The problem has been that BS supporters have talked themselves into certain myths - one of them being that HRC supporters aren't enthusiastic about her, are "soft" on their support. That's not the reality, however.

You said it yourself when you said Franken was trying to "stop Bernie" by supporting HRC. You've bought into the idea that HRC's camp are just anti-Bernie, rather than pro-Hillary. Hillary supporters are no more apt to change their minds about her than BSers are apt to change their minds about him.

Another myth is that if people see he can win in Iowa or NH, they'll know he's electable and will switch their support to him. You don't even bother to take into consideration that (a) people realize that winning a few heavily white states that aren't representative of the nation does not mean being electable across-the-board, and (b) a LOT of Democrats just DON'T want Bernie to be the nominee - electable or not.

From the outset, the cry of the BSers has been that once people "hear Bernie's message", they'll get behind him - again ignoring the reality that a lot of people have heard Bernie's message, and just aren't buying it.

In their zeal and enthusiasm for their preferred candidate, BSers have often simply dismissed reality. They have made assumptions that have no basis in fact. And the "domino effect" has been one of them - that if Bernie does well in a few early primary states, there will be a mass exodus of Hillary supporters who will suddenly jump ship and switch their allegiance.

Not about to happen. HRC has massive support among the majority of Dem voters, and we're just as solidly behind her as BSers are behind Bernie - the difference being that there are MORE of us.

As for citing polls that show BS beating GOPers in a general election, I have to say I find it amusing that BSers have consistently dismissed polls that show HRC far ahead of Bernie in many, many states, as well as nationally - while at the same time insisting that polls showing Bernie beating Republicans are accurate and above reproach. The polls are accurate or they aren't - and cherry-picking the favourable ones while calling the others "corporate math" is just another example of reality being a moving target for many BSers.

[Ken Burch]

27. The last poll had Bernie up to 38% in SC. That proves he is gaining AA votes.

And the national election polls matter more because the only real argument that ever existed for HRC was the myth that she was the only Dem who can win. And the electability myth was the only real reason(now that everyone knows it was a lie to say that Bernie didn't care about social justice and fighting racism) that AA voters prefer HRC. POC are up for grabs.

We now know that Bernie is just as electable as HRC, if not more so.

There simply isn't anything about HRC that is worth subjecting ourselves to all the Nineties attack lines all over again. Those lines kept the GOP in control of Congress throughout that decade.

[NanceGreggs]

29. You're doing it again, Ken.

"And the electability myth was the only real reason(now that everyone knows it was a lie to say that Bernie didn't care about social justice and fighting racism) that AA voters prefer HRC. POC are up for grabs."

Do you really think AAs/minorities were only supporting HRC because they didn't think Bernie was electable?

Really? That's just another dismissal of reality.

As for Bernie being just as electable as Hillary - sorry, not buying. She has the numbers; she has the delegates, she has the endorsements, she has the experience in international as well as domestic matters. She also has the backing of millions of Democrats - some of whom still view Bernie as the outsider who demeaned the Party for years, and only joined the Party when it became convenient to further his own political ambitions.

"There simply isn't anything about HRC that is worth subjecting ourselves to all the Nineties attack lines all over again."

I'm sorry that you find HRC's running for POTUS so much of an inconvenience, she should just not run rather than you being "subjected" to attacks. But millions of us don't. And the other myth BSers adhere to is the notion that a self-declared socialist wouldn't be attacked mercilessly by the GOP - this myth that "people nowadays don't care about that". Hogwash. Republicans care - and they'd have a field day rallying their constituents to make sure a "commie sochulist" never has access to the White House.

Reality is what it is, Ken. And pretending it doesn't exist doesn't make it go away.

[Odin2005]

13. Unfortunately I think he is just a sell out.

Look how he voted to suspend the ACA tax on medical devices because Minnesota-based Medtronic threw a temper tantrum.

[GoneFishin]

28. I used to loved Al. But it seems that he sold out the second he was elected.

[olddots]

14. He used to have his friend Liddy on his show frequently

in the Air America days ,he confuses me .

[brooklynite]

18. ...because nobody would actually WANT to support Clinton, right?

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. I don't think so. I think he is content where he is.

I also think he's more moderate than people like to think he is.

[askew]

21. Al Franken has always been a Clintonite unfortunately.

He was a diehard Hillary supporter in 2008 as were all of the MN politicians. I was very gleeful when Obama won my state and ignored Franken and the rest of the MN delegation who was pushing hard for Clinton.

[Metric System]

26. He's been a good friend of Hillary's for over 20 years.