Republicans look to oust Franken

[TomCADem]

Source: The Hill

Republicans are seeking to oust Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is up for his first reelection after his narrow 2008 win.

Franken will be a tough candidate — he’s worked hard to ingratiate himself in the state, and his poll numbers look fairly solid. But Republicans hope with the right candidate they can topple the first-term senator.

Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and John Kline (R-Minn.) are two early mentions for the race.

“I'd put Congressmen Paulsen and Kline at the top of the list, they'd both be very strong candidates,” said Brian McClung, who served as former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R) deputy chief of staff.


Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/268571-republicans-look-to-oust-franken

---

Republicans with the aid of millions in Dark Money are already looking ahead to 2014 with Al Franken top on their list.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. You mean 2014. His first term ends in 2014.

[azurnoir]

2. lol good luck with that gambit folks MN is a Blue state n/t

[BainsBane]

4. We have had a number of Republican Senators and Governors

Coleman, Pawlenty, Durenberger, etc. . . It's not beyond the possibility, but I don't know what they'll use against Franken. They must be counting on another reduced turnout election like 2010.

[azurnoir]

7. hopefully we've learned our lesson with Pawlenty in particular

Coleman was a joke and Durenberger I honestly don't remember much besides the name

[BainsBane]

9. that was when Republicans were reasonable

and bore no resemblance to the nut jobs that control the party today.

[azurnoir]

14. IMO T-Paw was almost evil incarnate he could play the po' working class kid from So St Paul

real well, I remember when he was first elected reading stuff from his Dad;s buddies saying that Dad was spinning in his grave over what his kid was doing, T-Paw raped the state he brought Mn from being second in the country in child welfare to being 30th in child welfare and boasted about it like it was an accomplishment, he made it nearly impossible for young single mothers to get any kind of education, he put poor people out on the street and that was his first year in office

[Warpy]

19. I hope people learned a lesson with that little weasel Coleman

Remember how many months it took for him to be told by the court to stop playing sick games so Franken could be seated?

[freshwest]

25. They'll continue crap to see what will make Democrats stay home.

OFA is planning to continue operations through 2014 and 2016. There's was a thread on it today, and I hope I can find a link to keep contributing. We need a base to keep good people like Franken in office. Rove's having a party for the same group of plutocrats Thanksgiving and the media still plays their tune. They won't stop, so we can't stop.

[dlwickham]

39. my thoughts exactly

[BainsBane]

3. As a Minnesotan

I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen. Paulsen won reelection to the House by the widest margin of any Republican in the state, but this is only his second term in the US House. He was a state legislator.

[question everything]

40. Actually, his third

And he has good favorite stories and endorsements by the Strib and the local Sun Sailor.

The Sun Sailor had a lot of qualifiers, like that when he talks about his constituents he thinks of the medical devices industry, not individual citizens. The Sun Sailor had good things to say about his challenger - Brian Barnes - but still endorsed Paulsen.

And, yes, like Bachmann, both have been making a living off tax payers yet wish for a small government.

[oldhippydude]

5. hmmm

isn't m
Mc Cain up that cycle too?... with demographics and economy at our backs we stand a bettter chance than they... plus it will be 6 years after 10 so they will have a fair numner of venerable seats

[BlueMan Votes]

20. 33% of the seats in the senate are up for election in each two year election cycle.

in 2014, there will be 20 Democratic seats on the block, and only 13 repugs.

here's a map of the contests for 2014:



red for republican, blue for democratic

[quakerboy]

22. neither the map nor the numbers are pretty

None of those rep seats seem particularly vulnerable. But a few of the dems are in pretty heavy republican states.

[BlueMan Votes]

28. alaska, montana, south dakota, arkansas, louisiana, north carolina, virginia, west virginia...

yeah- we've got our work cut out for us.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. Well, let's see....

Virginia....It's Warner....it's a lock.

West Virginia....if Rockerfeller runs for reelection, it's also a lock.

Montana....Baucus, as much as I dislike him and think he's useless, probably makes that lock.

Arkansas....Prior is also useless, but the name carries weight in that state.

South Dakota....Johnson had a stroke, but won reelection since I believe. We'll see if he runs again, but if he does I think he wins.

Alaska....Begich is popular from what I understand. But you never know.

Louisiana....Landreu....another useless DINO....she'll probably let James Keefe break into her office again and get away with it. She could lose.

North Carolina....Don't know much about Hagan and whether she's popular, so yeah it's a toss-up.

[Arctic Dave]

62. The repug party has gone insane up here.

Mark may be unseated if we aren't lucky.

Our shitbag governor has been grooming himself for a run by kowtowing to all the right wing wackos and oil corporations.

[rampart]

46. louisiana - i can not see how mary landrieu has held on this long

our republicans are among the worst in the nation.

[Panasonic]

42. We can take back the red states. All of them.

Collins can be booted out, and the Southern Strategy II will be implemented for '14 and '16, and educating the low information voters will be key and hopefully the voters will quit voting against their best interest.

Also, Judd vs Turtle is going to be a key race. The rest we will just secure and lock down.

But 2016 will also be key for Senate to remove the remaining dinosaurs of Republicans and shut them down - and retake all the state houses and make sure the redistricting is mapped out for 2016 and 2018 as well as 2020.

[BlueMan Votes]

43. idaho? i don't know...

it's pretty red- in an ugly way.

[oldhippydude]

51. i remember Frank Church & Cecil Andrus.... n/t

[onehandle]

34. 2016. nt

[onenote]

36. McCain's term runs until 2016

He'll be 80 at that point. He hasn't said whether or not he'll run again, but it wouldn't surprise me if he decides to hang it up after his current term

[oldhippydude]

52. keep in mind Arizona demographics are rapidly changing...

Carmona gave a hard race this time... Mc Cain may not have a choice..

[AlbertCat]

6. They think he's an easy target because...

.... there's footage of him as Stewart Smalley.


or something....

[BlueMan Votes]

21. it didn't work for them last time...

and Al has only gotten better since joining the club.

[Bozita]

8. Why not consider Michele Bachmann? ... Or maybe, her husband?

[BainsBane]

10. I actually heard her mentioned on public radio

as a possible contender. There is NO WAY she could win at the state level. She only won her heavily Republican district by 4000 votes. Paulsen and Kline are far better choices for the GOP.

[longship]

26. Please have Bachmann looney toon run against Al Franken!!!

Please!!! He will utterly ridicule her.

[Blasphemer]

30. That would be a dream come true.... nt

[SoapBox]

11. "But Republicans hope with the right candidate they can topple the first-term senator."

Maybe that should read,

"But Republicans hope with the right amount of millions and millions of Citizens United donations from out of state AND enough slime ads, they can topple the first-term senator."

That sounds a bit more truthful.

[Lasher]

33. GOPee right candidate = oxymoron.

[hrmjustin]

12. I hope he gets re-elected. I always liked him.

[Tigress DEM]

17. Al Franken is a main reason liberals HAVE ANY radio stations that aren't complete RIGHT WING HEILS.

Air America Radio was his baby to start. He was funny, but mostly informative and clearly delivered information at the time was something my intellect was starving for - facts and a little snark to keep the right wing wacko message at bay.

They didn't have the format figured out and people like Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman and Mike Papentonio have done more to perfect it, but it paved the way for the idea that liberals needed and wanted their own product on the airwaves.

He's Tesla, they are Edisons.

[longship]

27. Plus, there was always Marc and Mark.

Morning Sedition. Amongst the best issue framing on the air. Who can forget that?

If you have forgotten, there is always the Morning Sedition Archives. Gotta love it.

[Tigress DEM]

50. Mike Malloy is still on air, but it's all Air America Radio - even tho Clear Channel bought it.

Mike, of course, is the first person I remember saying "IF YOU AREN'T OUTRAGED, YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION."

Stephanie Miller and her Sexy Liberal Tour is also got started on Air America.

Ed Schultz has pod casts.

What ever happened to Rhandi Rhodes? Is she still on air?

[Kennah]

53. Randi Rhodes is still on the air

http://www.randirhodes.com/main.html

She's on AM 1090 in Seattle from 6 to 9 PM.

Unfortunately, 1090 is going from Progressive to Sports in January.

[Tigress DEM]

60. Pbbbbbthhh!!! BAD Clear Channel!!

I see she has a pod cast. Does that still work if she's off AM 1090?

[Kennah]

65. Not sure, but my understanding is yes

[Wellstone ruled]

13. All Right,you want to fight,

bring it on Rethugs. Tell you all right now,this DUer will be in Minny banging on doors in 2014 for Al. Eric Paulson is a little turd. Only reason he got his seat was the Mega Church in Eden Prairie,and his opponents campaign ran out of money. This is going to be fun pounding sand up some Rethugs Butt. Inviting any all DUers to lend a hand in Minny in 2014. Bring it on Baby.

You mess with the Bull and you get the horn!!!!

[lonestarnot]

35. I like your style!

[Tigress DEM]

15. Ingratiate? WHO is describing Franken's career in such terms?

He's been a solid DEM working his butt off for his constituents. He's done an AWESOME job. Minnesota just needs to know more about how good he's been for us. 50% approval should be 85%-90% by 2014.

The thugs are talking about throwing their heavy duty stars into the fray.

I think Minnesota needs to go SO blue, we're INDIGO. Turn the whole darn state into the granola belt! LOL.

[BlueMTexpat]

23. I picked up on that too, Tigress!

The whole article was tainted for me by that. I don't doubt that Republicans are searching frantically for someone to run against Al. But, if MN is the state that I think it is, Al should do well, so long as we all have his back. He's had all of ours, after all!

[smirkymonkey]

48. +1000

He's a great Senator. They just hate him because he's a successful (and funny) liberal.

[global1]

16. The Repugs Are Already Focusing On The Senate .....

Here Are The Senators That Are Up For Re-election in 2014. A total of 33 seats will be contested. 20 Dems and 13 Repugs.

Here is the list of names and states.

20 Dems

Begich in Alaska
Pryor in Arkansas
(Mark)Udall in Colorado
Coons in Delaware
Durbin in Illinois
Harkin in Iowa
Landrieu in Lousiana
Kerry in Massachusetts
Levin in Michigan
Frankin in Minnesota
Baucus in Montana
Shaheen in New Hampshire
Lautenberg in New Jersey
(Tom)Udall in New Mexico
Hagan in North Carolina
Merkley in Oregon
Reed in Rhode Island
Johnson in South Dakota
Warner in Virginia
Rockefeller in West Virginia


13 REPUGS

Sessions in Alabama
Chambliss in Georgia
Risch in Idaho
Roberts in Kansas
McConnell in Kentucky
Collins in Maine
Cochran in Mississippi
Johnson in Nebraska
Inhofe in Oklahoma
Graham in South Carolina
Alexander in Tennessee
Cornyn in Texas
Enzi in Wyoming

[Tx4obama]

18. Ages below - not many GOPers under 65 years old in that group.

GOPers

Sessions in Alabama - 65
Chambliss in Georgia - 69
Risch in Idaho - 69
Roberts in Kansas - 76
McConnell in Kentucky - 70
Collins in Maine - 65
Cochran in Mississippi - 74
Johnson Mike Johanns in Nebraska - 62
Inhofe in Oklahoma - 78
Graham in South Carolina - 57
Alexander in Tennessee - 72
Cornyn in Texas - 60
Enzi in Wyoming - 68


The GOPers are getting older, but so are many of the Democrats, list of all 100 by age here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Senators_by_age

2016 will be easier on the Democrats because we will have only 10 up for re-election and they will have 24
List here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classes_of_United_States_Senators#List_of_current_Senators_by_Class

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. Wow, 2/3 of the Senators of both parties are 60 or older

Didn't realize that.

[Cha]

24. Sorry, Cons. The US Senate wouldn't be the same without Senator

Franken. We want him to stay.

[kickysnana]

29. Here is a candidate I support 100%

And will work for his election. Promise.

[graham4anything]

31. Of course, all repubicans are looking to topple all democrats and vice versa. That's Politics in USA

which is why ALL democrats need to vote for ONLY democrats or those that will caucus with them if the democrats put up a bad or can't win candidate and there is a 3rd choice like happened with Angus King and should have happened with Charlie Crist in2010.

Dems need to always be reminded what happens when they stay home (2010) or there is infighting (1980 and 1968 for starters).

One needs to be 100% united to defeat the republicantealibertarians in each election from dog catcher to President and everything in between.(ESPecially school boards and local races, because that is where it starts)

[truthisfreedom]

32. I know Al Franken. Al is a wild card. Since choosing to replace Wellstone, our hero, Al has

been the most carefully spoken and aware Senator America's ever known. Anyone choosing to run against him is choosing his own demise. If you believe for one second that Al Franken is not Al Franken, and won't appear on a moment's notice, you've got another thing coming. You've got another thinking coming. Al's awareness has no bounds.

[newspeak]

37. i'll never forget wellstone

even though i have never lived in minnesota, i donated to his campaign twice. that plane crashed right before the election and i remember getting a call to donate to mondale to replace wellstone.

memory may be faulty, but didn't they count the absentee ballots for coleman, but wellstone's were not counted for mondale? so those who voted for wellstone, couldn't vote again?

anyway, the whole thing stank, stinks, stunk; and still does to this day. wellstone was no friend to the * family.

i think franken is a voice of reason in congress, a more honest voice; especially with some of the greedy, "what's in it for me" , ignorant ones we have today.

[Panasonic]

41. Franken will win - no doubt.

Republicans attempt to take down the old Wellstone seat after they killed him needs to be stemmed and shut down.

In fact, I would bring charges against the Minnesota Republican Party for the murder of Sen. Paul Wellstone.

The entire Republican Party are party to the murder, and will be held accountable.

First degree murder.

Federal murder.

Death sentence.

[brooklynite]

44. Forgive me but, what makes this "News"?

Presumably they plan to try to oust every Democratic Senator up for re-election in 2014.

[Tigress DEM]

56. That the rethugs are so afraid of him they are rounding up their Pitt Bulls NOW.

Thing is, he's "secure" from a DEM perspective because we know he's been doing a good job. But it's a warning shot and we weren't expecting it so soon.

We look for our Congress Critters to be voting on Progressive Values and we see Al's signature. Amy's follows shortly, but Al is 100% on top of his game for us Minnesotans when it comes down to being decisive and on game.

But the rethugs are SO PISSED. They HAD THE MAJORITY in the House and Senate in MN and LOST IT. Minnesota has a LOT of RED so we CAN'T forget that. http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results/minnesota

We aren't used to the New York minute break in the action then back to the front lines, but that is what it's going to take. We live in the land of Minnesota Nice and it's a bit of a shake up for US to have to keep our battle gear on when we haven't even gotten to celebrate very much.

OH well, there is always the BLUE STATE BALL!! http://www.am950radio.com/am950s-9th-annual-blue-state-ball

[brooklynite]

61. Sorry but I have to disagree

If you meander over to DKOS, there's a rundown of each race and who the presumed Republican opponents are in each. I've already gotten my first invite for a 2014 Dem fundraiser.

[Tigress DEM]

63. I'm sure you are correct that it is ALL races, but this is NOT business as usual in MN

But then we had to fight and recount for 6 months just to get Al Franken in the first place.

[Tom Ripley]

45. They are not going to find anyone good enough or smart enough...

and doggone it, people don't like them. With good reason.

[Tigress DEM]

57. rofl

[are_you_serious_1234]

49. I'm sure I know what they mean by the "right" (GOP is so clever) candidate.

Doesn't matter. Al Franken will spank them all soundly.

[old guy]

54. Both Paulsen and Kline

would be very hard pressed to win a state wide race. I wonder if either of them would risk their gerrymandered House seat. Time will tell I guess. I live across the river in Wi. so most of our info comes from Mn.

[xfundy]

55. To be a comic takes tremendous brain power

Quick on the feet, thinking on the feet, using truth as a response even as termites throw up lies.

Al's got this. Quick witted, smart, quick on his feet.

Why are there no repig/con comedians? (Dennis Miller can't survive outside the Fox Noise bubble, his only fan base.)

Why did cons attempts at "comedy shows" fail so badly? Because they cannot adapt to changing real world realities, as their hate-filled backwards views are centered on illusional pasts that never existed.

Al's got this, because truth always is better comedy, especially when repigs are involved.

[Badger1]

58. And what?

This is what normally goes on during elections. We try to defeat them and them us. This article borders on repug dumb.

[Monk06]

59. Franken has quickly established himself as a senator in the leaque of Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy.

I think Al is in the senate for as long as he wants to be. JMO

[Tigress DEM]

64. BUT that paints a TARGET right on him. Don't you think? nt