Get Your Own Al Franken! Please!

[MineralMan]

Everyone is praising Al Franken right now, and rightly so. He's standing up. He's not being bought. So, get your own Al Franken, in 2010, or 2012, or 2014. Read on, please!

In the 2008 Senate election in Minnesota, there were a couple of possible outcomes. The race could have gone either to Norm Coleman, an asshole Republican of the worst kind. Or, it could have gone to Al Franken, a progressive Democrat with no experience in elective office. The odds were pretty good that Coleman would win. Franken had a tough row to hoe to get elected. After all, he was just a comedian. There were a couple of other Democrats who put their names forward, but they would have lost to Coleman in a landslide.

What happened was that a bunch of dewy-eyed college kids, along with aging hippies like me and many others decided that we'd all go to the precinct caucuses and get Franken nominated as the candidate. The Franken campaign held caucus training sessions, which were well-attended, and where the caucus system was explained and methods for getting what you wanted at the caucuses discussed. I was a newcomer to MN, and had never been in a caucus state. I had worked in the more traditional Democratic Party organization in California, so this was all new to me.

Well, we went to the caucuses and discovered that we could, indeed, make Franken the candidate, so we did that, from the precinct level, to the state senate district level, and to the state DFL convention. Then, we worked very hard during the campaign to get the man elected. It almost didn't work, mostly due to an error on the part of the young, inexperienced Franken campaign team, which didn't align itself well enough with the Obama campaign. We lost a lot of votes when people who had never voted before voted for Obama but didn't vote in any other races. But, we won anyhow, in the tightest election I had ever seen.

So, instead of a knee-jerk GOP tool in the Senate, we now have Al Franken there. He's pretty popular now in the state, and will probably win again easily if he chooses to stand for re-election.

My point is that a lot of people, including a lot of old-line DFL people here in MN said that Franken could not get nominated and, if he got nominated, he couldn't win. The negative energy was strong. They had just about given up that seat to a GOP creep. It didn't happen that way. The reason it didn't was that Franken was a good, tireless campaigner and he had the support of a bunch of people who realized that it was going to take a steady effort over many months to get the man elected. And we did it.

So, was our plan simplistic? Sure. It's grassroots politics. It works. But saying it won't work is the first step to not working on it. I'm saying that we have to stop saying that and go after some races. We're only about six Senators short of getting something a lot more progressive in the health care reform arena and others. We can do it. But, if we say we can't, or that the solution is too simplistic to work, then we surely will fail.

If you're in a more normal, non-caucus state, you'll have to get involved in the local Democratic organization, but the process is still similar. Take it over. At the local level, it's a breeze. You just need a few people to win. At the next, level, it's a little more difficult. At the State level, it depends on taking over the previous levels, and isn't easy at all, but it can be done.

Al Franken. There's the answer to criticism and naysaying. Al Franken.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. I love Al! nt

[MinneapolisMatt]

2. Being able to vote for Franken

was one of the proudest moments of my life.

[MineralMan]

For me, too. It was the culmination of a heckuva lot of work.

I finally got it, when I was at my local state senate district caucus, the second step in the process. I had been gathering people to caucus for Franken. On a break, I had the mayor of Saint Paul and Betty McCollum, my congresswoman, come up to me in the hallway and want to chat me up. Me! An old hippie with a long white beard, wearing a plaid shirt. They seemed really eager to get my approval.

Wow! Power! That's when I realized that it was all so simple, at least in Minnesota. You just show up, become a delegate to the next level, speak up and organize caucus groups, and you have power. Power enough to get a congressperson grabbing your elbow and wanting to talk to you.

In 2010, I'm taking it to the next level. I'm going to get elected to be chairman of the precinct group. Right now, we don't even have one. Then, I'm going to try to get elected to the board at the next level. I think I can do that, too, from what I saw in 2008. In 2010, there will be even fewer people who show up and want to work. From there...I don't know. I'll get to be a delegate to the state convention, for sure, but I don't know if I can wedge myself into a leadership position at that level. I'll try, though.

Screw apathy!

[MinneapolisMatt]

25. Awesome!!!

:)

[iamjoy]

3. I'll Share My Al, If You'll Share Yours

How about a Franken/Grayson ticket?

Alan Grayson won a five way primary in Central Florida with a near majority (around 48%) of the votes. He beat a man whose family was well known in the area. Then he went on to beat an incumbent Republican, becoming only the second Democrat elected from Florida's Eighth Congressional District since 1970.

I think you're familiar with Congressman Grayson, and know he is a true progressive.

[MineralMan]

5. No, no! We need to keep them in Congress. Get Grayson into

the Senate. As we've seen, it's Congress that sets the agenda. They're more powerful in Congress.

[cali]

4. Minnesota should be proud. You elected a great guy.

[MineralMan]

19. We did! And you can do it in your state, too. Maybe not in 2010,

but if you start in 2010, you can definitely do it later. If you don't start, you can't ever do it, though. I know you're active, so I'm talking to others, mostly.

[cali]

21. well, we have Pat Leahy up for election in 2010 and I'll be supporting him

in 2012 I'll be supporting Bernie.

[MineralMan]

22. Good job!

Thank you!

[DireStrike]

6. What if we have an incumbent "democratic" senator?

The only way he or she is leaving is if he or she loses to a republican first.

[MineralMan]

10. Yeah, it may not be possible in every state. A lot depends on

how that state's system works. In a caucus state, it would be possible to dump a crappy Senator and nominate a new Democrat. In other states, maybe not. In some cases, as with Lieberman, I'm almost certain there will have to be a Republican placeholder before the progressive Democrat could win. Since Lieberman won as an Independent, I don't see a solution there, unless a really, really dynamic Democrat could be nominated...someone with so much charisma and ability that he/she could overpower Lieberman.

However, even if a win can't come without slotting someone in for a term, it may still be worthwhile to dump the bad guy or woman and suck up a moderate GOOPer for a term, if that's the only way.

[Bitwit1234]

If he is running against one of the Down and Dirty Dogs

I'd just work all that harder to get them elected. That's the first thing we should do. Declare a "campaign" against them dirtys and get them out of there. They don't deserve the Democrat handle.

[HelenWheels]

7. I couldn't vote for him

but I did donate several times to his campaign. I never saw anyone work harder to get elected. Good for him.

[MineralMan]

17. Thank you so much for that. Your money was put to good use.

I guarantee that.

[stevedeshazer]

8. Very well said and we did just that here.

His name is Jeff Merkley. Not as well known as Al, but progressive just the same.

Good advice, because I know that formula works.

[MineralMan]

12. Yup. It does work, and it's the only way we're going to

get what we want. We must do this or we will just be giving up and letting inertia drive politics.

[upi402]

9. Exactly! My daughter phone bannked for Al and I donated cash

And we live in different states! Yay Al!!! I'll vote 3rd party if we are forced to go with DLC "Democrats" for the rest of my life. I'm 100% done.

I didn't do damn thing for Obama, just voted. I knew what he was. A Clinton Republican.

[MineralMan]

13. Bravo! Al Franken proved that this can be done.

A complete newcomer, with no previous elective office. And he WON! If that doesn't inspire us, we can't be inspired.

This is our only possible path to a progressive future. I believe that completely.

[HopeHoops]

11. Give us time! We just recently got rid of Santorum and sent him back home to Virginia.

Penn Hills is still out the $100,000 he screwed them out of for his kids' "cyber education" bullshit. What a pig fucker.

[MineralMan]

14. Good work! Keep it up!

[HopeHoops]

15. Yeah, well, Virginia can keep him. He lived there all along anyway.

The shack in Penn Hills was nothing but a street address so he could pretend to be a PA resident and rip off Penn Hills for his kids' so called "education". I imagine they're just as fucking ignorant as he is.

[myrna minx]

16. I am really proud of our Senator.

Great post. K&R

[MineralMan]

18. Thanks. I just remember being so shocked at how easy

it was to move through the caucus system and get stuff done. It was my first experience with a system that really lets grassroots movements take hold and take over.

A bunch of old DFLers got schooled in 2008. Some of them are gone, now, replaced by people who are way, way more progressive. It was a very interesting process. If you aren't already doing so, get involved in your local precinct caucus next year. You'll be amazed. You can make a difference, even if you're the only one who shows up. If you bring some friends, you can take over your local precinct in a single year. I'm not kidding. It's that disorganized and open.

Once you own the precinct caucus, you get all the delegates to the senate district caucus from your precinct. That level's slightly more organized, but very easy to manipulate to get what you want. Beyond that, I don't know yet. However, if every precinct organization was taken over by progressives, the state convention would reflect that. It could happen in a single year that every last moderate was gone from the DFL leadership. It's all done by election at the caucuses. Amazing!

[MineralMan]

20. This was the post I should have made, instead of the

one about "Something" getting passed. That thread deteriorated into yet another discussion about the health reform bill, when I really wanted to discuss how to get better people into Congress.

Thanks to everyone for participating in this thread.

[Mnpaul]

23. This is the key

Franken was largely funded with small donations from people across the country. His largest PAC donation was from ActBlue.

[MineralMan]

24. Yes, small donations and the big hearts of those who worked

for him, starting early in his campaign. They were wonderful...all of them.

Al's wife and family were also key in the race. They showed up everywhere, even the smallest meetings, and proved what a good heart Al has. I can't imagine better people than those who made this all possible.

[upi402]

26. And ActBlue is a collection of small donations. Like a Union PAC

We need election reform. But guess what - the Dems aren't evenm talking about it. I remember Republicans constantly ramming stuff through like sausage through a grinder. The TV "new" couldn't keep up on it all, it was coming so fast.

[mdmc]

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