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Real bottom line in Franken's Playboy snafu: Mike Ciresi is making his move
Everyone who has seen Rep. Betty McCollum’s comments from yesterday — reported this morning at the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, AP and Politico — already knows that May 29 was another red-letter day in the Al Franken for Senate campaign, and that the red was once again Al’s blood. Referring to a January 2000 Franken essay in Playboy titled “Porn-O-Rama!” McCollum told the Strib, “As a woman, a mother, a former teacher, and an elected official, I find this material completely unacceptable…. I can tell you it’s not playing comfortably in St. Paul, and I can’t imagine this politically radioactive material is doing very well in suburban and rural districts.”
In other words, Mike Ciresi is as good as back in the race. McCollum, remember, is a co-chair of the Ciresi for Senate campaign that folded its tent and retired to the sidelines back in March. At the time, Franken was gaining ground on Sen. Norm Coleman in head-to-head polls and seemed to be consolidating his hold on the delegates who will award the party’s endorsement. Since that time, the Franken campaign has slipped in most polls and fallen into an almost wholly reactive mode, answering one Republican volley after another. (Ironically, one of the stories buried this week by the Playboy flap is a new Rasmussen poll that shows Franken trailing 47-45, a gain that puts him in a virtual statistical tie with Coleman.)
It’s no secret that Ciresi has been setting the table for a possible re-entry to run against Franken in the fall Democratic primary. MinMon political analyst David Schultz said as much in an audiocast here almost a month ago, and the backstage chatter about it has reached such a crescendo that the Star Tribune took the highly unusual step of including Ciresi’s name in a Minnesota Poll published on May 18. (Previous MinMon items covered that poll and Strib Politically Connected editor Dennis McGrath’s rationale for including Ciresi.)
McCollum’s more or less frontal denunciation of Franken was backed by withering words from Minnesota US Reps Tim Walz and Keith Ellison. Franken-on-toast is now officially a bipartisan special du jour. Depending on one’s view of Team Al, this is either a putsch or a badly needed intervention. But in any case, the timing and the cast of characters hardly seem happenstance.
Consider the chronology of the Playboy episode. Franken’s article was highlighted in a May 19 post by Republican operative Michael Brodkorb at Minnesota Democrats Exposed. It was noted in a Kevin Duchschere story in the next day’s Star Tribune, but then the story sat there for a week-plus, seemingly destined to remain dormant until it was time for the Coleman campaign and its 527 allies to gin up the 11th-hour broadcast ads and mailers. It was McCollum who made it a top-of-news-cycle story. And she did so just a week prior to the party’s endorsing convention, where her words — coupled with fairly broad activist support for the candidacy of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer — are bound to exacerbate what already threatened to be an embarrassing lack of unanimity on behalf of the candidate who has been the anointed frontrunner since day one. No matter what happens when the Democrats gather next weekend, the big winner in the current round of Democratic Senate race fisticuffs is almost certain to be Ciresi.
Comments
Is that all there is to this?
I’d like to know if what was labeled an “excerpt” from from the Playboy article by Doug Grow’s MinnPost article was the whole thing? It read like a complete story — and if that’s as bad as it got, this is really a tempest in a contrived teapot.
Unfortunately, due to the standards in our society, people are more or less painted into a corner to claim they are “shocked” at this, and almost impossible for them to say this isn’t such a big deal.
Yet most of same crowd that claims that this is terribly out of line are the same people who would laugh over this amount of sexual content in a shared “dirty joke.” Unfortunately for Al Franken, the dirty jokes aren’t captured in print, and thereby the perpetrators can pretend they’d never share or laugh at such humor.
The humor puts one in a position that’s embarrassing to defend, our national attitudes being what they are. It’s a shame and a sham — and yet you can bet the Republicans were just waiting to use the same article to flail candidate Franken.
entering the race does not make Mike a winner
As a data entry volunteer for one of the campaigns since January, and a former Ciresi supporter, I was shocked by how little support MIke had around the state. I disagree with your assessment that Mike will be the big winner. Mike’s lackluster performance in debates and a campaign run on money rather than people will not be enough to win the primary this year. It may have worked for Mark Dayton but a lot has happened since Mark was elected to the Senate. If Jack wins the endorsement he will have his people-powered campaign along with the mighty partnership of the Obama operation and the DFL coordinated campaign. Sorry, Mike, you are a great guy but I’d rather see you put your money elsewhere and not waste it dividing the party.
Mike's showing his political naivette again. Jack's the man.
Clear enough? Let me explain then. The reason Mike left the race before was he was bypassed by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer in the delegate race. This in spite of the fact Mike had put $2.5 million of his own money into the race, and Jack at the time had around a quarter of a million. Jack had raised his from the grass roots. Mike was digging into his pockets and to an extent his rich friends, which doesn’t indicate much people support.
What Mike may not remember is that he promised to abide by the party endorsement. Now, if he re-enters the race, he’ll be breaking his promise. Does that make you want to trust him?
Assume Al Franken is defeated by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for the party endorsement, which is looking more likely now. If Mike enters the primary he may think he can waste an opponent with around half a million raised so far. But Mike doesn’t have volunteers, and a competent staff. He also doesn’t have his message developed. OK, no worries, right, he’s got tons of money and he’ll run tv ads and trounce Jack, right? Wrong. Jack will have more money once he gets the nomination. He’ll also have more name recognition. Most telling, is that in the delegate race, party activists heard the two, and saw how much more compelling Jack’s message of courage and hope are.
Mike may not be calculating the likelihood that Al Franken is gonna be pissed! He has money and fund raising power and he likely will be inclined to use it to support the party endorsee, which would be Jack in this scenario. His supporters are likewise gonna be pissed too. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, with Al’s funding support nutralizing Mike’s money, and with Jack and Al supporters throughout the state being more numerous and energetic than Mike supporters, it looks to me that Mike would be miscalculating and wasting his money to enter the race if Jack is endorsed.
In the end, Jack will win if Mike enters the race, provided Jack wins the endorsement. If Al wins the endorsement, it will just be an ugly primary that will divide the party and make room for Norm Coleman to win.
A winner for Minnesota
It is difficult to imagine a time when good leadership is more critical than right now, yet the candidate who could best represent Minnesota in the United States Senate continues to be overlooked. In every interview, debate or question- and- answer session, Jack Nelson -Pallmeyer demonstrates that he is an extraordinarily capable, clear-thinking and informed leader. Jack articulates a vision that acknowledges the dignity of every person and the vitality of the earth’s environment. This vision informs virtually every strategy he proposes including building security by creating sustainable and environmentally sound economic growth, ending a disastrous and costly occupation of Iraq and investing in infrastructure and human capital to ensure strong local communities. Jack is not simply an alternative to another candidate. He offers distinct and critically important leadership skills which would benefit both our state and our nation.If Jack Nelson-Palmeyer is selected to represent Minnesota in the race for Senate, the issues most important to Minnesota voters will be the focus of the campaign and Minnesota will be the winner.
Gee, I was fooled by Colin Powell and G. W.
How many times has Al said he
was “fooled” by Colin Powell and the GW neocons into supporting the invasion of Any-stan and
any weak arab country like Iraq.
Well pal, nobody is fooled,
least of all Franken. He knew what he was supporting, war crimes – invading a country (Iraq)
and every torture-murder-mercenary crime committed. Now he claims he was “fooled”. If he was fooled he does not deserve to swear an oath to protect the constitution as senator, if not really fooled he is a liar and does not deserve the senate.
Al is dead meat
JNP for Senate
HRC for Vice President
This is the future of the Democratic Party!!!!!
City Pages and Journalistic Integrity
Mr Perry,
Glad to see that you are continuing the City Pages tradition of lack of journalistic integrity. During the week end of the Media Conference Reform no less. just like Air America, it must be noted.
Of course, for those of us in the Media Reform Movement already know, the job of the media is supposed to be, to INFORM the public and let them make their choices.
Michael Cavlan RN
Candidate US Senate
Never Mentioned in Corporate Media
Including City Pages and Air America
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