As a lifelong resident of Minnesota, I’ve rarely had occasion to feel embarrassed of my home state. Even Jesse “The Governor” Ventura had his good points. Jesse made his plans very clear during his campaign: “If you elect me, here’s what I’ll do.” He was elected. He did what he said he would. Jesse was our WYSIWYG governor; I can deal with that.
But with the debacle involving the (still-unresolved!) 2008 election for U.S. Senator, I’m not only embarrassed, but fed up with both of the candidates. They’ve not only allowed this whole thing to drag on, but are largely responsible for the dragging. In the words of my grandfather, at this point I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for either of them.
Here’s the deal. One candidate is a career politician who claims to be a true-blue Minnesotan, but sounds a lot more like the Brooklyn boy he really is. The man was born and raised on the East Coast and moved to Minnesota as an adult to establish his eligibility to run for public office in this state. His political commercials were all about establishing him as a dedicated man of the people; as Minnesotan as lutefisk and lefse. “Hi, I’m Nawn CWOL-mun.” Yah, shur. You’re Minnesotan. You betcha, Nawm.
You’re about as believable a Minnesotan as Walter Matthau was in Grumpy Old Men. Believe it or not, we can tell the difference between an aspiring politician who makes a strategic move to establish residency in a state where he’s more likely to get elected to public office and someone who really has the best interest of his consituents at heart.
The other candidate is SNL alum turned political pundit (just what job qualifications are there for that particular job, anyway?) Al Franken. To give him credit, Al really did grow up in Minnesota. For what it’s worth, I believe that he decided to run for office out of a desire to effect positive change. On the other hand, he’s being just as big a butthead about this election as his rival.
This recount nonsense has dragged on for more than six months, and it’s not over yet. The case is now going to the U.S. Minnesota Supreme Court because neither candidate is willing to concede. In the meantime, Minnesota has only one U.S. Senator in the Senate. We’re under-represented because neither of these two stubborn, ambitious fools seems to have his constituents’ best interests at heart.
Mr. Franken? Mr. Coleman? It seems to me that if either of you truly cared about the people of Minnesota, you’d be willing to step aside and let the other guy take office for this term – if for no other reason than to end this thing. Surely you realize that at this point you both have a serious credibility problem. Every appeal that you file sends the clear message that you’re more concerned about advancing your own career than in actually serving the people of this state.
Seriously. I think that conceding this race would be a far more effective way to send the message that you really want what’s best for the people who actually live, work, and pay taxes in Minnesota. It might mean that you don’t get to be in the Senate this time around, but it would also be a shrewd way to position yourself before the next election as someone who wants to serve his people. Take a short-term loss for a long-term gain.
How about it? Can either of you find the moral fiber to let go of his ambition long enough to actually help us?
