After a polite silence for his first months in the Senate, Al Franken is beginning to emerge as a smart, edgy senator. He can be collegial -- and he can get mad.
Franken has worked diligently to keep a low public profile in Congress while focusing on wonky policy debates. But he has been unable to completely repress the fiery passion that made him a hero of the Democratic Party’s liberal base.
Franken has teamed up with GOP colleagues to introduce a variety of legislation, something that may surprise fans who read his books such as “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.”
But he has also pummeled Republican senators and their aides, showing a glimpse of the pugilistic style of his bestseller “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.”
The guy has a temper and we knew that. He doesn't like to be crossed.
“There is a war within Al Franken,” said Lawrence Jacobs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. “The Al Franken head tells him to steer away from the limelight and build his reputation. Then there is his heart, which is quite fiery."
Jacobs said Franken must be careful not to engage in too many political brawls or it could “reinforce for independent voters what they feared about him, that he’s a hot-headed partisan.”
The Hill describes some of Franken's confrontations. The most recent included spats with John Thune and Joe Lieberman. In those cases, Franken would seem to have been justified. His set-to with Senator Corker was less deserved. Corker had written an op-ed opposing a Franken amendment to the defense bill about rape. Franken asked for a meeting with Corker.
The meeting quickly deteriorated when Franken began berating one of Corker’s aides, according to GOP aides familiar with the incident. Franken’s sally was so harsh that Corker told Franken to lay off his aide and direct the comments at him instead.
As long as it doesn't get out of hand, Franken's directness and righteous wrath could actually be very useful. I've long felt that Republicans who have been doing real harm (like John Thune and "independent" Joe Lieberman) set fires and then take shelter in "collegiality" and senatorial pomposity.
Franken is the first to expose that scam. More power to him.
