Norm!!! Al!!!

So the people have spoken and Minnesota has its Senator at last (I gather Coleman will not press on for an injunction in the Federal courts?). This is as it should be, and long overdue. Still, we might as well remind ourselves that Minnesota, once near-universally regarded as among the best governed polities in the nation (if not the planet) has now followed up its choice of an underemployed ex-wrestler for the governorship with the choice of an only-mildly-funny comic for the Senate.

On the other hand, I suppose you might say that Minnesota's other Senator is one of the best-equipped, conscientious and perhaps even talented members of that sometimes-august body. One for two ain't bad.

The Never-ending Senate Race

As the great Coleman-Franken slugfest goes into its 156th round, it occurs to me to wonder if either side is studying what might be the most comparable precedent--the dustup between Republican Louis C. Wyman and Democrat John A. Durkin in New Hampshire back in 1964. Wiki refreshes our memory:

The initial returns showed [Wyman] defeating [Durkin] by 355 votes on election night.However, Durkin demanded a recount, which resulted in Durkin winning by ten votes. Governor Meldrim Thomson then certified Durkin as the winner. However, Wyman demanded another recount in which he prevailed by two votes. [The retiring incumbent resigned; the governor appointed Wyman to the seat; Durkin took an appeal directly to the Senate.] ...

After seven months of wrangling which included six unsuccessful Democratic attempts to seat Durkin, Wyman, having never been seated, proposed that he and Durkin run again in a special election. Durkin agreed, and the Senate declared the seat officially vacant Durkin won [the special election] handily, defeating Wyman by 29,000 votes--ending what is still the closest Senate election since the people gained the right to directly elect Senators with the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913.

The result did save New Hampshire from the services of a flaming right-winger. Durkin for his part was defeated four years later (by Warren Rudman) and left little trace behind. I suppose there is a moral around here somewhere, although I can't say I know what it is.

He's Not Even All That Funny

I'm certainly not sorry to see the back of Senator Norm Coleman and I can understand political junkies getting all hubba hubba over the possibility (the near certainty?) that the Democrats will scrape out another win here. Yet is it just me or am I correct in sensing a somewhat muted tone among the pro-Franken (or is it the anti-Coleman?) camp--recognizing that we are about to replace a lizard in a suits with a guy whose main lifetime achievement seems to lie in the field of calling attention to himself--? Let's be candid here, Al Franken suffers from a disability that you would think might be a problem for a comic--he's not all that funny. Going to bed with Arianna Huffington on primetime basic cable had a certain shock appeal and asking leading conservatives for anecdotes about their abstinence moments was--well that one, actually, you'd have to say was pretty clever (but didn't he back away from it?). But being a senator should be, done right, a difficult job, requiring a lot of savvay and a lot of hard work, not just the knack for getting your face out. If Franken is really the man for this sort of thing, then maybe New York needs to take a fresh look at this lady.

Update: I have to admit, he gets off a zinger here.