Why the right hates al franken


Play all audios:

It looks like Republicans have a new “bogeyman,” said Benjamin Sarlin in _The Daily Beast_. Al Franken, a Hollywood liberal, is on the verge of claiming a Minnesota U.S. Senate seat from


Norm Coleman after a tense recount. The Democratic comedian’s confrontational brand of politics run directly counter to the civility preached by incoming President Barack Obama, so Franken


is the perfect right-wing punching bag. The real reason for the right to hate Franken, said _The Wall Street Journal_ in an editorial, is that he didn’t win fair and square. He went into the


recount down by 215 votes, and came out up by 225—out of nearly 3 million cast—thanks to “the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek Canvassing Board.” If


Franken’s illegitimate victory stands, he’ll be “a tainted and undeserving senator.” Franken won’t necessarily be a senator, said Chris Cillizza and Paul Kane in _The Washington Post_, even


if the Canvassing Board names him the winner when it meets on Monday. Coleman's pending legal challenge over 654 allegedly wrongly rejected absentee ballots from pro-Coleman territory


will be decided by the Minnesota Supreme Court. And Coleman can challenge the election result even if the court rules against him, so this race could be a long way from being over. SUBSCRIBE


TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our


morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the


best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com