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Mar 11, 2008 3:58 pm US/Central
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Analysis: With Ciresi Out, Franken Can Woo More
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
A year ago, no one thought it would be quite this easy for Al Franken.
Mike Ciresi's withdrawal this week from the Democratic U.S. Senate race put Franken in the driver's seat for the endorsement of DFL activists at their state convention in June. He still faces a significant challenge from Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, but even Franken's detractors consider the underfunded college professor and peace activist to be a long shot.
"It looks pretty good for Al Franken," said Roger Moe, the former Senate majority leader and DFL candidate for governor, who supported Ciresi.
And what's good for Franken is bad for Sen. Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent. For the last year, Coleman has mostly stayed above the fray -- generating headlines for his work in the Senate as he banked campaign funds, and taking an occasional potshot at Franken.
Franken can't afford to appear overconfident or dismissive of Nelson-Pallmeyer, who has a loyal following among the DFL's most liberal activists. But Ciresi's departure removes one barrier to Franken consolidating Democrats behind him.
"Being the only other main candidate in the race, saying we're in second place doesn't really have quite the same meaning," said Chris McNellis, Nelson-Pallmeyer's campaign manager.
Now, the energy the Franken team would have burned to try to head off a convention fight, with Ciresi and Nelson-Pallmeyer potentially assembling a united front against Franken, can be directed toward the general election.
"I think you're going to see us start to define the race with Senator Coleman, and draw those contrasts between Al's vision for where the state can go, versus what Norm Coleman represents," Franken spokesman Andy Barr said.
Franken should be able to save money, too. He's been a highly successful fundraiser, often outpacing Coleman's quarterly hauls, but in 2007 he also spent money much faster and ended the year with about half the cash in the bank as Coleman.
When Franken entered the Senate race a year ago, his high profile as a former "Saturday Night Live" performer, author and liberal radio host made him an immediate heavyweight. But he'd never run a political race and had moved back to his childhood home of Minnesota less than two years earlier. Republicans immediately started digging into his history of sometimes outrageous remarks delivered under the guise of satire.
Some Democrats hoped a high-profile state legislator or other political veteran would enter the race to offer a more traditional alternative to Franken and Ciresi, who had an impressive resume as a trial lawyer but similar inexperience in running a successful campaign. But none did.
Franken's celebrity makes him an unconventional candidate, but his path to success so far shares less with mavericks like Jesse Ventura or Paul Wellstone and more with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Klobuchar, the former Hennepin County prosecutor, shot to the Democratic endorsement and then the U.S. Senate in 2006 on the strength of a disciplined campaign that overwhelmed other Democratic Senate wannabes on most of the key fronts. She set the fundraising pace and built a support network in every corner of the state, lining up the most important union endorsements and building relationships with Democratic activists.
Franken's approach has been similar. He "worked harder than anybody in the race," said Steve Kelley, a former state senator who previously ran for governor and U.S. Senate, and who had been supporting Ciresi. "Al got in it sooner, and he worked at it longer and more consistently. He multiplied that effort, and it's a message that Democrats wanted to hear."
Franken's popularity with rank-and-file Democrats has now been proven. The task ahead is winning over independents and moderates. In 2006, Klobuchar benefited from an opponent, Mark Kennedy, who was a conservative and a staunch supporter of the Iraq War at a bad time for candidates with that profile.
Coleman is shrewd and politically agile, highlighting his work on mostly non-ideological issues like easing Guatemalan adoptions and alleviating passport headaches for people who live along the state's northern border. At the same time, he and the state GOP have laid the groundwork for relentless attacks on the many brash and irreverent things Franken has said over the years in comedy routines, books and on the radio.
"Al has grown over time," Kelley said. "But there are still tremendous challenges in front of him."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)