Posted on 12/07/2017 2:19:29 PM PST by mandaladon
WASHINGTON — Republicans may have just gotten another layer of armor to defend their Senate majority.
Sen. Al Franken's seat wasn't supposed to be up again until 2020. But his announcement Thursday that he was resigning amid allegations of sexual misconduct sets up a 2018 special election in Minnesota. And Republicans, who hold a 52-48 majority, are now on the hunt for a top-tier candidate in a politically competitive state where President Donald Trump lost by less than 2 percentage points last year.
The unexpected opportunity could be a "total game-changer in terms of control of the Senate," said Republican strategist Alex Conant, a Minnesota native who worked in communications roles for the Republican National Committee and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 2012 presidential campaign. "If," he added, "we field a strong candidate."
Pawlenty, 57, is the dream candidate for the GOP, particularly after former Sen. Norm Coleman, who lost his seat to Franken by a few hundred votes in 2008, said Thursday that he won't run. Pawlenty currently serves as CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, a Washington lobbying group, and is considered a good bet to raise a lot of money quickly. There was no word from him Thursday.
"Everybody in Minnesota on the Republican side is extremely eager to hear from Tim Pawlenty," said Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist and former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and who is from Minnesota. "He would be a spectacular candidate if he would consider it."
Holmes added that Franken's early departure "shifts the landscape" for control of the Senate.
The counterweight for would-be Republican hopefuls is the expectation that they would be running into a headwind in the first midterm of Trump's presidency.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
He’s not resigning. He’s resigning before he’s not resigning. Does that make sense? That’s a politician for ya. Kerryesque.
Whoever is appointed to fill out Franken’s term will be the next elected senator(?)
The Republicans may think it could be a “game changer”, but the Democrats think it’s a safe seat or they wouldn’t have had him resign.
The Feeding Frenzy has already begun.
MN will have to hold a special election. Assumption would be whoever is appointed interim will be the d candidate but not guaranteed. MN is the bluest of upper Midwest sans IL, however Trump won Election Day voting big time there, only stayed blue due to early voting and not by much.
Could Rs pick it up? Possible depending on who the candidate is... but odds would be it remaining Dem. Will have to wait and see
The Minnesota Governor is a Dem. He will appoint a temp to fill the Franken seat, bet it will be a Dem. An election has to be held in 2018 to elect a permanent replacement. Repubs may have a shot in the 18 election. but until then a Dem will hold the seat.
<>The counterweight for would-be Republican hopefuls is the expectation that they would be running into a headwind in the first midterm of Trump’s presidency.<>
So says NBC. I hope they keep that meme.
Well, we have nothing to lose, and they have one seat to lose.
Trump was once a very long shot.
Trump almost won Minnesota didn’t he? Pawlenty? RINO but that’s ok. You take what you can get. Go for it.
“Pawlenty? RINO but that’s ok. You take what you can get. Go for it.”
Pawlenty being a RINO is bad. However, look at the Minn seat as a bonus. If Pawlenty runs, he’ll get a lot of his own K Street cash and will force the Dems to defend a seat they can’t afford to defend. At a minimum, it will help make election night 2018 better and could help more conservative candidates in other states.
However, after that, Pawlenty is going to be simply another swamp creature in the Senate. However, I’ll take him over an arbitrary Dem in the Senate. He has moments of clarity here and there ... if the national mood shifts towards conservatism, Pawlenty will help more than he hurts. However, if things remain evenly divided, he’ll be a pain in the ass.
Also gotta say that I thought for sure Franken was going to stay. I guess they’re adopting a “we fired all of our deviants” strategy ... that’s going to be stupid (which is good for us). Once Moore wins, that whole narrative will go away. They’ll probably try to attack Trump again, but, again, people are only going to roll their eyes as they’ve seen that whole attack already.
The person running the DNC is a bona fide moron. Next year is going to be ridiculously interesting :-).
This is nothing but a Rat trick to stop Moore probably with Mitch in cahoots. If Moore wins l bet Franken doesn’t quit. If Moore loses Franken stays for key votes and is replaced by another worthless punk.
I would not call this a “game changer”.
It puts one more seat into play.
The Democrats already have 25 seats up for election. The Republicans only 8.
It would be positive for Republicans.
Hey now. Math is your friend.
Deliver an even bigger majority in 2018 to set up redistricting in 2020.
Here are some real math numbers.
1st. 2018 is not going to end well for them. They have 25 seats up, with 11 vulnerable. Compare that to the Republicans who have only seats up with merely 2 vulnerable.
Let’s just say losing 30% cor the Dems would be a friggin disaster but, not as bad as 2020....more later.
I’d think Ellison would throw his hat in the ring.
What exit?
The degenerate has not resigned.
unless Kid Rock runs.
If Moore wins Frankin will stay
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.