But since you brought it up, Al was in fact the most conservative of the three Democratic candidates. I don’t know how you could think otherwise. Neither Ciresi or Nelson-Pallmeyer ever spoke out in support of the war as Al did. Al got no early support from the Peace community at all. Al and Mike were pro-nuke, Jack wasn’t. In fact, I don’t recall a single issue on which Franken was more progressive than both the other candidates.

But I’m NOT angry with Al. He worked hard. I question his judgment and wonder how much ground he lost over the summer by being quiet and raising money instead of meeting non-DFLers. And frankly, the outsiders the DSCC forced on him saved his campaign because he was driving it into the ditch. The early attack ads on Norm were laughably trivial. A sweet deal on rent to live in someone’s DC basement? That’s a campaign issue?

The problem was with the Netroots jumpstarting his campaign in friggin’ August of 2007. By the time June rolled around most activists were already starting to drag. I live in Midway less than a mile from all the headquarters. Al’s? Not so busy in the closing months. Obama’s? Even on Saturday afternoons there were lines going down the block of people wanting to volunteer or buy posters/bumper stickers.

This race was ours to win, but non-Minnesotans gave to Al — not as individuals — but as the Netroots official candidate. I’ve been blogging in Minnesota as long as Phoenix Woman and I know the players. I never found one single Minnesotan who had been contacted by the Netroots prior to the online endorsement. Not one. This was a decision made by non-Minnesotans and it was WRONG.

If the Netroots want to be a power, they simply cannot interfere with the primary process in individual states. Minnesota bloggers, sure. But the nature of politics guarantees that there will be ruffled feathers when outsiders try to call the tune.

Both men ran shamelessly negative ads that have done much to destroy what little respect Minnesotans had left for their political parties

I liked Al’s quote in one of the debates which was something to the effect, “We’re running ads about Norm’s record, which just happens to be pretty negative.” Youtube on George Galloway and you’ll see the only distinction Normy managed to make for himself in six years, so I’m in perfect agreement with that concept. Norm’s record sucks and pointing it out is not pretty, but necessary. Sorry that’s not Minnesota nice…grow up why doncha?

Al Franken was clearly the most conservative and pro-war Democratic candidate

Um, yeah, maybe you’d be wanting to rethink that one a little bit…ya think? ‘Cause that isn’t clear to me.

And Ciresi or Pallmeyer? That’s the kind of Mike Hatch style, milquetoast candidate that specifically DOESN’T win in Minnesota. Perhaps you’ve noticed? Hell, why not bring back Skippy Humphrey!

Go ahead and take the last word, but try addressing my points instead of dismissing them.

This comment not only makes no sense whatsoever, it is almost completely, categorically, and maliciously false.

Both men ran shamelessly negative ads that have done much to destroy what little respect Minnesotans had left for their political parties. Whether you watched cable or broadcast TV the ads pounded home cynical messages that were depressing and anger inducing, and did so with mindnumbing relentlessness.

While I would prefer a Democrat to hold Paul Wellstone’s seat, a Franken loss would fall directly on the shoulders of the Netroots who flooded Minnesota with early donations over a year in advance of our primary, resulting in a decent candidate withdrawing from the race (Mike Ciresi).

The Netroots handpicked Al Franken, and in retrospect it’s obvious that given all of Coleman’s personal scandals almost any candidate could have won other than Al, a writer/entertainer whose f-bombs and soft core pornographic writings proved to be as distasteful to Minnesotans as Norm Coleman’s sleaze.

I don’t think a bloggers conference would help, but it would be nice to see the online community develop a code of ethics, one which specifically prohibits organized online support for candidates who have not yet won their primary.

Without the Netroots help we’d be at 59 right now thanks to either Senator-elect Mike Ciresi or Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. But because the Netroots immaturely jumped into a race in which Al Franken was clearly the most conservative and pro-war Democratic candidate, Minnesota progressives lost their chance to elect an anti-war senator. Now, no matter what happens Minnesota will have a Senator who supported George Bush’s lying march to war.

Pressure is mounting on the canvassing board’s members to grow spines. Harry Reid himself has weighed in on the situation, calling the canvassing board’s members’ abdication of their authority “a cause for great concern,” which at least one analyst, Washington University political scientist Steven Smith, thinks is a sign that Reid will be readying a US Senate probe into the recount.

I think Steven Smith has no idea who Harry Reid is. A harsh letter with a follow-up floor groveling, yes. A senate probe with actual repercussions? When pigs fly, or Dem congresscritters grow spines. Whichever occurs first (my money is on the pigs).

India had their 911, alright. Made/let it happen the gov’t did.