MANKATO — There is a feistiness to Minnesota Sen. Al Franken increasingly on display, a feature that doesn’t always look smooth but indicates a kind of guttiness and independence worthy of a closer look.
In an early February meeting between Democrats and White House officials, Franken “pointedly,” according to reports, remarked to Senior White House advisor David Axelrod that President Obama hasn’t done enough to move health care legislation, inspiring more pointed questions within the group. The freshman senator is personally courageous (or naïve) on the health care issue, having advocated passing a health care bill via the controversial reconciliation process.
Franken’s bluntness is gaining him a reputation. In December, while performing as presiding officer of the Senate, he shocked everyone by objecting when four-term Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a well-known thorn in Democrats’ sides, asked to extend his remarks beyond his 10 allotted minutes. Cutting off Lieberman pleased many liberals, but more importantly it showed that Franken, once again demonstrating his independence, will not always commit to unwritten Senate rules when he’s got his dander up.
On other issues, Franken’s willingness to mix it up has earned him points, and sometimes victories. He forcefully reminded legislators that the constitution “gives everybody the right to due process of law” to help pass an amendment overturning a Halliburton/KBR employment contract that stipulated workers could not bring sexual assault allegations to court, but only to private arbitration. Another time, during a hearing on a proposed $30 billion merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, he used his career as an entertainer to skewer industry promises that media consolidation — and the fewer consumer choices it entails — is nothing to be concerned about. And after NLRB nominee Craig Becker was held up for nomination by 2008 Republican presidential standard-bearer John McCain, Franken showed no reluctance whatsoever to take McCain to task at a hearing for not submitting to Becker a single question for several months.
Franken’s willingness to make the president’s senior advisor uncomfortable is noteworthy and probably beneficial, for every president needs a critic now and then within his own party. Such talk can’t help but score with a growing subgroup of non-traditionalist voters.
