Drinking Liberally

Well, I braved my first Drinking Liberally last night and finally met many of the great progressive bloggers in MN face to face. If I try to list everyone I met, I am sure I'll forget and leave someone out, so I won't go there, but I always find it very refreshing to go to a group of very politically in-tune folks and not see a familiar face. That is getting more and more difficult these days.

Oh yeah, Al Franken was there too last night. It was good to see him mingle, and even though Jeff and Flash and a few others hogged Al most of the night, it was fun chatting with him and see him break some of that “celebrity” impression his career has given him. He was very real and down to earth, plus it is a given I guess to say he's naturally funny. I still have some reservations about his run, but if he plays this right, and keeps up the type of mingling he did last night, he just might pull this thing off. It is very important for any candidate to get out and meet everyday Minnesotans, and this early on - 8 days into the campaign as Al kept pointing out, is a great start.

To compare the first meeting I had with Norm Coleman, back in the day when he was a Democrat and the Mayor of Saint Paul, with the meeting last night of Al Franken, Al wins hands down. Lets just say after the meeting with Al, I did not walk away saying “If that is a Democrat, I sure don't want to be one.” Norm didn't keep me wondering for long, during the chance encounter with Norm way back when, he was slimy and weasely through and through. I was not surprised that he soon shed his fake exterior and let the political winds of the day blow him into the GOP. If there is anything 'real' about Norm, is that he is a republican who will lie and slime his way to whatever best suits him.

Whoever the DFL backs, will need plenty of mops to clean up the mess Norm has left on that seat. At least with Franken, we know exactly what we'll get, and it will be fun watching him give this race a go.