Senator Franken You Do Not Have To Resign - Don't Do It - 99% Of Democrats Want You To Stay - Stay

[SeaDoo77]

I am not going to attack the people that attacked you Al. You simply can change your mind about your resignation. They people in your own party who attacked you are taking heat like never before. You can't even call KG's office because the lines have been jammed with pissed off DEMOCRATS. I have tried like 50 times.

Al, don't resign.

We will wait until a proper investigation has been done, and then we will see.

You can leave then if you feel like it.

KEEP YOUR SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. What's the best way to contact Al Franken -

so that he actually gets the message?

[SeaDoo77]

3. Tell Your Senators How You Fell I Guess

It's what I'm doing.

[spooky3]

8. His senate website accepts emails even if you are not

a Minnesotan.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Thank you. Good to know.

[sprinkleeninow]

25. Yes, I left one the other day, was transmitted quickly and got an email thank you acknowledgement.

[bluestateboomer]

24. Use Resistbot

Text RESIST to 50409 to fax or call your senators or rep.

[spooky3]

30. I am not sure if the poster is a constituent and I think Resistbot requires you to be a

constituent, because it asks you your address and then tells you your rep and Senators.

[JI7]

51. Not just Franken. Contact other Dem senators and demand they call for him to stay

[Mme. Defarge]

2. Hell, yes!

Brought back by popular demand!

[SeaDoo77]

4. +1

[Guilded Lilly]

5. All we can do is call, email and go public where it might be seen.

And I imagine thousands are doing just that. We can’t change something like this by being quiet about it.

[pandr32]

6. Agreed!

[SharonClark]

7. "99% Of Democrats Want You To Stay"

You took a poll while you were jamming the phone line? How do you know that the other callers aren't thanking her?

[Agschmid]

17. They have no idea, the 99% number is bullshit.

[oberliner]

10. A new poll shows nearly 50% of Democratic voters believe Franken should resign (Nov 22)

Nearly half of all Democratic voters said Sen. Al Franken should step aside following allegations that he groped two women without their consent.

A Politico/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday showed that 49% of Democratic registered voters said the Minnesota senator should resign, just 1% point below the 50% of registered voters overall who said Franken should resign.

The poll showed that 25% of Democrats said he should not resign, and 67% of Democrats said he should be subject to an official Senate ethics investigation.

The poll surveyed 2,586 registered voters between November 16 and 19, and had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

http://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-voters-poll-al-franken-resign-2017-11

That was before the calls to resign came from the senators.

[mythology]

11. Facts are awkward things sometimes

The DU bubble on Franken is pretty thick.

[crazycatlady]

23. DU is the Al Franken fan club

Last week, I wouldn't have guessed a single Democratic senator was more important than 47 others. I was wrong.

[BlueWI]

42. You must enjoy the Republican Senate majority

One more seat to defend in 2018, a high profile opponent of Trump removed on the cheap. Nothing important about the Franken seat, not at all. 😐

[crazycatlady]

46. YEs he's a high profile opponent of Trump

But so is Kirsten Gillibrand. In fact she is the only senator to vote against his entire cabinet. THeir senate careers are both roughly the same length. I hear so much more about KG's accomplishment's in the senate than AF's. I rarely heard about anything he was doing in the senate and the issues that he was focusing on. I have heard a lot about what she's been doing in the senate and her issues (like when she tried to change the reporting structure of sexual assault in the military). (Disclaimer-- I do live in a state that neighbors hers, but I don't watch TV and get my news from sources like Huffington Post). Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you one issue that AF focused on during his senate career. I also never thought he was a presidential contender.

The reality is that Franken's name was in the headlines everytime another woman came forward. And ultimately that is bad PR for the Democratic Party. Last week, my (non political) family was discussing how he was dragging down the party and how he needed to go because he was dragging down the Democrats' argument that they were better than Roy Moore (this is a position that my father took, not me).

I just don't think that in a body like the senate, one senator is more important than another. Is this Tiger Beat magazine with Al Franken as the latest boyband lead singer?

But if you want to attack fellow Democrats, knock yourself out. Defending a (sitting) Democratic senator who is consistent with her views about sexual assault does not lead to a GOP majority? You know what does? "Democrats" yelling at junior level staffers about not giving candidates or the party a dime because their idol resigend. You know what else does? Posting comments on a Democratic Senator's social media page that only stirs up Republicans.

Ronald Reagan once told his fellow Republicans to never speak ill of another Republicans. Democrats never got that memo, and it shows here.

[BlueWI]

48. The irony is too much

So you think it's bad for Democrats to attack each other, a week after 38 Democratic senators called on one of their prominent members to leave the office he was elected to by Democrats in another state, a month of so after Senator Gillibrand beats the dead horse of the Monica Lewinsky affair to put a fresh coat of tarnish on one of two Democratic nominees that have actually been elected since 1976.

On the social media feeding frenzy - did you forget the frenzy that happened when the Franken allegations first came out, with the help of a well known hashtag, and it's happening now after Gillibrand and others decided that they knew better than the voters of Minnesota. It's predictable that there would be a backlash. The Democratic Senate leadership decided it prefers trial and conviction by mass media rather than due process. It was a gambit, and not a smart or ethical one. Allegations are allegations for a reason - they are unproven heresay. This party leadership should have known better than to do this.

I can definitely respect and admire Gillibrand's efforts as an attorney, legislator, and advocate for workplace equity and freedom from sexual harassment. But I am disappointed and appalled that this party chose to handle this particular situation in this way. It's ill-timed, sends a completely muddled message about how reported but unverified claims should be handled, and it's generally a big hot self created mess. I have written as such to Tammy Baldwin, my senator, and my Bernie Sanders t- shirt will be mailed to his Senate office tomorrow with a short letter explaining my thoughts.

All the same, good luck to us all. We're gonna need it.

[crazycatlady]

49. I'm not on social media (by choice) so I have no idea what people post there

But by 2020, Franken will be yesterday's news. In fact outside of this forum (aka his fanclub) he'll barely be on the radar in 2018. News fades fast and the clock's ticking on his 15 minutes. Think of how many political sex scandals can come and go in that time period. (Per Wiki 15 in this decade that's not over yet.) There'll be another man accused (or outed) by then. My hope is that it is a "family values" type Republican that gets his Grindr account hacked or uses his Twitter feed the way Anthony Weiner did. Do you think that by the midterms, people will be remembering names like Tim Murphy or Joe Barton (two congressmen that recently resigned/declined to run for reelection due to sex scandals)?

I have no idea why KG beat the dead horse that was Monica Lewinsky or attacked the Clintons. She won by the largest margin in the senate in 2012 and I have no idea why she's doing this. Her old district is a top tier pickup opportunity and I don't want her to trash her reputation there because she'll be needed for whoever the Democratic candidate (7 way primary) is.

One of my senators (Cory Booker) said that Franken was right for resigning ("I just watched Al Franken do the honorable thing and resign. My question is-- why isn't Donald Trump doing the same thing? WHo has more serious allegations against him, with more women who have come forward." My other senator recently came off a corruption trial and has much bigger things to worry about.

[BlueWI]

50. Hopefully some of this will be resolved by 2018, but

the perspective is different when the senator comes from your own state or a nearby state. I think it's a weakness that so much of the Senate leadership is not from the Midwest. There's a lot of admiration for Al Franken near here, as one of the inheritors of the Wellstone legacy. The House and Senate leadership come from fairly safe blue states (New York and California) and I feel that a subtle party of this affair is a disrespect for "flyover" states, which makes it really surprising that Baldwin was involved. I guess we'll have to wait until a New Yorker expose comes out to find out whose idea this really was, how this decision was reached, and what was said to Franken.

It could turn into primary wars redux, with the national party misreading its base in must-win states. Meanwhile, who will the replacement for Franken be? Keith Ellison has never run in or won a statewide election. The attorney general in MN seems like a good candidate, but can an effective campaign organization be built in time for 2018, now that Franken's seat has to be defended next year instead of 2020? Kloubachar is up for reelection next year too, and now, both Senate elections will take place in the non-presidential year, which means a lower turnout and a slight disadvantage for Democrats in that respect. Lots of unintended consequences.

In any case, take care.

[crazycatlady]

52. Same to you

I guess I defend Kirsten Gillibrand because I was born and raised in NEw York (live in NJ now but I'm ready for Bob Menendez to be primaried due to his corruption trial giving the GOP ammo against him).

I actually think that the 2020 nominee and VP should be from "flyover' states. A year ago I said the ticket should be John Hickenlooper (termed out governor of CO)/Amy Klobuchar (I think we'll elect a woman VP before we'll elect one president).

I've never been to MN (on my list) but usually for things like that the state party puts together a coordinated campaign where they join forces for field operations with all of the statewide races on the ticket (with the option for downticket candidates to buy in). Most state Democratic parties do this (at least from Labor Day-Election Day). (I've worked on a few such campaigns). I believe MN has their governor's race next year too so it would make even more sense to join forces.

[BlueWI]

60. I'm going to visit New Jersey someday

I've only ridden through or flown over New Jersey - the Garden State. Though after Trump, I'm not sure if I'd enjoy Atlantic City as much. : )

[spooky3]

16. Ah, Politico, the fair and balanced site

And odd that no one saw any inconsistency between 67% who wanted an investigation and the “nearly half” who thought severe consequences (resignation) should occur prior to one.

[fountainofyouth]

21. Thank you n/t

[Drahthaardogs]

47. Your definition of "New" is suspect

It's almost three weeks old. That's old for a poll. However, I think there are some more windmills over the next horizon!

[brooklynite]

12. Here's a suggestion...

Last edited Sun Dec 10, 2017, 03:26 PM - Edit history (2)

If you want to actually send a message to Senator Franken, don’t go with hyperbole like “99% of Democrats want you to stay”.

[USALiberal]

19. LOL, OK. n.t

[Control-Z]

13. Put this on his Facebook page if he had one.

And link to it on Twitter or make it a stand alone tweet.

If we could come up with a good trending hashtag that would be even better.

Btw, I just used resist-bot for the first time. I sent letters to Senators Feinstein and Harris. It was so easy to do.

[Locutusofborg]

14. Let the voters decide

Minnesota's governor will appoint a temporary replacement for Al Franken and there will be a special election next November. Al Franken can run for the seat.

[disndat]

31. AL should win 99% Chance

I wish Al Franken would change his mind and stay. However, failing that, in a special election, AF should win based on the fact that his resignation was railroaded.

[flamingdem]

15. Agree

[del19713]

18. AGREE

[uppityperson]

59. Welcome to du. How did you find us?

[PoliticAverse]

20. "99% of statistics are made up". n/t

[crazycatlady]

22. Where is the polling backing up your data?

[DownriverDem]

28. Wishful thinking

By folks who don't understand politics and what this is all about.

[Egnever]

44. Yea fake piety is a winning strategy

How can we all be so stupid.

[DownriverDem]

26. Clearly

It's politics seadoo77. It's clear you don't understand it or get it. Move on. Put your energy into beating the crap out of the repubs.

[LexVegas]

27. 99%?

[True Blue American]

32. I emailed Senator Brown.

For the first time,ever I am truly disappointed in him and his fellow Dems.

There should be an ethics investigation. Instead they all formed a lynch mob.

[tammywammy]

33. 99%? I don't think even 99% of DU agrees. n/t

[stonecutter357]

34. K&R

[SCantiGOP]

35. 90+% of DU perhaps

Not close to that among Democrats and, more importantly, not even 50% among voters.

[fallout87]

36. he already announced his plans

how can he walk them back now without a bunch of trouble?

I don't want him to resign either, but he never should have been forced to make his statements on Thursday due to the political posturing of opportunistic politicians.

[L. Coyote]

37. Pull a Larry Craig.

Not at the airport, of course

Sen. Larry Craig said he would resign, but did not.

[Ligyron]

38. None of us think this is fair.

Hell, there's even a lot of Repugs who don't think it's fair.

But this: "Grow up, it's Politics" stuff?

It well may be Politics, but isn't this the type of thing most people hate about it? What's the approval rate of Congress, 19% on a good day?

All I can say is now that we sacrificed one of our best sons, KG and the rest better go after Trump 24/7 from here on out. It will be the only way they can redeem themselves at this point.

[PatrickforO]

40. Yes, Ligyron, I echo what you're saying here.

A friend of mine taking the side of Gillibrand told me that 'politics isn't a court of law.'

I replied, 'yes, but that does not relieve those in politics of responsibility, accountability and common decency.'

Common decency.

When we jettison that as a people, then all that could have been good about this nation will fall by the wayside, and instead of democratic process we will have corporate masters who have no morality, only greed.

[PatrickforO]

39. I'm not sure about 99%, but I think a solid majority on here

support Franken and would like him to stay.

As to 'heat,' I have certainly contacted these Senators and made my displeasure known to them, and I've left a message at Franken's DC office as well as sending him a letter of support.

And, of course, I have written numerous posts on here, as well as spoken in person to many here in my state.

As to calling Kristen Gillibrand's office, I've spoken with a couple of nice staffers, one in Rocester and the other in her DC office. If you couldn't get through, I suggest calling her DC office about 9:15 AM EST on a weekday morning. The day I got through was Friday.

[SeaDoo77]

41. I Know - It Isn't 99% - I Saw The Polls

It's just what was done to him is wrong. Men and women deserve to be treated fairly when they are attacked, or accused.

This did not happen here, and it looks like some of his "accusers" stories don't pan out.

Don't resign Al.

I won't mention Trump, Moore, or anyone else. It is about what is fair and just. It always should be.

[smirkymonkey]

43. Hear, Hear!

[TheCowsCameHome]

45. I just completed an email message

on his website urging him to reconsider.

*sigh*

[Doodley]

53. I've got an idea. How about another thread about Al Franken?

[secondwind]

54. He will be back. And run again in 2020.

[Heartstrings]

55. I believe he said he would resign "effective in a few weeks"

Mueller's at work, lord knows where this train will be in the next "few weeks"....I can only hope for the best.

Midterms, Midterms, Midterms!

[Tarheel_Dem]

56. 99%? When we make shit up, we're no better than the opposition. Besides, polling says otherwise.

[TheFrenchRazor]

57. 99%? really? i wish some people would stop trying to turn him into some kind of hero. nt

[HelenWheels]

58. Don't do it, Al

because we all know you didn't do it.