Thursday, June 16, 2005
Empty Suit Thursday: Norm Coleman's stage craft
Posted by:
Hammer / 2:42 PM
52% of Minnesotans like their junior senator, Smilin' Norm Coleman. This, then, is a public service message to those 52%.
- Just because Smilin' Norm uses his wife as a prop doesn't mean he actually lives with her. Of course, if Al Franken notes the contradiction, it's a cheap shot. As Garrison Keillor wrote two years ago, "Norm got a free ride from the press. St. Paul is a small town and anybody who hangs around the St. Paul Grill knows about Norm's habits. Everyone knows that his family situation is, shall we say, very interesting, but nobody bothered to ask about it, least of all the religious people in the Republican Party. They made their peace with hypocrisy long ago."
- Smilin' Norm might have pulled a Duke Cunningham in reverse. As mayor of Saint Paul, Coleman sold commercial property below market value, then received large campaign contributions from the purchaser.
- Smilin' Norm proudly stood up for underqualified zealots in black robes. Welcome to your lifetime appointment, Judge Brown. Please don't abuse your power too greatly.
- Smilin' Norm had a poor choice of words for a man kissing up to the White House: "We need to be vigilant of terrorists, but we cannot give them the victory of making us twist ourselves into a pretzel in the name of security"
- SUSA polling on Coleman is covered here.
- Smilin' Norm backed the wrong horse in an Ohio congressional primary. Curiously, he supported the trial lawyer opposed to stem cell research for his largesse. That's not particularly consistent with membership in the Republican Main Street Partnership.