Al Franken & Rand Paul

[Perknose]

My comment is that I take some small measure of heart from this one perhaps unlikely expression of sanity, humanity, and comity. :thumbsup:

Franken, Paul form unlikely Senate duo

The political opposites share a sense of humor and a strong, bipartisan friendship.

WASHINGTON

When Republican Rand Paul was elected to the Senate in November, he received a congratulatory call from an unexpected source: U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

That 30-minute phone call -- the only one Paul received from a Democrat after Election Day -- has sparked an unlikely friendship between the Kentucky Tea Party conservative and an unapologetic Minnesota liberal. Franken attended Paul's party after he was sworn in as a senator, and Paul asked Franken to be his Democratic Senate mentor.

The duo has raised eyebrows because the two senators couldn't be further apart politically: Paul is a staunch libertarian and founded the Senate Tea Party Caucus, while Franken's liberalism is well known through his writing and speeches.

"At first blush, obviously it is [odd]," Franken said in an interview. "But in many ways it makes a lot of sense."

The pair's budding friendship serves as one small counterpoint to the notion that Washington's rhetoric is so toxic in today's hyper-partisan political environment that senators as dissimilar as Franken and Paul cannot come together.

Their role-playing as the Senate's odd couple follows in a long line of senators with some of the sharpest partisan stripes finding friends across the aisle, from former Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Utah's Orrin Hatch to Minnesota's Paul Wellstone and former New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici.

"You can be friends and not necessarily agree on every political issue," Paul said. "I don't think people want us to always agree and sing 'Kumbaya.' They want us to disagree on issues of substance, and I think this may be an example of how we can show that the rhetoric doesn't have to always be inflamed."

While Franken and Paul disagree on most everything -- Paul joked on David Letterman's show that they'd try to set a record for voting the opposite way -- both say they can find common ground on cutting military spending or scaling back the Patriot Act.

Those issues are similar to what Paul's father, 2008 presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, has teamed up on with another well-known Democrat, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank.

Beyond their obvious policy differences, Franken and Paul share some common traits, most notably their path to Washington. Both ran campaigns that received intense national interest: Franken as a former "Saturday Night Live" writer and Paul as the son of a 2008 presidential candidate.

"Those guys carry with them some amount of their own celebrity -- they're not blend-in kind of guys," said Scott Jennings, a Kentucky GOP strategist. "They both have a kind of celebrity personality that surrounds them that's a little unusual."

Different Senate paths

While Paul and Franken both came to Washington amid plenty of fanfare, only one has sought the spotlight.

In a previous life, Franken might have been cracking "aqua Buddha" jokes at Paul's expense, one of the election's most-publicized stories about Paul's college days. But in the Senate, Franken has avoided the spotlight, keeping his head down in a style that many compare to then-U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton in 2001. He generally doesn't talk to the national press and turns down cable TV interview requests.

Paul, meanwhile, has embraced the limelight. He wrote a book titled "The Tea Party Goes to Washington" and has made appearances on "The Daily Show" and the "Late Show With David Letterman."

Letterman, who called Franken a mutual friend, asked Paul if the Minnesota Democrat advised him about going on the show. "Yeah, he said don't," Paul responded.

An accidental phone call

Franken and Paul might never have bonded if not for Franken's mistaken notion of Senate etiquette.

The day after the election he called all the winning senators, Democrat and Republican. "I just thought that's what you do," Franken said. "Evidently, it isn't."

Franken and Paul hit it off, which Paul attributes to a similar sense of humor. First they talked about some Senate procedure, Franken said. "Then we talked about the fact he was an ophthalmologist, and I had the beginnings of some cataracts."

Paul was asked to choose a Democratic and Republican mentor shortly after being sworn in as part of the Senate's freshman orientation. He picked U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, and Franken.

In their first mentor meeting this month, Franken said he and Paul discussed working on legislation together, though nothing concrete was planned. Even on issues where Franken's liberalism and Paul's libertarianism intersect -- reducing military funding, for instance -- the two men are likely to reach the same conclusion from opposite ends.

In other words, don't expect Franken to join the Tea Party anytime soon.

Last month, Paul gave a speech on the Senate floor advocating cuts to Federal Aviation Administration funding while Franken presided over the chamber.

"He came up afterward and he was very complimentary," Paul recalled. "I said, 'Well, did I convince you? Did I get you to vote on my side?'"
"Oh, no," Franken told him.

Linky.

 

[nonlnear]

This isn't as weird as the MSM would have us believe. On a related note, any bill which is cosponsored by Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul is good for the country.

 

[Rainsford]

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I think it's pretty depressing that bipartisan friendship is so rare that not only is it worth noting, it's worth an entire article. It often seems like the only goal of a political group in America is to totally destroy whatever political group they hate at the moment. This has been particularly true with the latest election, where it seemed the entire purpose of the Republican revival was to beat the Democrats as badly as possible, with fixing the problems of this country apparently following in some sort of unspecified way.

Personally I think the train came off the track when it became a regular and widely accepted part of political debate to view your political opponent as wanting to destroy everything good about your country. Once it was widely accepted that our political differences weren't based on two different approaches to making America better but in fact one side was composed entirely of Batman villains, rational political discussion just vanished.

 

[bamacre]

Libertarians and progressives have more in common than meet the eye. Friendships between the two groups isn't shocking to anyone who understands this. Paul's biggest problem will be maintaining a libertarian voting record and keeping his senate seat. His dad has been able to do it, but only via the House. Rand has a bigger constituency.

 

[Moonbeam]

I love Perknose and bamacre.

 

[Matt1970]

It's hard for a lot of people around here to understand. Narrow mindedness brings a lot of people to the conclusion that the other side is stupid, ignorant and evil. Some of them go so far as to not even being able to have a friendship with someone from the other side.

 

[Carmen813]

Liberalism and libertarianism share some common traits...in general similar outcomes but different methods. Classic liberalism looks a lot like libertarianism.

 

[Vette73]

Libertarians and progressives have more in common than meet the eye. Friendships between the two groups isn't shocking to anyone who understands this. Paul's biggest problem will be maintaining a libertarian voting record and keeping his senate seat. His dad has been able to do it, but only via the House. Rand has a bigger constituency.

Not only that but Republicans would love for both of the Pauls to lose to another republican. neither was "picked" by republicans and they, R's, leave them be as long as they vote R on big issues.

My only worry about Rand was he would just get in line and vote the way Rs want. I hope that is not the case but time will tell.

 

[bamacre]

I love Perknose and bamacre.

I love you, too, Moonie.

My only worry about Rand was he would just get in line and vote the way Rs want. I hope that is not the case but time will tell.

He voted "no" to extend the Patriot Act, so good start.

 

[Thump553]

I saw the same article shortly after reading an extremely depressing article in Newsweek about the isolation and strict partisanship in Washington. Nearly all of them refuse to soicalize at all outside of their party. About 4 dozen Congress members currently live in their offices in Washington-that's really, really sad. We are having a lot of people living really twisted personal lives running our country-not a good thing.

 

[Craig234]

This isn't as weird as the MSM would have us believe. On a related note, any bill which is cosponsored by Dennis Kucinich is good for the country.

Fixed.

 

[bamacre]

Fixed.

It's quite odd you have such hatred for Paul, yet Kucinich has so much respect for Paul, he'd run for president with him. Is Kucinich wrong, or you? I think we all know the answer to that question.

 

[werepossum]

I saw the same article shortly after reading an extremely depressing article in Newsweek about the isolation and strict partisanship in Washington. Nearly all of them refuse to soicalize at all outside of their party. About 4 dozen Congress members currently live in their offices in Washington-that's really, really sad. We are having a lot of people living really twisted personal lives running our country-not a good thing.

Everybody says that, but frankly I'd prefer politicians who after election continue identifying with their constituents rather than with each other.

 

[nonlnear]

It's quite odd you have such hatred for Paul, yet Kucinich has so much respect for Paul, he'd run for president with him. Is Kucinich wrong, or you? I think we all know the answer to that question.

A Paul/Kucinich or a Kucinich/Paul ticket would be amazing.

 

[bamacre]

A Paul/Kucinich or a Kucinich/Paul ticket would be amazing.

I'd vote for it either way. Shocking, I know.

 

[BladeVenom]

Dennis is the best potential candidate of the Democrats, according to Ron Paul http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJcnoDfFWhM

 

[nonlnear]

I'd vote for it either way. Shocking, I know.

Me too. I had to think twice about it when I first contemplated the possibility, given that I have some strong disagreements with Kucinich. I eventually realized that the policy points on which I disagree with Kucinich are really legislative matters. When it comes to running the executive, the two are really very like minded. I imagine some Kucinich fans might come to a similar conclusion about such a ticket as well.

 

[Craig234]

I saw the same article shortly after reading an extremely depressing article in Newsweek about the isolation and strict partisanship in Washington. Nearly all of them refuse to soicalize at all outside of their party. About 4 dozen Congress members currently live in their offices in Washington-that's really, really sad. We are having a lot of people living really twisted personal lives running our country-not a good thing.

I wouldn't overrate the benefits of Senators socializing or being friendly to each other.

What matters is policy, and their friendliness is a two-edged sword. It might feel good to see Senators smiling with their arms around each other, but not if they're passing bad policy - what would they pass that's good because they're social, that they wouldn't pass if they just voted on what's right?

 

[CallMeJoe]

Still waiting for spidey to show up, defending his hero from charges of fraternizing with Communists...

 

[spidey07]

Still waiting for spidey to show up, defending his hero from charges of fraternizing with Communists...

For sure it took him from a 1005 out of 10 to only 1004. Shame.

 

[Macamus Prime]

According to each of the jaded sides; Franklin isn't getting any union kick backs of drugs/money and Rand isn't getting ass fucked by large corporations - that's why they are friends.

 

[First]

Two loony extremists in Congress teaming up with each other on legislation shouldn't shock anyone.

 

[Vette73]

Two loony extremists in Congress teaming up with each other on legislation shouldn't shock anyone.

Some of the stuff Rand Paul has said/done I can see with that label but tell me how Franken is a "loony extremists"?

 

[lothar]

Me too. I had to think twice about it when I first contemplated the possibility, given that I have some strong disagreements with Kucinich. I eventually realized that the policy points on which I disagree with Kucinich are really legislative matters. When it comes to running the executive, the two are really very like minded. I imagine some Kucinich fans might come to a similar conclusion about such a ticket as well.

I don't think Craig234 would ever agree to such a conclusion.

 

[lothar]

I saw the same article shortly after reading an extremely depressing article in Newsweek about the isolation and strict partisanship in Washington. Nearly all of them refuse to soicalize at all outside of their party. About 4 dozen Congress members currently live in their offices in Washington-that's really, really sad. We are having a lot of people living really twisted personal lives running our country-not a good thing.

If they did that, their opponents may use that in ads against them during the next election.

Ads running by Rand Paul's opponent with Al Franken in them during the 2016 Kentucky Senate race because he hangs around with the most liberal member of congress.
Rand Paul loses the 2016 Kentucky primary against his challenger due to such ads.
I can see it now.