Political associates of Al FrankenAlan (Al) Stuart FrankenPolitical world mourns loss of comedian Jerry Stiller Maher to Tara Reade on timing of sexual assault allegation: ‘Why wait until Biden is our only hope?’ Democrats begin to confront Biden allegations MORE say they think the Minnesota senator could be talked into running for the White House if he believes he\u2019s the Democrat best positioned to defeat President Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But they say Franken would need to be convinced and argue that the former \u201cSaturday\u00a0Night Live\u201d star would be reluctant to enter a battle with a slew of other Democrats in what\u2019s increasingly expected to be a wide-open race for party\u2019s nomination. Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy KlobucharHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Democrats demand Republican leaders examine election challenges after Georgia voting chaos Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE, Franken’s Minnesota colleague in the upper chamber, is seen as a possible presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s not the type of person to crawl over everyone’s dead carcasses to get to the White House,\u201d said R.T. Rybak, the former mayor of Minneapolis and a Democratic National Committee vice chairman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
At the same time, Rybak said he wouldn\u2019t rule out Franken entering the race. He argues the senator is outraged over what is happening to the country and that he would do whatever it takes to defeat Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael Dale-Stein, a spokesman for Franken, says no one should expect a Franken 2020 presidential bid.<\/p>\n
\u201cSen. Franken is not going to run for president in 2020,\u201d Dale-Stein said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s proud to represent the state of Minnesota and plans to spend the next several years fighting for Minnesota families \u2014 working on issues like income inequality, healthcare, education, college affordability, equal rights, and on behalf of consumers and small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such declarations seem unlikely to keep people from discussing Franken as a possible candidate in the age of Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franken\u2019s celebrity status, progressive bona fides and sharp tongue have left many thinking he could be an effective candidate against Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One Republican National Committee aide even described him as the strongest potential candidate for Democrats in 2020, arguing that the Minnesotan is best positioned to bridge the divide between moderates and progressives that has engulfed the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cFranken is someone who could have more broad appeal to both wings of the party,\u201d the aide said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adam Parkhomenko, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House\u00a0accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters \u2014 who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE’s 2016 presidential campaign, said Democrats need only look at a July video from an appearance Franken made in California to understand his appeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats should take a close look at the story Sen. Franken is telling about his upbringing, why he is a Democrat, and how he ties those those two together,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the video, Franken recalls growing up in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house with a father who didn\u2019t have a high school diploma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With emotion, he shared the story\u00a0of\u00a0his wife,\u00a0Franni Bryson: Her mother was widowed at 29-years-old with five kids to support. Pell grants helped send her\u00a0and her siblings to college. Later, a GI loan assisted in putting Franken\u2019s mother-in-law through college.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery member of that family became a contributing member of our society,\u201d Franken told the California Commonwealth Club in a video that went viral.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddle class. That\u2019s why I\u2019m a Democrat,\u201d a choked-up Franken explained. \u201cYou know, they tell you in this country you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. First you have to have the boots, and the government gave my wife\u2019s family the boots and that\u2019s why I\u2019m a Democrat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franken didn\u2019t begin his Senate career until the summer of 2009 because his victory over Republican Norm Coleman was contested in a protracted legal fight. Franken won the election by just 312 votes in what was a wave year for\u00a0Democrats.<\/p>\n
Observers and colleagues have given him credit for diving into the job, establishing a legislative portfolio and taking an aggressive approach to committee witnesses he considers hostile.<\/p>\n
That strategy was on display earlier this year when\u00a0the senator\u00a0stood out\u00a0for his take-no-prisoners approach to questioning Trump administration nominees like Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsMcCabe, Rosenstein spar over Russia probe Rosenstein takes fire from Republicans in heated testimony Rosenstein defends Mueller appointment, role on surveillance warrants MORE and Betsy DeVos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His\u00a0questioning of Sessions during his confirmation hearing eventually led to the now-attorney general\u2019s decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department\u2019s Russia probe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franken was easily reelected in 2014 after a campaign that revolved around his work on wonky issues like healthcare and financial services reform. He\u2019s also become a leading Senate fundraiser, and his leadership PAC has\u00a0raised and doled out more cash\u00a0than most of his colleagues in Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franken has indicated he will run for a third Senate term in 2020.<\/p>\n
Recently, the 66-year-old legislator has toured the country to promote his book, \u201cAl Franken: Giant of the Senate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It includes long dissertations on healthcare, net neutrality and campaign finance reform, as well as red-meat broadsides against Republicans like Trump (a \u201clying liar who got himself elected president\u201d) and Texas Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote The Hill’s Morning Report – Trump’s public standing sags after Floyd protests GOP senators introduce resolution opposing calls to defund the police MORE (\u201cI like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I\u00a0hate\u00a0Ted Cruz\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s conventional for politicians to say they have no interest in higher office and are focused on their day jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franken\u2019s friends, however, are particularly insistent that in this case, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople talk to him about it all the time, and the book has given him an even higher national profile, but I can tell you that this is not on his personal radar,\u201d said Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and friend of Franken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can never say that the circumstances wouldn\u2019t all come together where there is a movement for him. But I can tell you \u2026 this is not something he plans to do or wants to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota and longtime Franken observer, said Franken is more focused on burnishing his policy chops and helping Democrats realign after a series of difficult election cycles than running for higher office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty confident he\u2019s not going to run for president, but I think he\u2019s very serious about carving out a place for him to be a go-to person to talk about public policy,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFranken has a way of communicating that comes off as authentic and matches the kind of vehemence and stridency of Republicans. It\u2019s very hard to find other Democrats doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rybak, who said he hasn\u2019t discussed a White House run with Franken, said the senator would need a larger force to draft him into the fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u00a0said Franken\u00a0would make a good\u00a0presidential\u00a0candidate because he\u2019s authentic.\u00a0He argues Franken could win for the same reasons Trump did, while maintaining that the Democrat is the real deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can really imagine a discussion with the American people that gets beyond the bologna,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now people are so desperate for something that is real, that\u2019s the reason they accepted a charlatan like Trump.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n