Star Tribune: We can't quit you, Norm, Part II

by: The Big E

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:25:36 AM CDT

The biggest mystery, now that Democrat Al Franken is heading to the U.S. Senate, is how soon Republican Norm Coleman will let Minnesotans know whether he wants to be their governor.

Kaszuba glosses over Norm's legal troubles, ignoring three of the four problems Norm faces.  He doesn't even note what Norm is in trouble for:

But Coleman would face potential roadblocks. The FBI is still investigating his relationship with Nasser Kazeminy, a major political donor accused in lawsuits of funneling payments to Coleman through a business where Coleman's wife worked.

Maybe the Strib is too short-handed right now to assign someone who knows the political history of Norm.  Maybe they're on vacation.  At any rate, Kaszuba ignores three other probable corruption investigations:

1. Kazeminy bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of designer clothing for Norm.
2. Norm got a below market rate for his apartment in Washington, DC from a political ally and the guy who received millions in business from Coleman's campaign and senatorial office.
3. Norm's landlord's company may have paid Norm's utility bills.

In all four cases, Kaszuba fails to mention Norm's legal problem ... he didn't report these gifts.  If Norm is indicted, if Norm spends time in prison, it will be for not reporting these gifts.

And there's one more problem with Kaszuba's analysis ...

Norm is not conservative enough.  From their perspective he's weak on immigration, he admits global climate change is real and prefers nuance over black-and-white bifurcation.  No matter how many times he says he's against raising taxes, they don't seem to trust him.  He doesn't hate immigrants strongly enough and said he would support President Bush's plan which many knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers labeled "amnesty."

Here's how Kaszuba glosses over how much the base dislikes Norm:

Coleman, who turns 60 next month, may also need to freshen up his pitch as the man who reinvented himself from 1960s activist to George Bush Republican.

As he announced his own gubernatorial ambitions Wednesday, state Sen. Mike Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, said a Coleman candidacy would present Republicans in Minnesota with a tough choice.

"You don't know what the people think about Norm after the extensive [recount] things," Jungbauer said. "Will they support him in terms of real support, a sympathy support or are people just angry at that whole thing?"

A two-term senator who said he admires Coleman, Jungbauer predicted "he's not going to get the buy-in from the new, younger Republicans. They're more aggressively Libertarian. ... He would do great if he got through the endorsement process. I think his hardest battle will be the endorsement process."
[My emphasis]

It's comical that Kaszuba takes Jungbauer's at his word that Norm would "do great."  Isn't any Republican going to say that they'd wipe the floor with any DFLer they face?  I'm sure Jungbauer is himself supremely confident he'd slaughter any DFL he'd face.  Regardless of how the state has been trending over the last several elections.  Actually, it seems to be Avista Capital Partners policy to ignore election trends which shows Democrats in the ascendancy.

But I digress.  Here's the bottom line.

The Republican base thinks that the reason they been losing is that they weren't conservative enough.  Norm definitely isn't a true believer conservative -- he used to be a Democratic after all -- and is more interested in furthering his own political future than remaining true to any ideology.   The base doesn't trust Norm, they think he's a weasel who changes position every time a poll comes out.  They want politicians who are true believers like they are.