Main Street

Senator Al Franken. (Words We Just Can’t Say Enough.)

(All photos by Joe Kekeris, AFL-CIO)

Yesterday afternoon, Al Franken was sworn in as a United States senator. Yesterday evening, he arrived at the AFL-CIO building for a reception co-hosted by Working America. This has been a long time coming, I think it’s safe to say. Campaigns are not short to begin with, and with the recount and the lawsuits, Sen. Franken was not sworn in until eight months after Election Day. So this reception was an emotional event for all involved. As AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said in kicking things off, “What a great day. It’s the day we’ve worked for and waited for.”

Sen. Franken’s choice of a first post-swearing-in event speaks to his deep commitment to representing working families. It’s not just that, as he said, “it is more than fair to say that if it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have won this election.” (After all, as he wryly followed up, “Of course, you can say that about a lot of people.”) Rather, his choice to address us—Working America and unions—was entirely consistent with the campaign he ran and the values he has consistently espoused. As he quoted the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone last night, “politics isn’t about winning and it isn’t about power. It’s about improving people’s lives.” His goal, he said, was to level a playing field that has “become a steep hill” for working people.

That goal was concretely backed up by his announcement that he had already become a co-sponsor of his first bill: the Employee Free Choice Act. He also addressed the need for real health care reform, and noted that it was because of his own membership in four unions that he and his wife Franni had health insurance through the drawn-out campaign, and a pension to look forward to.

Much has been made of the fact that Al Franken is a comedian. And in response, much has been made of his detailed knowledge of and passion for policy. Both those things are true—I can say that, having looked closely at a lot of candidate websites last fall, Franken’s was one of the most detailed and innovative. What I wouldn’t have expected was the emotional charge he brought to his brief speech last night. Though it was funny and though he mentioned several specific policy issues and several times referred obliquely to Jacob Hacker’s excellent book The Great Risk Shift, it was neither a stand-up routine nor truly wonkish.

Most of all the speech was truly about people. About the members of the United Steelworkers who, early in the campaign, challenged him to say how he would protect their pensions—and about his determination now to follow through on his answer to them, because “a hard day’s work should bring a decent day’s pay, and a lifetime of work should bring a secure retirement.” And particularly about his friend and, now, predecessor, Paul Wellstone. Sen. Wellstone’s legacy will be a difficult one to live up to, but no one who has heard Sen. Franken speak about his late friend can doubt that he will do his best. As Hotline On Call reported,

Amid the throngs of supporters showering him with well-wishes after his speech, Franken stopped mid-departure to answer a question: What would Wellstone say if he were here tonight?

“I would rather he had been here and it was still his seat, you know?” he replied. “That’s what I really wish.”

We probably couldn’t do better than to have the seat filled by someone who wishes that, and who will be striving to fulfill that legacy.

Congratulations, Sen. Franken. We’re looking forward to joining you in the fight for a just economy.

Tags: Al Franken