OUR NORM COLEMAN! From place to place. "Can you hear me now?" "Can you hear me now?"We learn online of a Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) expenditure notice:
Matt Brooks announced today that Senator Norm Coleman (MN) has agreed to join the RJC as a consultant and strategic advisor. In this capacity, Coleman will help the RJC as it plans for the future and looks at ways to continue its historic record of growth and success. Coleman will also provide strategic guidance on important policy matters affecting the organization and the Jewish community. In addition, Coleman, a tremendously popular speaker, will travel around the country on behalf of the RJC, speaking in Jewish communities across the country on the state of current affairs.
RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said, "We are thrilled and honored to have Norm Coleman join us at the RJC at this critical time. We look forward to having the benefit of his experience and wise counsel to help the RJC plot its future course. We are confident that in a few months Senator Coleman will return to his seat in the Senate, but until that time, we are eager for him to travel across the country on our behalf and to be an important voice within the organization."
How was this pearl of wisdom found? Well, the photo dates itself a few years but is found at multiple web locations, and the RJC article dates itself a few months from January of this year but after missing it first go-round, I read of it as "Politics in Minnesota" circa June 12:
Here's Texas Sen. and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair John Cornyn back in April:"This is about making sure every legal vote is counted, this isn't just about Norm Coleman. This is about protecting the rights of voters. It's to my mind a very noble endeavor and one in which, frankly, I admire his perseverence. I support getting it right, and if that includes a federal lawsuit, then so be it. I do think there are important legal issues that don't just affect Minnesota, or affect this race. They affect elections all around the country -- a uniform standard to make sure which votes are counted, and which are not."
And here's Cornyn earlier this week, per Hotline:"I think it's entirely up to him. Frankly, I've been amazed that Sen. Coleman's been willing to persevere as long as he has, and I'm proud of him for doing that. I think we will support him until he decides to hang it up one way or another."
It sounds like Norm is wanting out. The conventional wisdom is that it's a matter of salvaging a political future for himself. Really? He's already toasted his immediate future (i.e., a run for governor in 2010), and it's not clear that what he does from here on out will have much impact on his longer-range future.
But there may be another, more immediate reason Coleman is getting impatient: He needs to get on to some sinecure in the ever-lucrative world of influence-peddling that awaits practically every ex-senator who's so inclined. His current gig, with the Repubican Jewish Coalition, is the barest start.
Currently we know of at least two signs of pressure on Coleman's personal finances:
* As first reported at Politico and later elaborated by the Star Tribune, Coleman has refinanced his St. Paul house many times, [...]
* Coleman has also had to retain legal counsel--expensive legal counsel--in conjunction with a pair of lawsuits (in Texas and Delaware) that allege Coleman friend and patron Nasser Kazeminy funneled $75,000 to Coleman [...]
[the link in the original post was italicized above, in excerpting, to highlight it as my opening source]. Then, doing a Google uncovered this "Letter to Norm Coleman" stating -
[...] time for you to step aside, admit defeat, congratulate Al Franken on his hard-fought victory, and permit him to take the oath of office. And then you can go about the task of looking for a high-paying, high-profile job . . . perhaps replacing Michael Steele at the RNC?
[...]
Many of us remember that on election night -- when you appeared to be the winner by an eyelash -- you majestically warned that a recount would be extremely costly and expressed deep, honest concern about Minnesotans being denied full Senate representation. At that point you sounded more like a statesman than a politician. But now that the margin of victory -- slim though it may be --belongs to Al Franken, you are whistling a tune [...]
There was a time long ago when you would have picked up a bullhorn and raged against what you are currently doing. Once upon a time in the late '60s and early '70s, you stood foursquarely on the side of "the people." Back when you were student body president at Hofstra, you protested the war in Vietnam, took over the administration building, railed against the inherent unfairness of "the system," and vowed to knock the "entrenched elites" down a peg or two. Heck, you were even a roadie with "Ten Years After" and spent your 20th birthday with them up at Woodstock.
I know that since you stopped receiving your Senate salary, you have been working part time for the Republican Jewish Coalition. These are all things for which you should be grateful; to a certain extent, you are on a path taking you back to your roots. Hopefully you will continue on that path back to the old-time student activist who would have been aghast at the former Senator's obdurateness. If I were you Senator, I would let Governor Pawlenty, Senator Cornyn and the rest of your friends in the Republican Party know that you want them to cease and desist; that the time has come to act like a mentsch and gracefully bow out. [...]
PS: I must admit to having a personal reason (beyond what is written above) for hoping you will bring an end to this nonsense: Without closure, I cannot finish my biographic piece on either you or Al Franken for the next edition of The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill, to be published by Rowman & Littlefield.
(Now how's that for a shameless plug . . . ?}
©2009 Kurt F. Stone
Finally, Norm, besides hanging it up, stay home. Keep Laurie happy in the remodeled home, be steady company. Those speeches will expose things about your Woodstock-to-Washington mind, current, razor-sharp, attuned to speech usages and nuances:Clearly, Norm Coleman isn't exactly tech-savvy. After a speaking engagement in St. Louis this week, he told a video-camera wielding supporter that the key to success for Republicans "lies in the ethernet."
Coleman, who was in Minnesota Supreme Court this week appealing the Senate election results, was in St. Louis to give a speech at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference.
Huffington Post | Susan Crile
Posted: 06- 5-09 02:20 PM
[italics in original]