Where will he reside? Minnesota? Elsewhere? Doing what? A blank canvas.
_____________UPDATE____________
Muddying the water, Strib again, 2010 version:
WASHINGTON - In mid-November, four months into his new job as a U.S. senator, Al Franken faced a testy spat between his chief of staff, Drew Littman, and his top legislative aide on farm issues, Mark Wilson.
The dispute ended with Capitol police ushering Wilson out of Franken's office [...] The Wilson incident does, however, highlight a newly minted politician's reliance on an inner circle of seasoned Washington hands led by Littman, a former Hillary Rodham Clinton aide [...].
"Al wanted to make sure Minnesotans weren't shortchanged because he wasn't a career politician," Littman said. "He needed senior aides with substantial Senate experience to ensure that he could be an effective legislator right off the bat."
Franken's senior management team includes legislative director Ben Olinsky, a former aide to the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, and communications director Casey Aden-Wansbury, a former staffer for Sen. Joe Lieberman.
[...] "This is not a guy who has worked his way up from being on the city council to the state house, to running for Senate," said University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs. "This is a guy who basically left the state for decades, came back, and ran as a national figure."
[...] But given the frequent GOP critiques of Franken as a liberal attack dog for the Hollywood set, some analysts wonder why he has surrounded himself with a cadre of Capitol Hill veterans who have little connection to the state he represents.
[...] Wilson, who has worked closely with the Minnesota agriculture community, was upset to learn that a Franken speech on rural issues would be farmed out to Jeff Nussbaum, a Washington speechwriter for former Vice President Al Gore.
By some accounts, there was a heated exchange among Wilson, Olinsky and Aden-Wansbury. It led to Wilson's resignation, a decision he came to regret and tried to rescind.
"It would have been legislative malpractice to not voice my concerns over the lack of a Minnesota perspective," Wilson wrote Littman in a Nov. 15 e-mail.
Franken staffers say the concern was one Wilson had never voiced before. Final speech drafts, though based on the input of regional policy aides, often are crafted by professional writers.
By all accounts, Franken called Wilson to soothe his nerves and wish him well. But the next morning, with feelings raw, Wilson was escorted out the door.
[Italics added.]
Original sin? Standing by choice at the start neck deep in beltway insidership, should we mourn? It is a lesson for Tina Smith; who also can tap the Dayton experiences with DC, where the man was disgusted after a single term and the word "cesspool" became a part of the Dayton lexicon legacy. Al's "friend Tina," may we hope, talks to Ellison and Bernie, and keeps former Clintonians at a distance. Not hostile, but distanced.
In any event, with the 2010 Strib report silent of any explicit Wilson-Cargill tie-ins, it would be wrong to speculate what "Minnesota agricultural community" was contemplated when the report used such phrasing.
At a bet, "Tina Smith Goes to Washington," the movie, will not be with any blind eye toward feelings, needs and wishes of Cargill. That bet you can take to the bank.
___________FURTHER UPDATE____________
Will Collin Peterson miss having Franken as a voice in the other chamber in tune with Peterson's representation of "the Minnesota agricultural community?" Without any insider knowledge, none and guessing only -- just saying . . .
___________FURTHER UPDATE____________
More retrospect. That "c" word again, the one that's been so troubling for Democratic Party relevance. The "c" word that has had much of the established ones hoist on their own petard:
"So on this election I hope you will do all you can to make sure that Al Franken joins Amy Klobuchar and President Barack Obama to deliver the change that America is looking for," Clinton said.
[italics added] There is a propaganda variant called "The Big Lie."
____________WRAP-UP_____________
Franken should be forever honored for reclaiming the Wellstone seat from the egregious interloper; recount and all. Never discount the value of that step. May Smith prove to be a Wellstone kindred spirit more so than a corporate placeholder. Franken seemed to fall between those continuum points, closer to being a Wellstone but with Hollywood in the resume. If Smith were to look to Warren as a senior senator aimed correctly, one to emulate and assist, much good could result.