Moore's ambition.
So where does that leave Al, and what right or wrong step might he contemplate, now, after months have passed?
Compare two NYTimes items, then and now.
Al could make a large mistake, or do otherwise, So keep watch on the question.
The feeling here - multimillionaire Franken was far, far better (for Minnesota and the nation) at the job than multi-millionaire Tina Smith, Al's Senate successor; and it would be a better world were Franken still there.
Or whatever. More of a progressive does not mean as decently oriented as Bernie or Warren, nor clearly the voice Ilhen Omar offers. If the mood moves Al could adjust to having his seat returned to him by voters by being even more progressive than before, i.e., great if he'd be back as long as he would be working with Schumer but not for Schumer, as previously, which would be an unprogressive direction to take, should Al seek his seat back. The worry here is a Franken-Dem inner party Minnesota move that might be both long-term dumb, and highly counterprogressive, given his current residence in MN5. It is decision time on the razor's edge, for Al.
Vox at present still hangs onto the Franken resignation's propriety, despite current soundings out of Al's camp. Tinsel-town seems ready to forget. And it is now Epstein in the crosshairs of "What You Gonna Do When They Come For You, Bad Boy, Bad Boy."
Wherever the Epstein saga leads, it gives a scale to what triggered Al's resignation, per Tinsel Town opining:
Al Franken wishes mightily he hadn't resigned as U.S. Senator in wake of sexual misconduct allegations ... saying he should have put up a fight because he denies he did anything wrong.
The former Senator from Minnesota told The New Yorker he can't go anywhere without people telling him he should NOT have resigned back in December 2017. Franken says, in retrospect, he should have appeared before the Senate Ethics Committee to keep his job.
Franken put some U.S. Senators in his crosshairs, saying they pressured him to resign without due process. At the time, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were spearheading the calls for him to resign.
So Al knows now how Schumer can be a sunshine-friend, turned in a tight 180 degree direction as soon as circumstances told the man Al was on his own when weather worsened. That knowledge might serve Al well, should he take his Senate seat back. That item continues:
When he stepped down, Franken took a parting shot at President Trump and former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore saying, "I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."
With or without full support of his party Franken could wait to primary Smith and many would support that.
Many may not like the idea. But it would be easier for Al than moving to New York and running for Senator there, (either seat, per the italicized part of the above quote).
What primaries are for is to allow a popular choice to prevail. Smith and Franken in a primary, running on issues not personality, and without mud slinging, would allow that.