Coleman Asks, Franken Answers

...in two completely unrelated articles.  But the information is there.

In a piece from the International Herald Tribune discussing the weight Republicans carry into the next Congressional elections, Senator Norm Coleman (R) of Minnesota is quoted as saying,

"Minnesotans have a deep concern about the war," Coleman said. "The question is, 'What's the path out?' "

Good question.  members of Congress have every right to ask that question and even more of a right to get an answer.  Unfortunately for Coleman, the answer comes in the form of a clear and concise plan as written by his new challenger, Al Franken (D) on his website, AlFranken.com:

We should enact the recommendations of the Baker-HamiltonCommission. Specifically, we should put pressure on the Malikigovernment by making our presence in Iraq conditional upon itswillingness and ability to meet certain benchmarks, including:

• devising a fair plan to share oil revenues among ethnic groups in Iraq
• starting a reconciliation process to defuse sectarian tensions
• addressing the disastrous de-Baathification and putting Sunnis back to work
• engaging sectarian death squads and tearing them out of Iraqi security forces, root and branch

We should also be re-deploying our troops out of the civil war thathas engulfed Baghdad. They can be re-deployed to surrounding bases, toother parts of the country, to Kuwait and Qatar, and especially toAfghanistan, where our mission is in danger of failure. At the sametime, we should be convening a regional conference including Iran,Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt to come up with along-term plan for Iraq and ensure that a regional conflict does notarise. And we should consider the Biden-Gelb plan for a soft partitionof the country. While we can’t impose that kind of a loose federationon the Iraqi people, it’s worth noting that one seems to be developingalready. Tens of thousands of Iraqis a month are relocating out ofmixed sectarian neighborhoods.

Let's hope Minnesotans elect the candidate with the right answers, not the right questions.

Comments

[Tony]

Some may "laugh" at Franken and his politics, but he is one of the few that (in my opinion) truly wants what's best for the people. While many politicians "sway" in search of "personal gain", Franken has already gotten his through TV, Movies and radio.

[George]

Erick,
Good work on your first day on the job!

If Republicans just keep asking, it seems like no one is answering I guess. It has become as if Republicans have no responsibility to answer the questions they have themselves created.