By Ron Carey, Guest Column

During a recent campaign stop in Albert Lea, DFL Senate candidate Al Franken explained why being a &8220;satirist&8221; represented &8220;good training&8221; for the U.S. Senate.

&8220;Having been a satirist is good training on how to look at things. Sometimes it&8217;s nice to have someone who can see through all the inconsistencies and get to the truth,&8221; Franken told the Tribune.

Over the years, &8220;satirist&8221; Franken has made a number of observations in his search for the &8220;truth,&8221; including the following:

Former Secretary of State James Baker is a &8220;lying scumbag.&8221;

&8220;Republican politicians&8221; are &8220;shameless (expletive deleted).&8221;

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is &8220;something of a nutcase.&8221;

&8220;(Expletive deleted) idiots&8221; think President Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of the 20th Century.

And on and on it goes. In books, speeches and in radio and television appearances, Franken has made a career out of making vicious and mean-spirited negative personal attacks. Franken has even ridiculed World War II veteran Bob Dole over his war wounds by likening him to the one-armed murderer in the movie &8220;The Fugitive.&8221;

Now Franken maintains such over-the-top and overheated name calling is &8220;good training&8221; for the U.S. Senate.

Unfortunately, the examples cited above serve as only a sliver of what Franken has called his political opponents over the years.

Many of his attacks are so nasty and excessive they warrant a &8220;parental advisory&8221; warning label.

As chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota, I certainly understand the rough and tumble of politics. As the old saying goes, &8220;politics ain&8217;t beanbag.&8221; Yet Franken&8217;s brand of deeply venomous mudslinging does indeed constitute a radical break from politics as usual in our state.

Simply put: we have never seen anything like this in Minnesota before.

Given Franken&8217;s record of extreme partisanship and his lack of experience, I have serious concerns about his qualifications and ability to work with others in a bipartisan manner in the United States Senate. It&8217;s clear that many others have real doubts about Franken&8217;s leadership abilities.

DFL Senate hopeful Mike Ciresi has said this about Franken&8217;s dearth of accomplishments:

&8220;Let me ask you, what has Al Franken delivered for Minnesotans? The answer is self-evident: He hasn&8217;t.&8221;

In the past, Franken himself has had this to say on the subject of his own potential for leadership:

&8220;If I had to make a decision that was really affecting the lives of millions of people, I think I&8217;d be crushed by the pressure.&8221;

Unfortunately for Franken, the U.S. Senate is a place where decisions are made every day that really affect &8220;the lives of millions of people.&8221;

As such, it is important that our state have leaders in Washington who are seasoned, reasoned and responsible.

It&8217;s hard to work with the other side when you have contempt for them as human beings.

While Franken made a career out of demeaning and ridiculing his political opponents in the most vitriolic and extreme manner imaginable, Senator Norm Coleman has been an optimistic and strong leader on the issues that matter most to Minnesotans.

By working with Democrats and Republicans in a constructive and thoughtful manner, Senator Coleman has delivered for Minnesotans. In spite of all the rhetoric from Franken, Sen. Norm Coleman&8217;s real record is impressive:

Sen. Coleman introduced and led the passage of a bill to provide travel reimbursement for our brave men and women on leave from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sen. Coleman introduced and led the passage of a bill to require the

Department of Veterans Affairs to develop an innovative new program to help veterans who are not currently receiving all the benefits they are entitled to each year.

Sen. Coleman led Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations inquiries into military contractors who were cheating the government and the American people, exposing 27,000 contractors in the process.

Sen. Coleman has delivered emergency disaster assistance to help Minnesota farmers who have been hard hit by natural disasters.

Sen. Coleman has been a leader in securing increased Pell Grants so more Minnesotans and Americans have the opportunity to attend college.

The United States Senate is often called the greatest deliberative body in the world. Regardless of political persuasion, Minnesotans believe in civility, courtesy and cooperation in public life. With his long history of mean-spirited and over-the-top personal attacks, I am confident Minnesotans will reject Franken&8217;s brand of scorched-earth attack politics.

Ron Carey is chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota.