Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), who lost his fiercely-disputed 2008 Senate re-election bid and subsequent recount against Democrat Al Franken by a very narrow margin, was asked on CNN this afternoon about whether he will run against Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Norm’s answer: that’s not the focus right now.
“Between now and November, I’m gonna work with Chairman Steele to make sure that we move this country forward to the path of fiscal responsibility,” Coleman told Wolf Blitzer, “replace the spendthrift, out-of-control Democrat majority in the House and in the Senate, and move this country to the path of fiscal responsibility.”
Coleman also acknowledged that the RNC has some problems.
“Listen, the reality that there have been concerns about the RNC, that’s a reality,” said Coleman. “Fundraising hasn’t been what a lot of folks would like, et cetera. But that’s — that’s not the focus of right now. The other side wants to get off of almost 10% unemployment, they want to get off huge deficits.”
After Coleman was done saying that the GOP would be keeping the focus on the Democrats, Coleman’s fellow guest James Carville remarked: “Sounds like we’ve got a candidate in December, Wolf.”
So here’s a question: What if Coleman were to run against Steele — and the final vote count turned out to be really close?
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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