WASHINGTON _ So far, the list of Al Franken's bills in the U.S. Senate reads more like the stuff of everyday life than legislative legend.
There are measures on school lunches, household products, service dogs for wounded vets. On his 100th day in office last week, he helped unveil a bill to extend country-of-origin labeling regulations to dairy products.
"A lot of these are common-sense things," Franken said while sitting beneath a photo of his late friend and mentor, Sen. Paul Wellstone. "A lot of these are about improving people's lives. That's what Paul said politics is all about."
It's becoming clear that, to Franken _ who made his entrance after the partisan rumpus of a 312-vote recount victory _ discretion is the better part of valor as he feels his way into the complex web of relationships that make up everyday life in the Senate.
He has spent more time building bridges than scoring points. The favor has been returned by GOP colleagues in the Senate, where collegiality is the stratagem of choice.
Not that there haven't been Wellstonian sparks. Franken's 100th day on Oct. 14 coincided with a "Daily Show" segment by humorist Jon Stewart taking the Minnesota Democrat's side in a recent floor battle with Republicans. The dust-up, which Franken won, came over a narrowly drawn measure to strengthen legal rights of military contract workers sexually assaulted on the job.
Generally, though, Franken has proven adept at keeping his head down and avoiding the political paparazzi waiting for him to do something funny or outrageous. Those who expected the caricature from GOP election season attack ads of a fire-breathing partisan have been silenced _ or they're keeping their powder dry until the next election.
To anyone who might be surprised, Washington observers say they've seen this movie before. Franken's super-serious persona comes straight out of the Hillary Clinton script on how to play down celebrity in the Senate: work hard, move cautiously, pick your shots.
"There's very much a parallel with Clinton, who was seen as Lady Macbeth," said Washington political analyst Norman Ornstein, a Franken friend and adviser from his days in Minnesota.
The result is that Franken has spent his early days in office relatively free from the Republicans' leave-no-flub-unexamined treatment he got before he was sworn into office.
"He hasn't provoked them, so that certainly helps," said Mitch Pearlstein, founder and president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank in the Twin Cities.
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Franken, an actor and author, has gone three months in the Senate without an appearance on a national TV news show. "I've done 'The Daily Show.' I've done Letterman. For me, this is a new job," he said.
He generally turns down interview requests from national publications. An aide often accompanies him off the Senate floor to fend off the press of cameramen and reporters.
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Politically, he's sprung few surprises. He's championed standard liberal causes such as expanded unemployment benefits, college loans and a bill called the Household Product Labeling Act, which would tell parents if products they use could be harmful to their kids.
Cutting a little closer to the political edge, Franken took to the Senate floor this month to manage debate on his amendment ensuring that military contractors can't force victims of sexual assault into arbitration, as opposed to suing.
The amendment _ named for former KBR/Halliburton worker and rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones _ passed 68-30, with the support of all the women in the Senate, including more than a half-dozen Republicans.
Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions called it "a political attack against Halliburton."
The next day Franken confronted Mark de Bernardo, executive director of the Council for Employment Law Equity, who was testifying in favor of arbitration. A testy exchange over statistics ended with Franken appearing to cut off de Bernardo mid-sentence.
There are measures on school lunches, household products, service dogs for wounded vets. On his 100th day in office last week, he helped unveil a bill to extend country-of-origin labeling regulations to dairy products.
"A lot of these are common-sense things," Franken said while sitting beneath a photo of his late friend and mentor, Sen. Paul Wellstone. "A lot of these are about improving people's lives. That's what Paul said politics is all about."
It's becoming clear that, to Franken _ who made his entrance after the partisan rumpus of a 312-vote recount victory _ discretion is the better part of valor as he feels his way into the complex web of relationships that make up everyday life in the Senate.
He has spent more time building bridges than scoring points. The favor has been returned by GOP colleagues in the Senate, where collegiality is the stratagem of choice.
Not that there haven't been Wellstonian sparks. Franken's 100th day on Oct. 14 coincided with a "Daily Show" segment by humorist Jon Stewart taking the Minnesota Democrat's side in a recent floor battle with Republicans. The dust-up, which Franken won, came over a narrowly drawn measure to strengthen legal rights of military contract workers sexually assaulted on the job.
Generally, though, Franken has proven adept at keeping his head down and avoiding the political paparazzi waiting for him to do something funny or outrageous. Those who expected the caricature from GOP election season attack ads of a fire-breathing partisan have been silenced _ or they're keeping their powder dry until the next election.
To anyone who might be surprised, Washington observers say they've seen this movie before. Franken's super-serious persona comes straight out of the Hillary Clinton script on how to play down celebrity in the Senate: work hard, move cautiously, pick your shots.
"There's very much a parallel with Clinton, who was seen as Lady Macbeth," said Washington political analyst Norman Ornstein, a Franken friend and adviser from his days in Minnesota.
The result is that Franken has spent his early days in office relatively free from the Republicans' leave-no-flub-unexamined treatment he got before he was sworn into office.
"He hasn't provoked them, so that certainly helps," said Mitch Pearlstein, founder and president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank in the Twin Cities.
(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)
Franken, an actor and author, has gone three months in the Senate without an appearance on a national TV news show. "I've done 'The Daily Show.' I've done Letterman. For me, this is a new job," he said.
He generally turns down interview requests from national publications. An aide often accompanies him off the Senate floor to fend off the press of cameramen and reporters.
(END OPTIONAL TRIM)
Politically, he's sprung few surprises. He's championed standard liberal causes such as expanded unemployment benefits, college loans and a bill called the Household Product Labeling Act, which would tell parents if products they use could be harmful to their kids.
Cutting a little closer to the political edge, Franken took to the Senate floor this month to manage debate on his amendment ensuring that military contractors can't force victims of sexual assault into arbitration, as opposed to suing.
The amendment _ named for former KBR/Halliburton worker and rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones _ passed 68-30, with the support of all the women in the Senate, including more than a half-dozen Republicans.
Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions called it "a political attack against Halliburton."
The next day Franken confronted Mark de Bernardo, executive director of the Council for Employment Law Equity, who was testifying in favor of arbitration. A testy exchange over statistics ended with Franken appearing to cut off de Bernardo mid-sentence.
