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It’s getting stranger and stranger to chronicle our dealings with Al Franken.  One minute, according to Politico, he’s back writing skits for Saturday Night Live attacking John McCain; the next, he’s ducking us, or having his handlers run interference, on his support for EFCA and Death to Democracy.

Then again, maybe the Grim Reaper stalking Franken over his support for EFCA is more of a metaphor and explains Al’s renewed interest in SNL. 

By supporting the special interest EFCA and killing workplace democracy, Franken makes it more likely that he’ll be available for the SNL gig full-time come January.

Tonight, Ashwin Madia and Erik Paulsen will again debate in their bid to replace Jim Ramstad in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District.

In their last debate, Madia was pinned down a bit more on his support for EFCA.  The nice thing about a debate: You can’t run away.

Like Congressman Ramstad, Erik Paulsen opposes EFCA.  In fact, in the State House he voted against a pro-EFCA resolution.

Minnesotans for Employee Freedom will be there tonight, as always, asking the tough questions and pinning down politicians like Ashwin Madia on just where they stand.

Al Franken has a sick sense of humor; but we’re not talking about his “comedic” writings.

When we caught up with Al again last week, he found it surprising and funny that Minnesotans would stand up for the basic democratic rights embodied in the private ballot.

We realize that Al’s tens of thousands in special interest campaign contributions and dozens of union endorsements have made him immune to common sense when it comes to EFCA.  What surprised even us is that he is so indifferent to the rights of Minnesota workers, that he finds the fight for them funny.

As he might say, Wow.

Following on the heels of the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s editorial opposing EFCA, Senator Norm Coleman’s campaign called on Al Franken to “reject his position of supporting legislation that would steal workers’ rights to a secret ballot.”

In a story first reported on the widely-read blog Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Coleman reminded Minnesotans of Franken’s past failures to pay for disability and workers’ comp premiums for his employees.  Coleman Campaign Manager Cullen Sheehan went on say of Franken, “now he wants to violate workers rights even further by taking away their rights to a secret ballot.”

Now, when you’re to the Left of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, as is Franken on EFCA, you know you’re out of step.  Norm Coleman has been a stalwart opponent of EFCA, and he’s right to challenge Al Franken to be with the 95% of Minnesotans and the Star Tribune in supporting the private ballot. 

Minnesota, for one reason or another, has quickly become the epicenter of the debate about the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Earlier this summer, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor party (DFL) Chairman called us liars for suggesting that the bill would eliminate secret ballot elections in workplace unionization elections. We, in turn, challenged him to a public debate on the issue. His response was to file a frivolous lawsuit against us. He lost.

At the center of the debate, was a poorly-informed “Fact Check” segment on WCCO examining the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace’s ad against Al Franken. The DFL and labor unions jumped on the segment, as if WCCO was equivalent to the National Labor Relations Board in interpreting labor law.

Since then, the judge in the DFL’s lawsuit, Democratic Senator George McGovern, the Wall Street Journal, and many, many more have all come out against EFCA’s elimination of secret ballots.

Even the WCCO reporter told a Minnesota media critic that he agrees that the “practical effect” of EFCA is to eliminate secret ballots (why he didn’t include that in his segment, I don’t know).

And now you can add to that long list the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the largest newspaper in Minnesota. Today they editorialized against EFCA, writing:

Its provision allowing unions to bypass a secret ballot with something called a card check is a serious problem. Under the proposed law, unions could bypass a secret ballot if 50 percent of eligible employees signed an authorization form to form a union. It doesn’t make sense: Would you pass a school levy or elect a mayor this way? The proposed card-check system also would invite peer-pressure from union sympathizers and, by making a supporter’s name public, it has the potential to heighten the risk of employer retaliation.

On a personal note, I was born and raised in Minnesota, and I still care a great deal about what happens in the state. That’s why I was so disappointed to see the DFL and others try so hard to pull the wool over the eyes of Minnesotans. I truly hope that the Star-Tribune editorial will wake up Minnesotans to the threats posed by EFCA.

As for Brian Melendez, we’re still waiting for your response to our debate challenge.

To avoid debating EFCA.

As readers know, Minnesota DFL Party Chairman Brian Melendez responded to our invitation to debate EFCA with a frivolous legal complaint, one which was dismissed last week.

In honor of Mr. Melendez’ refusal to debate the issue, or even respond to our invitation, we conducted the First Annual Brian Melendez Cluck Like a Chicken Contest at the Minnesota State Fair. 

Having been called “liars” by Mr. Melendez, we’re certainly sensitive to labeling someone a “chicken;”  the Scarlet C is a difficult stain to wash away.  But that’s really the only name for a person who refuses to debate important policy issues while filing frivolous legal complaints and attempting to sully the names and reputations of their opponents.

We will continue to highlight this important issue while calling out those, like Mr. Melendez, who try to silence those with whom they disagree while refusing to debate the merits of the legislation.

Stay Tuned.  More to Come.  Cluck.  Cluck.

In another report from the Minnesota State Fair, we were able to secure a few minutes with Congressman John Kline from Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.  As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Kline has an especially keen understanding of EFCA.

In fact, Congressman Kline gives one of the best analyses of EFCA that I’ve seen or heard.  It’s a shame there aren’t more like him in Washington.  Watch and learn.

The Minnesota State Fair, in addition to ranking as the nation’s 2nd largest, is a wonderful place for politics and policy issues.  There you find politicians away from the tight grasp of their handlers freely mixing with Minnesotans.  Additionally, dozens of groups are there to raise the profile of their issues.

We used the opportunity to talk to groups and politicians about EFCA.  In fact, we decided to talk with some folks in the union movement about democracy.  We presented them with an idea of ours about replacing elections with a card check system. The text of our “card” is below:

 I hearby authorize Al Franken to represent me in the United States Senate for the next six years.  This card replaces the traditional method of selecting representatives formerly known as “voting.”

As you see in the above clip, our union friends weren’t too crazy about the idea.  They gave eloquent, persuasive arguments about the critical nature of elections…pretty much the same ones we’ve been making in opposing EFCA.

Thanks folks.