U.S. Senate hopeful Al Franken was a guest on Letterman last night. Dave, of course, asked Franken about the Eliot Spitzer call girl scandal, and Franken quipped that, if elected, he promised not to do anything that stupid.
When Letterman asked Franken how his campaign in Minnesota was going, Franken replied that his "chief rival" for the DFL nomination had dropped out -- an obvious reference to Minneapolis trial attorney Mike Ciresi.
"Why did he drop out?" Letterman asked. And then, without waiting for a response and apparently still in Spitzer mode, immediately added, "Whores?"
Kind of makes the real reason the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney dropped out -- not being able to garner the support of enough party delegates -- look a little, well, boring.
At first I felt bad that Ciresi's 15 minutes of fame had ticked by to the point that no one even bothered to identify him by name on the show. Then, reflecting on the tenor of Dave's joke, I came to the conclusion it was probably the biggest break he got during his entire campaign.
Showing posts with label mike ciresi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mike ciresi. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Even in the news, Ciresi must settle for #3
Lost this week in the hubbub over the retirement of Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson and the ongoing hassle at the Attorney General’s office was the news that Mike Ciresi was dropping out of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race.
Actually, the way the Ciresi story got buried was a bit symbolic of his campaign in general. Despite his pedigree as a go-getter and an aggressive champion of consumer rights, Ciresi never quite inspired the table talk of his primary opponents, incumbent Norm Coleman, newcomer Al Franken, or even dark-horse candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.
Franken, for all his inexperience, has shown surprising aptitude when it comes to fundraising and engendering grass-roots support. In fact, as Minnesota Lawyer reported last year, a goodly portion of Ciresi’s individual campaign contributions came from within his own firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi -- and that was before he dipped into his own pocket to lend his campaign $2 million.
Maybe Ciresi’s second failed attempt to storm the gates of Congress is a sign from the gods that his talents are better suited to the courtroom after all. Now that he’s no longer even in a position to play spoiler, it will be interesting to see if he throws his support behind Franken.
Actually, the way the Ciresi story got buried was a bit symbolic of his campaign in general. Despite his pedigree as a go-getter and an aggressive champion of consumer rights, Ciresi never quite inspired the table talk of his primary opponents, incumbent Norm Coleman, newcomer Al Franken, or even dark-horse candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.
Franken, for all his inexperience, has shown surprising aptitude when it comes to fundraising and engendering grass-roots support. In fact, as Minnesota Lawyer reported last year, a goodly portion of Ciresi’s individual campaign contributions came from within his own firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi -- and that was before he dipped into his own pocket to lend his campaign $2 million.
Maybe Ciresi’s second failed attempt to storm the gates of Congress is a sign from the gods that his talents are better suited to the courtroom after all. Now that he’s no longer even in a position to play spoiler, it will be interesting to see if he throws his support behind Franken.
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