Wyman Spano

Nona Yates

The Franken-Coleman campaign saga really begins with the tragic plane crash resulting in the death of Senator Paul Wellstone. That moment provided Norm Coleman his second opportunity for major political reinvention (the first being when he switched parties). Following the tragedy, Coleman shifted gears to run a kinder, gentler series of television ads that hardly mentioned his new opponent, Walter Mondale. Meanwhile, when Republicans accused Democrats of turning the Wellstone memorial service into a carefully choreographed political rally, Franken was outraged. He immediately set upon a mission to unseat Coleman, which ended up with their eventual head-to-head run in 2008. The unprecedented recount and legal drama that ultimately decided the election was an appropriate coda to what had already been an extraordinary Minnesota Senate race. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Senate tells the whole story.

Nona Yates

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