For now you are a replacement. We did not vote you in, but you must prove you should stay in the seat you’re in. Listen to the young adults quickly approaching our capital building right now! Show us you should stay.
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'Replacement Al Franken' isn't the name on her birth cert however.
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She also received nearly a million votes on the ticket as lieutenant governor so it's not like she wasn't elected to anything.
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My point is she wasn’t voted in to be senator. She also was a running mate for governor. Yes her running mate did win, but I don’t believe she should be credited with that win.
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I got your point Katie. But I think what we’re addressing is the removal of her identity as a female in a male dominated field (politics). Referring to Senator Smith namelessly as ‘Franken’s replacement’- removes HER personhood & refers to her in relation to a man. Make sense?

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Thank you. You said it better than I would have.
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Katie’s a good kid- I checked out her TL! And I want her to KEEP her political
bc that’s how we’re going to get change. But I’m a teacher; this was a teachable moment. Not recognizing gender bias is a privilege of sorts & older chicks like me can gently help her gen see it
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I don’t believe that headline had ANYTHING to do with gender and you do a disservice by seeing it EVERYWHERE. She is a replacement for a very popular and powerful Senator. A slight by Politico certainly, but nothing to do with gender. Same would have been said about a man.
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But you have to get understand how painfully unsettling it was for Al Franken to be forced out of Senate with no due process. So many of us still do not feel good about that at all!!
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He wasn’t forced out. He resigned
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He would have also been used as ammunition for the republicans. If Democrats are okay with Al then why are they not okay with all of their aligations? It’s a fallacy. But it was in his best interests to resign and keep face.
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He made an unforced error at best. He’s accepted responsibility and self-imposed consequences. Can’t we respect that? Can’t we respect what was his decision?
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Bring back Al Franken!
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Ew no.
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You have some very big shoes to fill. Senator Franken was intelligent, well-informed, and fought for the American populous. Respect is earned, regardless if you are a senator or a schoolteacher. Show us your convictions and determination, and we will decide to support you.
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whether a person is a senator or a school teacher, decency (if not respect) starts with using a person's name to identify or refer to them. now, if one's behavior is so egregious as to not even deserve decency, THEN it's fine to refer to them by what they are, like "the dotard."
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“My first name ain’t replacement, it’s Tina. Senator Smith if you’re nasty.”
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1. No, it wasn't appropriate. 2. "Minnesota Senator Tina Smith tries to turn the page" is barely longer and is more fitting.
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Your suggested headline is 23 characters longer. In the art and science of headline writing that is ridiculously longer. And still doesn't contextualize to a national audience the fact that Smith is an appointed replacement for Franken.
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No, it's 7 characters longer than Politico's headline. Abbreviate state name with AP style rules and it's 4 longer. Don't act like I'm unfamiliar with these rules.
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BTW, you can also delete the Senator's first name. Senator Smith also works.
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Smith's a common enough name that I wasn't considering that, but you could also abbreviate to "Sen." Plenty of ways to write this headline without framing it this way.
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