Well, it seems to me that Senator Franken has no more or less inherent gag appeal than President Reagan, Governor Schwarzenegger or Congressman/Mayor Bono, all actors elected on the Republican ticket. Franken is, at least as far as his published issues statements are concerned, perhaps a bit to the left of Obama, which puts him squarely in the center of the Democratic spectrum.

BTW, anyone who really thinks that the Democrats now have a "supermajority" and will be able to invoke cloture on any filibusters that the Republicans care to run, is sadly deluded and knows nothing about the realities of American politics. There is no such thing as a "party line", although the Republicans come closer to enforcing one these days.