Norm does Norway

Capital J

By Ron Kampeas · September 4, 2008

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) got the homeboy advantage and spoke twice this week at the Republican Party convention in St. Paul, the town he once led as mayor.

On Tuesday he explored how his Jewish faith helps him understand St. Paul (the Tarsus convert, not the city) ... or something.

And on Wednesday, the senator with the thickest Brooklyn accent west of the Hudson got all Scandinavian on the delegates.

Here in Minnesota, we always talk about the Norwegian husband who cared so much about his wife that he almost told her. In this election in Washington, we face leaders of the Democrat Party who care so much about working families that they almost do something – but they don't. In this presidential election, we have the chance to elect a man who does not just talk about problems and how much he cares, but will actually do something to solve them.

The Federal News Service transcript records "scattered laughter" at the line about Norwegian husbands, which might be generous.

Umm, Norm, why are you ignoring the ancestral treasure trove?

To further confuse matters, Coleman and Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle spoke on a night packed with efforts to prove the GOP's minority outreach, with plenty of Latino and African American speakers. So, of course, Lingle, who is also Jewish, greeted delegates with an ... aloha.