Everyone knows Hillary Clinton was the most hated politician of the last 20 years, on either side of the aisle, at least most hated by the GOP. Just the mad and insane rumormongering about Hillary Clinton is enough to amaze. They said she killed Vince Foster because of an affair, for God’s sake, while at the same time maintaining that Hillary had lesbian lovers. Those rumors have become such a staple. . . well, here’s MadKane on the subject. Oh, there’s no doubt Hillary Clinton is the one Republicans love to hate, but she’s losing her crown. The new “Most Hated Democrat” is Senator Al Franken. From Politico:

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey, who cautioned that Coleman’s election challenge could still turn the results back his way. “It’s one thing to lose to an honorable opponent, but Al Franken is not considered an honorable opponent by Minnesota Republicans.”

Marty Seifert, the Republican leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives, said Franken’s long record of antagonizing conservatives would make it difficult for him to connect with voters who supported Coleman.

“It’s going to be hard for Franken to be very effective with any Republicans, in terms of having any credibility with us, just because he’s been so nasty in the past,” Seifert said. “He certainly has callous and very partisan behavior in the past that is beyond the pale.”

According to Carleton College political scientist Steven Schier, Franken’s record as a “flamboyant and aggressive partisan” would make him ripe for criticism back home.

“I think it’s impossible to overstate the hostility Minnesota Republicans feel toward Al Franken,” Schier said. “He will be a very useful fundraising tool.”

Republicans outside Minnesota are equally apoplectic when it comes to Franken. Prominent conservative Rush Limbaugh, who Franken mocked in the title of one of his books, has already jabbed Franken on his radio show, telling listeners in December that Franken “won’t quit [the Senate race] because he doesn’t know how to get a real job…He’s a pathetic figure.”

Sure, it isn’t surprising that Franken is hated by Republicans, but these guys at Politico are a bit disingenuous using Rush Limbaugh as an example of just how hated Franken is by Republicans. First, while it is true that Rush Limbaugh is an expert at hate, he’s not someone appropriate to use as an example concerning either the subject of partisan hatred or Al Franken. First, Limbaugh is the undisputed king of hate, and despite his coming off of his illegal drug addiction it is not clear Rush has mellowed these last couple of years. Zecond, Rush and Franken have had a thing going over the last several years at least since the publication of Franken’s “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot,” perhaps the most insightful story of psychopathic personalities since Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. OF COURSE Rush hates Franken. Why, though, should other Republicans hate Franken?

Well, the other vaunted Franken book is a study of psychopathic tendencies among large groups of people. If there was a Nobel Prize for psychology, or even for humor, I’m sure Franken would have won the award for “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right,” truly a trip into the dark side of the mind of a Republican. The facts here are that Republicans hate Franken for telling the truth, and also for showing that people don’t like the ugliness and dirty politics the Republicans have been feeding America for nearly 30 years. Let’s face it, Franken is about as big an underdog as you’ll see in an election. His background is as a comedian, for God’s sake, and he beat Norm Coleman, a Senator who was far from controversial, indeed, far from having a personality. Franken STILL WON!

There’s why Republicans hate Franken — they’ve buried their own party in ineptitude, hate, incompetence, runaway spending and corruption that even a comedian who starred in some of the most stupid movies of all time can beat one of the most innocuous Republicans in the country. That’s the measure of how woefully crippled the Republican party is, and that’s why Al Franken is now the man Republicans like to hate most. Step aside, Hillary, because you’re not the most hated anymore. Make way for Al Franken.