Coleman's finances draw attention

By: Kenneth P. Vogel
Politico
February 5, 2009

Norm Coleman has a strong interest in convincing voters that he hasn’t given up hope of returning for a second Senate term. But as the fight over Minnesota’s Senate recount moves through the courts, Coleman recently signaled the opposite by taking a consulting job for a little-known Beltway political group.

It’s not exactly a smart political play but neither is it entirely out of character. Coleman’s efforts to make ends meet on a public servant’s salary were a persistent theme throughout his 2008 reelection campaign — and burned him politically time and again.

Coleman explained his recent decision to take a job as a “consultant and strategic adviser” to the Republican Jewish Coalition, a second-tier political action committee run by a friend, by remarking that he’s “not part of the millionaire’s club.” Since he’s no longer receiving a Senate paycheck, he noted, he needs cash to pay his mortgage and college tuition for his two children.

The attention to the new job and to Coleman’s finances, asserted campaign manager Cullen Sheehan, highlights “how out of touch people in Washington can be when an everyday person who is no longer a seated member gets a job to earn a living and provide for his family.”

(More here.)