[Malveaux:] We want to go directly to Al Franken. He is Minnesota's new senator that declared today, after a very long and contentious race. Let's take a quick listen to Al Franken at the mike.
[Al Franken, Winner Of Minnesota Senate Race:] I'm thrilled and honored by the faith that Minnesotans have placed in me. I'm also humbled, not just by the closeness of this election, but by the enormity of the responsibility that comes with this office. We have a lot of work to do in Washington, but that's why I signed up for the job in the first place. When we started this campaign way back in February of 2007, I said that Americans have never backed away from tough challenges and Minnesotans have always led the way. Working with our fantastic senior senator, Amy Klobuchar, I'm going to fight hard to make quality health care accessible and affordable to all Minnesotans, to make sure that our kids have an education that prepares them for a 21st century economy, to make Minnesota the epicenter of a new, renewable energy economy that frees us from our dependence on foreign oil, to restore our standing in the world and put people to work here at home. To those Minnesotans who worked for me, volunteered for me, voted for me, I can't tell you how grateful I am. When you win an election this close, you know that not one bit of effort went to waste. And to those who devoted their time and energy to supporting Senator Coleman, I can only imagine how hard these past months have been. But no matter whether you voted for me or for Senator Coleman or for Senator Barkley or whether you voted at all, I want the people of Minnesota to know that I'm ready to work for all of you, that I'm committed to being a voice for all Minnesotans in the U.S. Senate. I know there's been a lot of talk about the fact that when I'm sworn in, I'll be the 60th member of the Democratic Caucus. But that's that's not how I see it. The way I see it, I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second senator from the State of Minnesota. And that's how I'm going to do this job.
[Malveaux:] Minnesota's new senator, Al Franken, saying he is ready to go to work for his state. I want to bring in own Gloria Borger to kind of give us a lay of the land here. Obviously, it's a race that everybody has been following for quite some time. This is the next step now. What what does this mean for for the Democrats now that they have a larger majority?
[Gloria Borger, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Well, it means that they've got 60 seats, which would give them a filibuster-proof majority. But that's assuming that Democrats, and two Independents who we include in that, would agree on everything which is, of course, a large assumption that is not necessarily true.
[Malveaux:] Sure.
[Borger:] But, of course, they'll take every vote they can get at this point. Don't forget, this has been a hotly contested fight over these last eight months very divisive, splitting the parties in the Senate, leaving the State of Minnesota unrepresented. And so I think that a lot of people on both sides of the aisle are kind of breathing a sigh of relief that it's that it's finally over, no matter how it was decided.
[Malveaux:] Do you think it helps the Obama administration and the president pushing forward some of the things that have been so difficult for him, whether it's energy or health care?
[Borger:] Sure.
[Malveaux:] Obviously...
[Borger:] Yes. Sure. I think it does. I mean, look, a vote is a vote is a vote. And I think Al Franken's politics are clearly more on the liberal side. So he would be more likely to go along with Barack Obama on things like climate change, on things like health care reform, than somebody like Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who's much more of a moderate who he may lose on certain votes.
[Malveaux:] Sure.
[Borger:] So I think that they would look at Franken as much more dependable.
[Malveaux:] OK. Gloria Borger making sense of all of this. Thank you so much.
[Borger:] Sure.
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