Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman has painstakingly maneuvered to stay in the game here.
Long a fixture on the Minnesota political scene until he lost his bid for a second term, Coleman’s day job now includes representing the interests of the Saudis, the Indonesians and the Emiratis on Capitol Hill. He runs South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s super PAC in hopes of getting him elected president. Recently he forged ties with former Sen. Joe Lieberman to launch a nonprofit organization that is urging members of Congress, mostly via television commercials, to oppose the Iran nuclear deal.
In the six years since leaving public office, Coleman wields more clout inside the Republican Party than he did when he was a senator. He has crafted a national reputation as a lucrative lobbyist, a formidable fundraiser and has emerged as a rising star behind the curtain in the GOP 2016 presidential primaries.