In order for Al Franken’s mere presence in the Senate to make a difference, two things need to happen. First, the Democrats will need to get both Robert Byrd and Teddy Kennedy to show up to cast a vote for cloture. That is not an easy thing to do, given their health issues. Second, the Democrats have to remain totally united. If they can do both those things, they can pass anything they want on any terms they want. It will be possible on certain votes to get one or two or three Republicans to cross-over and make up for Byrd and/or Kennedy’s absence, or for a couple of Democratic defections (I’m looking at you Lieberman, Carper, Baucus, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Lincoln, etc.).
In reality, Franken doesn’t make much difference. The real difference is that with Franken in the Senate, the Dems have no ready-made excuses for failing to pass their agenda.