Al Franken for U.S. Senate

[RottingCorpse]

I had heard Franken was thinking about a run a month or so ago. (On The Daily Show of all places.)

Still, it's funny since we were talking about comedy and candidates in another thread.

Comedian Al Franken to run for Senate

WASHINGTON - Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2008, a senior Democratic official from Minnesota said Wednesday.

Franken told the official, who did not want to be identified because Franken has not made an announcement, that he had decided to run in a recent conversation.

Andy Barr, the political director of Franken's Midwest Values Political Action Committee, declined to comment.

The news was not unexpected. Franken has been calling members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to get their input on a run, and he announced this week that he would be leaving his show on Air America Radio on Feb. 14. He told listeners he would be making a decision on a race soon.

In a statement, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey said he was confident Minnesotans "will reject Franken's divisive, scorched-earth attacks." The state Democratic Party declined to comment.

Should he win the Democratic primary in Minnesota, Franken would take on Republican Norm Coleman, a first-term senator who is among the Democrats' top targets. Coleman declined to comment Wednesday.

Franken, 55, was born in New York City, like Coleman, but grew up in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. He was a performer and writer on television's "Saturday Night Live" before writing best-selling books combining humor and politics.

His PAC raised nearly $1 million last year. Although Franken can't use that money for his Senate campaign, it shows he shouldn't have a problem raising money.

Coleman reported about $1.7 million in his bank account as of Dec. 31.

Franken faces major challenges, said Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. Besides needing to establish himself as a serious candidate, Franken has staked out left-wing policies that make it questionable whether he can win independent voters, Jacobs said.

[fajwat]

awesome.  I have one of his books and would lock in my vote for him right now.  Not because I think he's super special impervious to badness perfection, but because I trust him to be better than the rest of the junk out there.

[nacho]

Now Franken I like.

[fajwat]

Right.  And I wasn't just kidding on the square.  I'd do it, if I lived in MN.  Not sure I'd be as gungho about POTUS but for Sen, no probs.

[Cassander]

okay, i used to listen to franken's show, and he's really intelligent and likes to really beat up on those who spout BS, but how effective would he actually be as a senator?  there's more to being a representative of your state than being a public figure, right?  err...ok, go ahead and quote that and put up pics of shwarzenegger or whathaveyou, but still.   i think franken's ego has been slowly gaining steam over the years and as a senator i really can't see him doing much more than casting his vote the way he pleases and holding lots of press conferences.  celeb governors are one thing, but it seems to me that franken would just get snubbed mostly by the rest of congress, republicans attacking him for being a former comedian, dems not really wanting to be around him so as not to have their maturity and stature diminished. 

am i wrong? 

[nacho]

I agree, Cass.  There's no place in government for the likes of Al Franken.  Leave it all to Sonny Bono, I say!  And if he happens to die in some ridiculous accident, then leave government to the likes of his wife!

At least Franken knows more about politics besides "My friend Newt wants me to run" or "My husband died, so I'll ride his coattails into the House... FOR 10 YEARS!  The Bono Effect blows my mind so, when we see Franken acting up, I'm just numb. 

Overall, though, thank god.  What's a Senate without a little quirkiness? And a junior Senator doesn't vote whichever way he pleases just to make a show of it.  Those old boys will eat him for breakfast.

[Reginald McGraw]

I'm starting to think that the only way to have independence of thought in Congress (especially the Senate) IS to have someone who is so beloved/such a large public figure that they can be independent as they wanna be and not have to listen to their ruling party people.  Yes, there would be no chic committee appointments and probably the larger political machine would eventually eat them by eroding their beloved-ness, but it would be a start.

[fajwat]

gotta be at least one in every state.  we'll call it the celeb party, and throw thousand dollar a pretzel basket cocktail parties.

[nacho]

This race has become increasingly insane...

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/24/was-norm-colemans-wife-green-screened-into-this-ad/

[Matt]

That guy basically did the most douchebag-y response he could think of. All it does is make Coleman himself look like the biggest douchebag of all.

[nacho]

Well, he is, really.  That should be an easy Franken win.

[Nubbins]

I'm good enough, smart enough... and dogonnit!  People LIKE me!

[Tatertots]

I think good comedians can be good politicians because to be a good comedian you have to be insightful and creative -- which are two qualities you'd want in a leader. I wouldn't vote for, say, Seinfeld over Obama, but I think Franken can use his comedy experience to his advantage.

[RottingCorpse]

I pulled this thread out of the archives. Looks like Franken might finally get seated.

Minn. court rules for Franken in Senate fight

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for the former Saturday Night Live comedian to be seated after an almost eight-month fight.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining his Senate seat are dwindling, saying Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office.

"We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (Minnesota law) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota," the court wrote in its 5-0 ruling.

With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.

Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention, and has 10 days before the ruling takes effect in which to point out any errors related to the court's interpretation of law, facts or material questions in the case.

The earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid said Pawlenty should respect the votes of his constituents and his state's highest court.

The election certificate also requires the signature of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Ritchie, a Democrat, said he was ready to sign it "as soon as the governor issues it."

Ritchie said he takes the ruling as a direction to sign the certificate. He said he hasn't spoken with Pawlenty and wasn't aware that the governor was out of the state at a conference in Washington.

Franken, a former Saturday Night Live star making the leap from life as a left-wing author and radio talker to the Senate, planned a news conference later Tuesday and didn't immediately comment.

Coleman's campaign didn't immediately return a call for comment. Nor did Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose signature is required on the election certificate Franken needs to be seated.

Pawlenty, a Republican, has said he would sign the certificate if ordered to do so by the court. The court's ruling stopped short of explicitly ordering the governor to sign the document, saying only that Franken was "entitled" to it.

Coleman's appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly rejected by local election officials around the state.

The unanimous court wrote that "because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions."

They went on to say that "because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice."

[nacho]

You know, I would have accepted an armed coup if it meant this particular news story would die.