Al Franken considering senater runhttp://www.knoxstudio.com/

[MKSheppard]

http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cf ... -04&cat=PP

By ROB HOTAKAINEN
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
May 25, 2004

NEW YORK - No professional comedian has ever been elected to the U.S. Senate, according to Capitol Hill historians, but Al Franken is seriously thinking about trying to become the first.

By the end of next year, Franken said he expects to decide whether to move from New York City to his native Minnesota to take on Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008. If he runs, he would seek to reclaim the seat of his hero and friend, the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone.

"When Paul said something, whether you agreed with it or not, you knew where he stood," Franken said. "And that's a great thing. I kinda like the idea of my running because I think I'm in a position to do that, and it might be for having have been a comedian. You know, I feel like I can say what I want to say."

Franken, interviewed outside a New York skyscraper that hosts his new liberal radio talk show, said his decision will depend partly on the fate of his new show and whether a stronger candidate emerges.

"But I don't see anyone necessarily in line," said Franken.

Many dismissed it as a joke when Franken first raised the possibility of a Senate run six months ago. But he said he has already spoken with fund-raisers and Democratic consultants, and he is discussing the idea with his family.

Franken said his wife is ready to move. His daughter is also supporting the move, but Franken said, "My son, right now, is the holdout."

Coleman, who won Wellstone's seat after the incumbent senator died in a plane crash in 2002, is saying little about a possible Franken candidacy. "I'm looking forward to a spirited race, maybe with a little bit of humor," he said.

But Ron Eibensteiner, chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, said Franken would have little chance of defeating Coleman.

Democrats, meanwhile, say Franken would be a serious candidate.

"He has a populist appeal that clearly can be engaged in Minnesota," not just among Democrats, "but swing voters," said Mike Erlandson, the state party chair.

When Franken attended the White House correspondents dinner in Washington this month, he got attention from Jay Leno, the keynote speaker and host of NBC's "Tonight Show." Noting the bipartisan crowd, Leno said: "We have the leader of the Republican Party, President Bush, and of course the leader of the Democratic Party, Al Franken."

It was a joke, of course, but there's little doubt Franken is hot in Washington's Democratic circles.

Franken, who became famous by writing skits for NBC's "Saturday Night Live," is now the best-selling author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." It's an attack on President Bush and right-wing politics.

His radio show, meanwhile, is giving him an opportunity to further excoriate Bush.

[MKSheppard]

God damn I'jm toased now from 22 hrs of no sleep

[Natorgator]

I think he should do it. He's got good positions and I'd personally rather see someone other than a lifetime politician in office.

[Nathan F]

This better be his campaign slogan:

I'm smart enough, I'm good enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.