Waiting For '08

Don't worry about Al Franken.

When FrankenNet's death spiral finally and inevitably concludes, he's got plans.

He still wants to be a Minnesota senator.

At this rate, he'll have plenty of time:

Comedian and liberal talk show host Al Franken put the odds of a challenge against Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in 2008 at better than 50-50, and said he would make a decision by late next year.

I can see the slogan already; "Vote for Franken, or he'll body slam your grandfather.

Franken, over a bite at a Thai restaurant (he ordered tom yum goong soup with shrimp and seafood salad), also said he's happy with the direction of his new radio show, "The O'Franken Factor," despite unenthusiastic early reviews.

No.

Ishtar and Howard the Duck got "unenthusiastic" early reviews. FrankenNet has a ways to go before they get to "unenthusiastic".

Franken, who first floated the idea of running for Senate last year, said he's spoken to state and party officials, political operatives, and a couple of senators, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., about it.
"I asked Hillary, 'Can you give me some suggestions about running for Senate in a state you haven't lived for in a while, or in your case, ever?' " he recalled, laughing heartily.

"And she said, 'This will be a long conversation,' so we agreed to have a long conversation about it."

Now, if Saturday Night Live were remotely funny or topical anymore, that'd be a great skit; America's Evita having a "long conversation" with a man whose entire public persona is built on being a simpering pain in the ass with passive-aggressive tendencies.

But how's that keen Franken wit holding up under the pressure of doing dailiy radio?

Franken said he would probably not take political action committee money but would also not put in any of his own money into a race.

"Absolutely not," he said, laughing. "If the staff went out for beers, I'd pick it up. But you're paying for this, right? Am I right? I'm right, right?"

Forget I asked.

OK - next question: How are those keen radio instincts coming along?

His cell phone rang.

"Hi, Norm," Franken said. No, not that Norm. It was Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (and native Minnesotan), who Franken plans to book on his show.

Norm Ornstein.

I remember listening to Ornstein talking at the Capitol in 1988. 500 people were almost audibly praying for the sweet release of death.

One month into the show, Franken said he's pleased with how it's going.

"I feel like the show's growing every day, and the show in a year will be different than the show was the first day," he said. "But I feel like we're totally on the right track."

But Franken did acknowledge that it was harder being funny in this format.

"It's certainly difficult to be funny for three hours, because you talk about very serious things," he said. "I'd like to loosen it up a little bit, and try to write a little bit more comedy for it, maybe make it a little less guest-heavy."

Al. Bubbie. One radio ersatz radio amateur to another - then why not do it? It's not like you have anything to lose?

Although he's not a candidate yet, Franken is already taking shots at Coleman, calling him a "shill" for the Bush administration.

Coleman declined to comment, but the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, Ron Eibensteiner, said, "This is a joke, right?"

"Minnesota experimented with one Ventura-type of candidate," Eibensteiner said, referring to professional-wrestler-turned-governor Jesse Ventura. "I would be extremely surprised if Minnesota experimented with another one. It just didn't work the first time."

Of course it's a joke.

So is the DFL, these days; it's a perfect match.

Posted by Mitch at May 4, 2004 07:14 AM