Funnyman Franken Faces Serious Challenges in Senate Bid

Jan. 10, 2008 — -- Say the name Al Franken and most people think of his comedy on "Saturday Night Live" or his controversial books and radio talk shows.

But after a 15-year run on the late-night comedy hit — where he was best known for Stuart Smalley's daily self-affirmations, often ending with "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!" — and a three-year stint as a radio talk show host, Franken now wants people to think of him as a U.S. senator.

Good Enough, Smart Enough, Qualified?

In February, Franken ditched his Air America radio show and declared his candidacy for Minnesota's Senate seat currently held by Republican Norm Coleman.

"There was a great deal of initial interest in Al's campaign, some of it probably motivated by curiosity as much as anything else, but the crowds are still huge and energetic, and I think that speaks to his ability to turn the initial enthusiasm into real support and real momentum — not just for winning this campaign, but for really making a difference in Washington," said Andy Barr, Franken's communications director.

On the strength of relentless grass-roots campaigning and impressive fundraising results — in part, thanks to some big-money Hollywood fundraisers — it's clear that Franken's campaign is no joke.

And that's exactly the message he's trying to communicate to voters.

To convince Minnesotans that he should be their future representative on Capitol Hill, Franken has worked hard to shed his funnyman past for a more serious political present.

"Franken, at least to the people who have followed the race closely, is clearly serious," said Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. "This is not a comedy routine. He is working very hard, and he's got an intelligent platform. You might disagree with it, but it's not a comedy routine."

Franken's campaign raised nearly $7 million in 2007 from more than 81,000 donors nationwide, and he can boast of numerous endorsements, including various labor unions and 46 state legislators.

Serious Challenger

Franken is far from a shoo-in for the nomination of the Democratic Farmer Labor party (DFL), which, on June 7, will pick the candidate to do battle with Coleman.

Come Feb. 5, when precinct caucuses begin, Franken will have to defeat Mike Ciresi, a wealthy trial lawyer best known for winning a huge settlement against the tobacco industry in 1998.

The Ciresi camp hopes that voters will view him as a less polarizing, and, therefore, more electable, candidate than Franken.

"What matters most to people on the Democrat side is who can beat Norm Coleman," said Ciresi communications director Leslie Sandburg. "And all the polls reflect that Mike Ciresi is the strongest candidate to win in November. Mike is closest to Norm, and he does not have the negatives that our challenger has."

Those negatives, specifically Franken's comic career, could prove a tough obstacle to overcome, according to Jacobs.

"Franken has got a record as a comedian that will be mined by his opponents, to portray him as outside the mainstream of Minnesota," he said. "That's a tough situation to face in the final weeks of a campaign, and it's something that could well turn off swing voters who haven't made up their minds."

Sandburg cites Ciresi's "respectable, personable approach" to campaigning, and vital endorsements, such as that of Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, as evidence that Ciresi can spring the upset over Franken.

"Mike is clearly more electable, because of what he has done in his life," she said. "People look at what Mike Ciresi has done, and they look at how he has dedicated his career to improving their lives, and they say, 'This is the man we want in Washington for us.'"

Vulnerable, Competitive Coleman

Whoever emerges victorious from the Franken-Ciresi battle will have no easy task on their hands in defeating Coleman.

But the six-year senator is closely associated with President Bush, whose unpopularity could prove to be Coleman's undoing.

"Coleman is clearly vulnerable," Jacobs said. "It's not that he has done anything disastrous, but the tide is clearly against the Republicans."

And even though Coleman's opponent won't be known for six months, his campaign has wasted no time in taking aim at Franken and his funnyman past.

"Minnesotans are not going to be fooled by anyone, let alone a career comedian," said Coleman's campaign manager Cullen Sheehan. "Al Franken's record of reckless statements, crude jokes and attacks are no substitute for real positions on real issues, and Minnesota voters deserve to know where those who want to represent them stand."

"It is difficult to see how someone, who's made a career out of mocking people's beliefs, can be capable of working with people of different opinions or beliefs, to get anything done," Sheehan added.

Jacobs views these attacks as clear indications that the Coleman camp would prefer to face Franken rather than Ciresi, despite the fact that Franken has outraised Coleman in the final three fundraising quarters of 2007.

"Coleman is just sitting there, like a Cheshire cat, waiting and hoping that Franken will be the candidate, because he has such high negatives so early on," Jacobs said.

High Negatives Could Hinder Franken

Even in February, no sooner had Franken declared his candidacy, than the Minnesota Republican Party decreed that "Franken fundamentally lacks the leadership qualities Minnesotans are looking for."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a collection of quotes, including Franken's 2003 statement in Time magazine, that he would not run for office, because "if I took one vote away from a serious candidate, it would be a sin."

"Al Franken is making a second career out of telling people whatever it is he thinks they want to hear," Sheehan said, noting that "Franken has no record of accomplishment."

"It's interesting that, not only isn't Sen. Coleman talking about any of the other fine DFLers in this race, he isn't even talking about himself," countered Barr. "He knows that Minnesotans will reject his record on the war, on veterans' issues, on education, on health care, on every issue where he's allied himself with President Bush and his special-interest cronies. Hey, if I were him, I wouldn't want to talk about a record like that, either."

But Jacobs believes that, ultimately, his style of talking might spell doom, not for Coleman, but for Franken, who made no shortage of controversial comments in his talk show days.

"I think Al Franken has a really hard time keeping a lid on it, and I'm predicting he's going to go off rail at some point," Jacobs said. "Most candidates that make it to this point have been canned — they know how to follow their lines, and they stick to them. That's not Al Franken, and I don't think it ever will be."

If Franken does manage to win the Senate seat, he would not be the first unorthodox candidate to earn the support of Minnesota voters.

In 1998, the Land of 10,000 Lakes chose former professional wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura to serve as governor.

Now, Franken can only hope that Gopher Staters think he's good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, like him enough, to elect him to the Senate.