Al Franken- US Senator?

[Smash Adams]

http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/comedian-al-franken-to-run-for-senate/20070131190609990001?ncid=NWS000100 00000001

Al Franken has announced his bid for US Senate from Minnesota. For those of you who don't knew he is he is a political humorist as well as a former snl member.http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000059TET.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[captainhampton]

you'd have to be insane to vote for him.

[thejetstolehome]

you'd have to be insane to vote for him.

why?

[captainhampton]

why?

Al Franken, the guy is a hack comedian. He is a liar. I could go all day, the guy is not qualified for office and definitely not the Senate.

[a speedo model]

you'd have to be insane to vote for him.
This was my thought as well.

[thatwasamoment]

Al Franken, the guy is a hack comedian. He is a liar. I could go all day, the guy is not qualified for office and definitely not the Senate.Can't be worse than Jesse "The Body" Ventura :shrug:

[IAPAI]

fpOSgT-osHk

[Smash Adams]

Can't be worse than Jesse "The Body" Ventura :shrug:
I don't see how. Also, Ronald Reagan was once denied the role of president in a movie because he didn't look presidential enough- that's true I just don't remember the source.

[IamTheINDUSTRY]

wow. frankens a fuckin whack job too.

[Justin_stacy]

Al Franken, the guy is a hack comedian. He is a liar. I could go all day, the guy is not qualified for office and definitely not the Senate.

Exactly. The fact that a man with his creditability and history can gain support for a job like this says a lot about the Democrats in Minn.

Hopefully he’ll be laughed out of the race, just like Coulter would be if she tried to run for a GOP seat.

[thejetstolehome]

Exactly. The fact that a man with his creditability and history can gain support for a job like this says a lot about the Democrats in Minn.

Hopefully he’ll be laughed out of the race, just like Coulter would be if she tried to run for a GOP seat.

where does Coulter live? Al should move there or she should move to Minn. just so they can run against each other. it'd be a lolathon.

[Love As Arson]

I do not take him seriously, as he seems to be little more than a lap-dog for the DNC.

[Justin_stacy]

where does Coulter live? Al should move there or she should move to Minn. just so they can run against each other. it'd be a lolathon.

I'd say long island.....its funny but i think i read somewhere that they are really good friends outside of politics. I guess it wouldn't suprise anyone that two party lapdogs would be friends.

[thejetstolehome]

I'd say long island.....its funny but i think i read somewhere that they are really good friends outside of politics. I guess it wouldn't suprise anyone that two party lapdogs would be friends.

aaaaaaaand another good reason for me to have left Long Island. 9 months of my life was enough there, hopefully i never go back.

[Shatter590]

as a democrat and a moderate i say...

GOD NO.

[captainhampton]

I'd say long island.....its funny but i think i read somewhere that they are really good friends outside of politics. I guess it wouldn't suprise anyone that two party lapdogs would be friends.

yeah that was one of Franken's lies, he claimed they were buddies, which was not true. they're both nuts though.

[HeyCoffeeEyes]

So, let me explain it as someone who actually votes in Minnesota (and has known about the probability of a Franken Senate bid for about two years now).

1) Franken is very popular here. He has the local-boy-done-good thing going for him.
2) Franken has ALWAYS been a part of the progressive political movement in Minnesota. He was a close friend and colleague of Senator Paul Wellstone, and is a big supporter of Wellstone Action, the progressive organization that formed after his death.
3) I have seen Franken speak in person. I've actually met him, too. If you think he doesn't know his facts, you're wrong. Yes, he is a jokester. But he also makes very astute political analyses.
4) His books have been transitioning toward more serious political commentary. "Rush Limbaugh..." and "Lies..." were basically rants. But "The Truth (With Jokes)", while it did contain a lot of humor, also had a lot of serious and seriously good analysis of political issue.
5) Who says politicians need to take their job seriously? EVERY politician we have is about as funny as a re-run of "The Man Show" and our system still fucking blows.
6) Franken is not a lapdog of the DNC. Like most Minnesota progressives (Wellstone, Ellison, etc.) he is significantly to the left of the DNC on many issues and is much more focused on grasroots politics.

So I'm not claiming Franken is a perfect candidate., but Norm Coleman is a HUGE tool and I would LOVE to see Franken take his seat in '08.

[HeyCoffeeEyes]

Hopefully he’ll be laughed out of the race, just like Coulter would be if she tried to run for a GOP seat.

They really are not comparable, and I say this as someone who has seen both of them speak. Coulter wants to shock people to sell books. Franken wants to make people laugh to sell books. Both of them started off with pretty amateurish political analysis, but Coulter has been moving more towards totally unjustified bitching territory (from a serious analysis of the Clinton presidency to "Godless" which is, as far as I can tell, an argument that liberals are part of a church in which abortion is a sacrament and Darwin is God), whereas Franken has moved more towards sober analysis (from a book attacking Limbaugh to a book that seriously engages Congressional corruption - he was writing about DeLay and Abramoff YEARS before that shit hit the fan - and uses real research to analyze the political debate about social security).

[Justin_stacy]

We've been over this many times before, they are exactly one in the same, two vile, tactless/tasteless "shock jocks".

What separates them is how they are viewed by their political sides. Where as Coulter is viewed as a joke by the right, Smalley is now geting support for a senate run from the left. That is the separation.

Their political resumes aren't all that different.

[HeyCoffeeEyes]

We've been over this many times before, they are exactly one in the same, two vile, tactless/tasteless "shock jocks".

What separates them is how they are viewed by their political sides. Where as Coulter is viewed as a joke by the right, Smalley is now geting support for a senate run from the left. That is the separation.

Their political resumes aren't all that different.

Why is that when I respond with specific examples refuting your point, you respond with vague generalizations that my examples contradict and expect to be taken seriously?