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Franken Announces Minnesota Senate Bid, Assures Voters It's No Joke | |
2007-02-15 | |
Capping nearly two years of speculation, comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken on Wednesday announced he is challenging Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota’s 2008 Senate race. The longtime liberal activist used his announcement to immediately address what appear to be his biggest potential problems in his first bid for public office: Persuading voters that he is qualified to serve in the Senate, and assuring them that his bid is not a midlife lark after spending his adult life as an entertainer and satirist. “Minnesotans have a right to be skeptical about whether I’m ready for this challenge, and to wonder how seriously I would take the responsibility that I’m asking you to give me,” he said in a nearly nine-minute video statement posted on his Web site.
Though Franken brings a well-known name, publicity value and strong fundraising potential to the Minnesota contest, his viability as a candidate will be closely examined by Democratic strategists: They plan to make a top target of Coleman, who they considered highly vulnerable in a politically competitive state in which the Democrats are coming off a strong 2006 campaign. Franken doesn’t appear to have the Democratic field to himself. Also running is attorney Mike Ciresi, who announced Feb. 11 that he would seek the Democratic nomination. It will be a second Senate try for Ciresi, who took 22 percent of the Democratic primary vote in 2000 in finishing second to Mark Dayton (41 percent), who went on to win the seat and hold it for one term before retiring. Coleman, a former St. Paul mayor and former Democrat, won his seat in 2002 by a 2 percentage-point margin over former Vice President Walter F. Mondale — who stood in as the nominee after the Democratic incumbent, Paul Wellstone, died in a plane crash in late October of that year. | |
Posted by:Fred |
#14 One of my favorites, Colin Quinn hands Al Franken his own ass. |
Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-15 19:30 |
#13 spending his adult life as an entertainer and satirist When the hell did he do that? The "NO JOKE" headline describes his career to a "T". |
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2007-02-15 19:29 |
#12 Larson it's By John Lillpop. Pretty good writer. I added the Franken bit. When I look around the state I just can't figure out why we elect these nuts. Honestly I think it is the local dislike for regular polititions. Keith Ellison was a Minneapolis thing. video of Frankenstein : Franken gets skewered 01:56 An impersonator playing the role of Alberto Gonzalez on the Imus show has some fun with Al Franken, while Franken sits in the studio a few yards away! |
Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-15 19:09 |
#11 However, Ellison staffers dispute Tancredo's authority to "pollute the air," saying that building regulations are subordinate to Sharia law which specifically forbids smoking of any nicotine product within 100 yards of a sacred site of Islam. Is this from The Onion? Or life imitating The Onion? |
Posted by: eLarson 2007-02-15 17:14 |
#10 Speaking of jokes, you forgot Jesse Ventura. Al |
Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-02-15 15:15 |
#9 Walter Mondale, Paul Wellstone, Mark Dayton, and now Al Franken? Wake the hell up, Minnesota! Governance isn't some kind of a joke, you know... |
Posted by: gb506 2007-02-15 14:20 |
#8 Rep. Keith Ellison Issues Fatwa on Cigar Smoke - By John Lillpop Democrat Keith Ellison, the only Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, has decided to tackle issues that other politicians normally shy away from. Rather than concerning himself with illegal immigration, global warming, the war on terror, trade deficits, the federal debt, and troop surge in Iraq, the Minnesota Democrat has issued a Fatwa on cigar smoke. (word is Franken has contacted Ellison requesting his love child) More specifically, cigar smoke emanating from the office of Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). [TheHill.com] As it turns out, Tancredo is allowed to smoke in his office according to the property management firm responsible for the building. However, Ellison staffers dispute Tancredo's authority to "pollute the air," saying that building regulations are subordinate to Sharia law which specifically forbids smoking of any nicotine product within 100 yards of a sacred site of Islam. In this case, Tancredo's office is within 95 feet of Ellison's office, which has been designated as a stoning sanctuary. Under Sharia law, Ellison's office can be used as an execution chamber for stoning to death evil women who have dressed and behaved in a manner that has forced Muslim men to rape them. That makes the office a sacred Islam site. Because of Sharia law, Tancredo is guilty of a sin against Allah every time the Representative lights up. Nonetheless, Tancredo says he does not intend to stop smoking in his office. |
Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-15 12:54 |
#7 Strictly speaking, Al's candidacy *is* a joke. It is just not a funny one. |
Posted by: SteveS 2007-02-15 12:48 |
#6 This punk is pure ego with a habit of physically threatening people. Wish I could remember who the journalist was that Franken literally called up and challenged to a fight. Franken commented later on, "he's kind of skinny so I knew I could kick his ass". The interview was on google video and has since been taken down. Comment on Keith CAIR cocksucker Ellison's office stunt yesterday. Something that should have been posted here but wasn't. Sadly, Tom didnÂ’t beat him senseless with JeffersonÂ’s Koran. |
Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-15 12:34 |
#5 There isn't much fun in politics now, so this is a positive. I just watched his announcement speech on YouTube- waving hands, overactive facial expressions, and just a little INTENSE, OK? A couple of minutes in, he tells how his father set up a factory in a small town in Minnesota because it was on the railroad line, then found out that the trains didn't stop there... "That was my father, a great guy but a terrible businessman..." Pure gold. |
Posted by: Grunter 2007-02-15 12:27 |
#4 He's going to win. |
Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-02-15 12:23 |
#3 Got tape of Al attacking a heckler from behind? Keep it handy, Norm. |
Posted by: eLarson 2007-02-15 10:41 |
#2 I thought the 80's were the "Al Franken Decade"? |
Posted by: tu3031 2007-02-15 10:22 |
#1 WHAT A FU*@IN'.......Words fail me |
Posted by: ARMYGUY 2007-02-15 06:41 |