With His Eye on a Senate Seat, Comedian Al Franken Says It's Time to Get Serious

[babylonsister]

No Running Jokes Here
With His Eye on a Senate Seat, Comedian Al Franken Says It's Time to Get Serious

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007; Page C01


Al Franken, U.S. Senate candidate, is telling a joke:

Some years ago, he tells a crowd of about 150 at a meet-the-candidates spaghetti lunch, his daughter had to write a school essay about how her parents met. So Franken told her: He spotted his future wife, Franni, across the room at a freshman mixer in college. He asked her to dance. They talked. He bought her a ginger ale. Afterward, he walked her back to her dorm, where he asked for a date. End of story.

His daughter, Franken says, wrote up the innocent tale this way: "My dad asked my mom to dance, bought her a drink and took her home."

The crowd laughs, politely.

The story isn't exactly hilarious. But as Franken's most famous "Saturday Night Live" character, self-help guru Stuart Smalley, used to say, that's . . . okay. In fact, that's the plan.

Franken doesn't want to be funny these days, not really funny. Wit has its place in politics, he says, and people always like a laugh. But funny can be a distraction from the serious stuff Franken is trying to talk about, such as veterans' health care, global warming, his opposition to the war in Iraq, etc. Besides, Franken has always had funny. What he needs, as a candidate, is gravitas.

So after a lifetime of making people laugh, Franken tries to sound deadly earnest -- even, in truth, a little ponderous at times -- as he seeks the Democratic nomination in Minnesota, his home state. Since February, when he announced his candidacy, he's been crisscrossing the state in a hybrid SUV, speaking at dozens of spaghetti dinners, picnics and meet-and-greets, all with a singular mission: To convince people that his evolution from wacky satirist to talk-radio pundit to serious statesman is real and complete.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121601892.html

[Snotcicles]

1. I send him money when ever I can. He is a good man and the whole country needs him in the senate. nt

[The Magistrate]

2. Mr. Franken Will Make A Great Senator, Ma'am

[Wickerman]

3. I'm pleased to live in the State where I can help Mr. Franken remove

Bush suckup Normie Coleman. He will do a terrific job and will run a very good campaign.

[K Gardner]

5. Does he have a good chance of winning? That'd be great...

[Wickerman]

8. He stacks up well against Coleman, I believe

He'll have to get past a well-funded Ciresi who is currently surging for the DFL (Dem) nomination and I suppose this latest article is in response to that surge. Ciresi got an AFSCME endorsement recently. Whatever one gets the nod will get a lot of support from the DFL party.

[babylonsister]

9. Not to have to see or hear Coleman would be such a reward!

I'm cheering for Al!

[Alcibiades]

4. Two terms in the Senate

and then the White House.

[lojasmo]

6. I love it every time I get to see him.

He and my wife spend quite a bit of time together.

[jwirr]

7. I think he will make a very good Senator as he takes the time to be

informed - something Coleman only does during an election period.

[kickysnana]

10. But does he know enough about law,and managing a staff to function effectively?

[bvar22]

11. There are some good progressive candidates with experience in Minnesota.

Al Franken has national name recognition and a lot of fans (I'm one), but I would like to hear from our (DU) people in Minnesota before I'll support an entertainer over a more experienced Progressive candidate.


What about it, MN DUers?


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[goodhue]

12. I'm backing Jack

http://www.jackforsenate.org/

About Jack

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer believes in a politics of hope in this time of widespread concern for the future of our nation and our planet. He recognizes that we are entering the most important decade in history, in which the decisions we make will determine the quality of life for all future generations. As a Senator, he will face these challenges with vision and courage.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer was born in 1951, the youngest of four children, to a working class family. His mother stayed home until he started kindergarten and then worked for twenty years as an insurance underwriter. His father served in the Navy during World War II, attended Dunwoody Institute and worked as a printer until his death of cancer at age 59.

Jack was a good student and an athlete through his years at Coon Rapids High School. He went on to St. Olaf College and graduated with a major in political science in 1973. In his junior year he participated in an urban studies program in Chicago that helped him better understand why Martin Luther King insisted that our nation address the tragic links between poverty, racism, and war. In that program, he volunteered at a poor middle school on the west side of Chicago and returned after graduating from St. Olaf to teach social studies for a semester at the request of the principal.

In his senior year he also took part in a life-changing five-month study program in India, Ethiopia, Israel-Palestine, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Japan. It caused him to invest his life in changing the world to one in which all people’s essential needs are met. As he grew more politically aware, he realized the best values and priorities of the Democratic Party were consistent with his own.

Jack then attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City, focusing his studies on the politics and faith dimensions of hunger, and received a Master of Divinity degree. He turned his master’s thesis into his first book, Hunger for Justice: the Politics of Food and Faith, and then worked for nearly five years as the National Program Director of the Politics of Food Program with the interfaith organization, Clergy and Laity Concerned.

Jack returned to Minnesota and worked for two years on hunger issues for the American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church of America. In 1984 he and his wife Sara were hired by the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College to run a house of studies in Managua, Nicaragua. After returning to Minnesota in 1986, Jack focused on writing, public speaking, and teaching at area colleges. Since 1992 he has taught Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

In 2006, Jack sought the DFL endorsement for U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. His campaign focused attention on serious issues, infused politics with hope and joy, brought many people into the political process for the first time, and reenergized others. When Keith Ellison won the endorsement, Jack strongly supported Keith. Jack was subsequently invited to address the Iraq War at the 2006 DFL State Convention, where he received rousing applause from the delegates.

Jack has been happily married to Sara Nelson-Pallmeyer for twenty-five years. Sara directs the Center for Families in North Minneapolis, a project of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches. Their three capable, caring daughters are sources of profound joy to them. Hannah is a junior at Macalester College in St. Paul. Audrey is a senior, and Naomi a freshman, at South High in Minneapolis.



Hannah, Naomi, Jack, Sara, and Audrey Nelson-Pallmeyer

[bvar22]

14. Thanks, goodhue.

I miss Minnesota politics AND Minnesota DUers!
:hi:

[CTyankee]

13. And this begs the question, don't you think, which is why Al wants to be a lawmaker?

I haven't heard or read any of his stump speeches but I would like to hear his response. Don't get me wrong; I love Al. But I'd like to hear why he wants to be a senator, what are his goals and are they doable.

[mzmolly]

16. He wants to serve the public. Just like any other "lawmaker."

http://www.alfranken.com/content/issues < More info.

[CTyankee]

17. Thanks for the info. Nice to see Al's face!

[mzmolly]

18. He's got a great set of "values" to match his mug as well.

;)

[CTyankee]

19. I got his autograph on one of his books 2 years ago. He was so nice and funny.

It was for my son in law, who is a political consultant for Dems. Al wrote: "To Richard, great mother in law! Al Franken". I was so thrilled I sailed right out of Barnes and Noble without paying for the book! I was horrified when I got home and realized what I'd done. I called the book store and told a clerk what happened and gave her a credit card number. She laughed...

[mzmolly]

20. Cute story.

LOL, He should have said, "To Richard, watch that sneaky mother in law!" :P

[CTyankee]

21. Thanks. It was nice. I missed his radio show, being broadcast from a hall at Yale.

There was a nice group at Yale's B&N Bookstore waiting for him...

[mzmolly]

15. I'm a Minnesotan who is supporting Franken.

:hi: