Comedian Al Franken is running hard for the nomination of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party to oppose Senator Norm Coleman in Minnesota, and he seems to have grasped the fact that he won't win by being his usual wise-cracking self. He's bending over backwards to show his serious side, as Paul Farhi notes in his long, fawning profile for the Washington Post:
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.
Read the rest at the link above. Interestingly, the article mentions one problem Franken has with Minnesota DFL voters is that his support comes overwhelmingly from the coasts. Somehow, the fact that the Washington Post is publishing a long (4 pages on the website) profile of a primary candidate in Minnesota evokes no sense of irony at all.
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Filed under:
2008 Senate races, Democrats, Minnesota, Primaries
Tags: Democrat, Franken, Minnesota politics, primaries, Senate
