It's official -- Al Franken's campaign for the U.S. Senate is no joke

Mrs. TV Barn is a native Minnesotan, and she has seen it all in Minnesota politics — Harold Stassen, Jesse Ventura, the bleeding-heart schoolteacher who won over a Republican district — but even she wasn't ready for this.

Al Franken is still running for the United States Senate. And between him and his opponent, incumbent Norm Coleman, you'll never guess who's become the serious one.

This 30-second spot, released late last week in response to continuous attacks on his past life in comedy, pretty much tells you where the Senate race in the Gopher State stands right now:

It's still a razor-thin contest, though in recent days some pundits have shifted from calling it a toss-up to giving the edge back to Coleman. The reason? Surprise surprise, Al Franken can't convince Minnesotans he's a serious candidate.

No one running for office has more media savvy than Al Franken, and I'm including the two major presidential candidates in that pool. (John McCain, for all of his grumping about media bias, has tons more TV experience than Barack Obama does, and over the years it has been — with the exception of a two-month period during the 2000 primaries, when Karl Rove's attack dogs were unleashed — overwhelmingly positive for McCain.)

Franken has done everything right with his latest TV commercial. The tone is serious, the message is focused, and he successfully serves the ball back into Coleman's court, forcing him to answer to much greater sins than politically incorrect humor. And yet ... the observer cannot help but notice that the suit and study used in the 30-second ad bears an uncanny resemblance to the cover of Franken's first big political bestseller, Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot And Other Observations.

So in a very real way, Franken's three-decade-long effort to build his brand has served him all too well. Remember when CBS tried to do "edgy" Fox-lite programs like "Central Park West"? This is kinda the reverse of that, edgy trying to be stodgy.

Franken's comedian past may not seem like it should be a big deal, but I think Minnesotans are being rightly cautious. Had Franken chosen to run for the Senate in any other state of the Union besides the one state that put a professional wrestler in office, who turned out to be a big fat (as in steroidal) joke, then maybe he could push this issue to the side of the road where it probably belongs. But you know the old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, win re-election" ... er, well, something like that.

It's interesting to contrast Franken with his longtime friend Garrison Keillor. The bard of Lake Wobegon now takes his admirers on weekly fishing trips to Lake Bush-be-gone. But he can do that since he is not running for office and, therefore, not looking to expand his base. Franken, on the other hand, wants to have a dialogue with more than the people who despise Norm Coleman. For a few weeks there, he needed to work on getting the anti-Coleman forces together after a bruising DFL primary (that's the banner Minnesota Democrats run under). But that's happened now, and after enduring the "rockiest stretch" of his campaign, marred by an old Playboy article and tax problems, the election is "his to lose," argues Nation writer Alexander Zaitchik.

I'm not so sure. The fact that Franken has to put on a suit and tie and make that 30-second spot means that he is still struggling to initiate that dialogue with independent voters. The ad is aptly titled, "No Joke." We'll see who laughs last.

Comments

[Gavin]

I dunno. I just got back from a weeklong vacation in Minnesota and I saw four senate campaign ads, two by Franken, one by Coleman and one by a §527 that was using the forum to attack Franken and it's really hard to tell who is the serious one.

Franken's two ads comprise the one shown here and another more or less "standard" political ad that ties Coleman to President Bush, big oil, etc. I must have seen those ads ten times and I wasn't watching that much TV because I was on vacation. I am a big Franken fan and I have read all his books and not once did it occur to me that he was dressed as he was on the cover of "Rush Limbaugh is a..." I thought he did a good job of addressing actual issues and going on the offensive against Coleman.

Meanwhile, Coleman ran an ad with three "regular guys" at a bowling alley where they bring up Franken's tax and insurance problems, his history of writing allegedly crude or tasteless jokes and his "juicy porn." (I still don't get that reference unless being interviewed in Playboy or writing for them makes you a Larry Flynt or Al Goldstein, in which case a LOT of "serious" people are truly deviant.) The ad concludes with the guys concluding that because of Franken's history, they ought to run for senate because they are as qualified as he is and they're better bowlers.

The last ad is by an attack group that is simply breathtaking in the inference it asks the viewer to make. They have an actor playing a guy who is clearly involved in organized crime and he is "supporting" Franken because of Franken's views on a "democratic workplace." The implication is clearly that Franken supports organized crime. And, lest the subtleties are lost on you, the actor playing the mob boss is Vince Curatola, best known for playing Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni on THE FREAKING SOPRANOS!!!!!

Again, I like Franken a great deal and I hope he wins the election, but if Minnesotans are fooled by this group of clowns, maybe they deserve Coleman. I never thought that you could put Al Franken in a room with more than four people and have him be the "serious" one, but this campaign and the petty sniping, crude implications and avoidance of real issues in favor of manufactured outrage certainly makes me reconsider.

[Neumann]

I live in Minneapolis and haven't seen any of the spots. Too much "Weeds" I guess, so thanks Aaron for posting this one.

I like Al Franken and will vote for him. I think his polling problem has been that he's not being himself. In his books, he made articulate, important points, usually in witty ways. Now the Washington DNC crowd is taking away the humor, and that's Al.

When he's stone serious, he comes across as insincere. Now, Jesse "The Body" Ventura--you knew what he was. A wrestler speaking his mind. Granted, there's not much there, but he meant what he said. Norm Coleman, the incumbant, is greasy and he comes across as greasy. There's no dissonance.

Al needs to be "me, Al Franken" again. Without the dirty parts, of course, but smart and funny and sensible and a great choice for Senate.

[Mark]

I live in the Twin Cities area....Franken is way behind. Heck, polling showed Ventura outpolling Franken...and no one up here takes Ventura seriously. My sense is Franken is simply too combative to win in this state, and Minnesota seems to like one Senator from each party.

[dfl_er11]

I also live in Minnesota, and a great deal of people (especially younger citizens and college students - you know, the ones motivated for change) believe Franken will make an excellent Senator. Yes, he's funny. He speaks his mind. Of course his mind has been a bit uncensored in the past. He questions those, Rush Limbaugh for example, whom others question as well in undoubtedly crude language. So where's the problem?

The Senate, and America as a whole, could use a boost of humor right now. Someone who has proven their ability to give an informed opinion of the status quo would be an asset. A great deal of Minnesotans want Franken to be elected, and believe that being a comedian does not impede one's ability to also be intelligent in public office and, as a whole, a decent man.

[Lannone E.]

Franken's ads are much better than Coleman's. It's like Coleman thinks this is all a big joke or something. One ad he's taking out the trash and the "three greasies at the bowling alley" ad is just annoying. It run every 10 seconds, too! It's awful and I feel dumber after each viewing.

I have warmed to Franken simply because he's talking to the voters as an adult. He seems to think issues matter this election and that voters are intelligent enough to see through the B.S.

I hope he is right! He has my vote!