Al Franken’s Opponent Doesn’t Find the Situation Amusing

February 12, 2008

If you weren’t aware of the fact Al Franken, the comedian known for his work on Saturday Night Live, multiple films, and host of the O’Franken Factor, Air America Radio’s hit program, is currently running for U.S. Senate in his home state of Minnesota. Not only is the hilarious, and absolutely brilliant Franken running, he is actually leading the Democratic field in every poll coming out of the state. It is this that has Franken’s chief opponent , Mike Ciresi, up in arms over the current race for the Democratic nomination. Where the nominee will then move on to the general election to face Bush cronie (R) Norm Coleman:

“Despite his impressive resume, Ciresi finds himself trailing Franken in the Democratic contest. The comedian-turned-candidate has raised millions more, lined up the most important labor endorsements and dominated news coverage. To offset that, the multimillionaire trial lawyer is delivering a simple argument to Democratic regulars: He is more electable than Franken.
“Al Franken has made a living calling people names,” Ciresi said in an interview.”

This may or may not be true, but one thing for sure is that Franken has both the finances and the ground game to actively run a full fledged campaign against the republican incumbent. Not only that, but Franken will bring the national spotlight to the race, and this will more then likely favor the Democrats, mainly because so much light will be shed on Coleman’s war mongering, and unequivocal support of George W. Bush regardless of the circumstances. All of this is meaningless if Franken doesn’t have the support of Democrats, but that does not seem to be the case, Franken held a wide lead over Ciresi, 32 percent to 17 percent, in a recent poll from Minnesota Public Radio and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Combine this with a string of Union endorsements and all signs point to a Franken, Coleman showdown. And his chances look good, the State Teachers Union president Tom Dooher said: “We just feel the energy Franken has created is one people can get behind and can be excited about.”