Jul 22, 2008 11:00 pm US/Central
How Funny Will The U.S. Senate Race Get?
(WCCO)
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A parody by Al Franken's campaign of a Sen. Norm Coleman ad has gotten more than 21,000 hits on YouTube, but won't be seen on TV.
Al Franken For Senate
Considering the candidates you might have expected a few more one-liners in Minnesota's U.S. Senate Race. But the Democrat's campaign may be sensitive to just how funny their candidate should be.
A
parody by Al Franken's campaign of a Sen. Norm Coleman ad has gotten more than 21,000 hits on YouTube, but won't be seen on TV. The
original ad it parodies highlights Coleman's political career.
The humorous send up shows a dilemma for the Franken camp: just how funny can democratic candidate Franken be?
Professor David Schulz of Hamline University said being funny is a serious strategy dilemma for the veteran comedian.
"As a humorist, as a satirist I think one of the things he has to prove to the public is that he be taken seriously. That he really has the gravity to be a serious politician," said Schulz.
Franken himself admits it's an issue.
"I think its a balance that we are certainly cognizant of but I don't think its a huge problem," he said.
Yet any caution with comedy means Franken is distancing himself from a winning weapon in some famous Minnesota campaigns.
Both
Paul Wellstone in 1990 and Jesse Ventura in 1998 used humorous commercials to spark their come from behind victories.
Franken currently trails Coleman by as much as 13 points the Survey USA poll. In the latest Rasmussen poll, Franken is actually up 44-42.
His past satirical writings have been used as a weapon against him. They are the constant target of conservative bloggers.
Franken diffuses the criticism this way, "There have been jokes that I've done that weren't funny and that did offend some people. I'm sorry for that, but I'd say that most of what I did, I think people liked Saturday Night Live and liked the work I did."
And then there is the expectations game. When asked if Franken feels pressure to be funny he replied, "Only at this moment."
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