Sex Robots Haunt Franken's Senate Bid

Comedian's past continues to plague Dem run in Minnesota
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:39 PM CDT
Sex Robots Haunt Franken's Senate Bid
Confetti falls around former comedian Al Franken after he accepted the Democratic endorsement for U.S. Senate Senate from Minnesota Saturday, June 7, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

It’s not easy being a comedian-turned-Senate candidate. Al Franken’s bid to replace first-term Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman has hit some speed bumps lately, Bloomberg reports. Though Franken has nabbed the party’s endorsement, he’s been dogged by bits from his past—like a 2000 Playboy article entitled Porn-O-Rama, which describes human-robot sex in graphic detail—and the GOP isn't hesitating to dredge up more.

“Most of the stuff I wrote was really funny and really appropriate,” the former Saturday Night Live star says. “Some of it wasn’t.” Franken’s also been dogged by back-tax issues, to the dismay of supporters. "Democrats in Minnesota are just pulling their hair out,'' one analyst said. "You've got an environment that's very favorable to Democrats and a Republican incumbent who's clearly vulnerable.'' (More Minnesota stories.)

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