In Minn. Senate Race, Joke May Be on the GOP

Cracking up audiences, Franken mounts serious challenge to Coleman
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 7, 2007 12:29 PM CDT
In Minn. Senate Race, Joke May Be on the GOP
U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken laughs with a supporter at a picnic in Edina, Minn., Saturday, July 21, 2007. Even as his celebrity draws crowds and attention, Franken must convince Democratic activists in every corner of Minnesota that he's more than just a funnyman _ that he also has the substance...   (Associated Press)

The Minnesota GOP, facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from would-be Democratic nominee Al Franken, is turning some of his humor around on him. Immediately after the actor-author announced his US Senate candidacy, the GOP released a list of what it called “mean-spirited and divisive partisan” wisecracks, the Journal reports, and a GOP tracker is filming his every campaign move.

The scrutiny may have curtailed Franken’s famously outspoken persona, but he's enjoying success: Incumbent Norm Coleman's lead in the polls, 22 points in February, was down to 5 in July. But his Democratic primary rival is equally popular, and Coleman has made an issue of Franken's support from ""Hollywood ultra-liberals." (More Election 2008 stories.)

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