America Letter:During his years as a star of the TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, Al Franken's most popular character was self-help guru Stuart Smalley, who encouraged those lacking confidence to repeat "daily affirmations" including: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."
This week, the comedian turned radio talkshow host took this advice to heart, declaring that he will seek Democratic nomination in 2008 for the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Norm Coleman. In the state that chose former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura as its governor in 1998, Franken's candidacy is no joke, and his fame and fundraising capacity give him formidable advantages over potential Democratic rivals.
Coleman, a conservative who won the Minnesota seat in 2002 after the sudden death of Democratic Paul Wellstone, is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in 2008. He has recently started speaking out against the Iraq war in an effort to distance himself from president George Bush.
As the author of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them - A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, Franken has long mixed politics and humour and his talkshow on the liberal Air America radio network has become steadily more serious. Announcing his candidacy this week, however, Franken acknowledged that his background in comedy could be a liability.
"Minnesotans have a right to be sceptical about whether I'm ready for this challenge, and to wonder how seriously I would take the responsibility that I'm asking you to give me. I want you to know: nothing means more to me than making government work better for the working families of this state, and over the next 20 months I look forward to proving to you that I take these issues seriously," he said.
Within hours of Franken's declaration, Republicans were dredging up embarrassing lines from his old stand-up routines and portraying satirical skits as evidence of his extreme views.
Among the Franken quotes repeated in a Republican press release is a joke about Afghanistan he told at a New York event hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation in 1999: "Why don't we focus on what Afghan women can do? They can cook, bear children and pray. As I recall, that was fine for our grandmothers."
Republicans are presenting as Franken's policy for debt reduction another joke he included in his Rush Limbaugh book: "Every Sunday, we put an elderly (or terminally ill-person) in a rocket, fire it over the Snake River, and put it on pay-per-view. The revenues go straight into reducing the debt."
Franken has himself acknowledged the potential for making an issue out of his tongue-in-cheek dismissal of John McCain's five years in Viet Cong captivity: "I mean anyone can get captured. Isn't the idea to capture the other guy?" He is confident, however, that voters are smart enough to distinguish between his comic tropes and his serious policy positions, and he ruled out adopting a new, po-faced manner.
"Minnesotans really know that a joke is a joke. I think they know what exaggeration is. I think they know hyperbole. I think they know what irony is . . . I can't afford to be something I'm not. I have to be myself. Humour and seriousness are not in opposition to each other," he said.
For many Americans, comedians have shone a more revealing spotlight on the Bush administration than conventional political pundits, notably on the war in Iraq, which most US pundits initially supported.
Comedy shows such as Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and its spin-off The Colbert Report have been relentless in questioning both the justification and the conduct of the war and in highlighting the feebleness of Democratic opposition to the administration.
Franken, who describes himself as "a serious comedian" has promised to spend the next few months listening to voters' concerns before outlining detailed policies on such issues as healthcare, energy and economic inequality. In his declaration address to Minnesota voters, he spoke at length about the struggles of his own family and the role that government played in helping them to overcome adversity.
"I may be a comedian by trade, but I'm passionate about the issues that matter to your family because they mattered to mine, too," he said.