Al Franken is no Jesse Ventura

So, it's been almost a week since comedian and former radio host Al Franken made the obvious known to the public about his intentions to run against Minnesota senator Norm Coleman on the democratic side of the aisle. People on both sides of the political spectrum will and already have criticized Franken as a failed radio host and humorless pile of dreck.

I will attest to Franken being virtually unlistenable in large chunks but he is far from a failed radio host which should, by all means, be left out of any political debate. He was paid to be a radio host and he was, albeit one as palatable as a chunk of drywall.

So he is running for a senate seat. Never mind that he is running in the very state that elected a former professional wrestler as its governor less than a decade ago. Franken will draw endless comparisons to Jesse Ventura but, as media guru Brian Lambert points out, Franken is a rather savvy individual. He has been involved in rather lofty political circles for years and knows the inner workings of government on a plethora of levels. He knows his way around the media. He knows how to work a crowd and he, believe it or not, is rather personable.

I won't go as far as to say that Franken actually stands a snowball's chance in hell of being elected to the senate seat but against a constantly flip-flopping Norm Coleman who was formerly a democrat but flipped to republican only to currently lean more towards democrat again it could be anyone's race. Just not Franken's. Although I never though that we would have elected a former professional wrestler as governor so who am I to predict the future?