Challengers render Franken run a joke

A lifetime of blue jokes and biting satire have proved a heavy load for Democrat Al Franken to carry in his U.S. Senate run, giving opponents an arsenal of potshots and even spurring a last-minute primary challenger who says the “Saturday Night Live” veteran is just too vulgar for Minnesotans.

Priscilla Lord Faris, whose family is steeped in Minnesota Democratic politics, burst into the race with a TV ad slamming Mr. Franken’s “record of pornography, degradation of women and minorities and questionable financial transactions.”

In the ad - which features Mrs. Lord Faris, a personal-injury lawyer, delivering a somber monologue reminiscent of TV commercials for her trade - the challenger makes the case that Mr. Franken’s comedy has rendered him unelectable because it “will be the source of blistering ads from the Republican attack machine.”

“I represent Minnesota values as a teacher, volunteer and advocate,” she said in the ad, alluding to her past work as a third-grade teacher and as a lobbyist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Republicans see Mrs. Lord Faris as a harbinger of the funnyman’s downfall and a sign that their relentless criticism of Mr. Franken is paying dividends in the electorate.

“I think she is tapping into a very dissatisfied faction of the Democratic Party,” said Gina Countryman, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Republican Party. “I think they recognize that [Mr. Franken’s] kind of work and his experience just doesn’t strike the tone of a man who will get things done in the U.S. Senate.”

Republicans have pummeled Mr. Franken for joking about religion, child abuse, rape and sexual exploits, including:

Mr. Franken, 57, also was dogged for months about his personal finances and then announced in April that he owed about $70,000 in unpaid taxes to several states. He blamed bad accounting and said he overpaid taxes by that much in Minnesota and New York, but critics smelled a coverup and dubbed him a “scofflaw” and “tax deadbeat.”

The Franken campaign said jokes and satire are not intended to be taken seriously and Republicans are manipulating Mr. Franken’s comedy in an effort to distract voters from real issues, such as high gas prices and the Iraq war.

But the litany of bad press, Mrs. Lord Faris said, put Democrats in jeopardy of losing to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, who is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the 2008 elections.

Mr. Coleman enjoyed a 15-point advantage over Mr. Franken - 53 percent to 38 percent - in a recent Quinnipiac/Wall Street Journal/ Washington Post poll.

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