Al Franken

Alan Stuart "Al" Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Minnesota since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman by 312 votes in 2008. After the results of a statewide manual recount and subsequent lawsuit by Coleman, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously upheld Franken's victory on June 30, 2009, and he was sworn into the Senate on July 7, 2009.

Before serving in the Senate, he was an acclaimed writer and performer for the popular television show Saturday Night Live from its conception in 1975. After television, he hosted his nationally syndicated, political radio talk show The Al Franken Show, and authored six books, four of which are political satires critical of right-wing politics.

Early life and education
Franken was born on May 21, 1951 in New York City to Phoebe (née Kunst), a homemaker and real estate agent, and Joseph Franken, a printing salesman. The family later moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb near Minneapolis. His older brother Owen is a photojournalist, and his cousin Bob is a journalist for MSNBC. Franken graduated from The Blake School in 1969, where he was a member of the wrestling team. Franken attended Harvard College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude degree in political science in 1973.

Saturday Night Live
Franken began his performing career in high school where he and his long-time writing partner Tom Davis were known for their humor. Franken honed his writing and performing skills at Minneapolis' Brave New Workshop theater, specializing in political satire. The two soon found themselves in what Franken described as "a life of near-total failure on the fringes of show business in Los Angeles."

Franken and Davis were recruited as two of the original writers (and occasional performers) on Saturday Night Live (SNL) (1975–1980, 1985–1995). In Season 1 of SNL, as apprentice writers, the two shared a salary of $350 per week. Franken, who received seven Emmy nominations and three Awards for his television writing and producing, created such characters as self-help guru Stuart Smalley and such routines as proclaiming the 1980s to be the "Al Franken Decade". Franken was associated with SNL for over 15 years and, in 2002, interviewed former Vice President Al Gore while in character as Smalley. Franken and Davis wrote the script to the 1986 comedy film One More Saturday Night, appearing in it as rock singers in a band called "Bad Mouth". They also appeared in minor roles in All You Need Is Cash and in the Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd film Trading Places.

Franken's most notorious SNL performance may have been "A Limo for the Lame-O", a commentary he delivered near the end of the 1979–80 season during a Weekend Update segment. Franken mocked controversial NBC president Fred Silverman as "a total unequivocal failure" and displayed a chart showing the poor ratings of NBC programs. Franken proclaimed that Silverman did not deserve a limousine. As a result of this sketch, Silverman refused Lorne Michaels' request that Franken succeed him as SNL's head producer, prompting Franken to leave the show when Michaels did, at the end of the 1979–80 season. Franken later returned to the show in 1985, mostly as a writer, but also as an occasional performer, best known for the Stuart Smalley character. He acknowledged using cocaine while working for Saturday Night Live but says he no longer uses illegal drugs. Franken left the show in 1995 in protest over losing the role of Weekend Update anchor to Norm Macdonald.

Post-SNL
Franken is the author of five New York Times best-selling books, three of which reached #1, including Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.

USO service
Franken has been a volunteer with the United Service Organizations since he first visited Kosovo in 1999. Franken has conducted several overseas tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to participating in numerous celebrity handshake tours at military hospitals to visit wounded soldiers. Franken has done seven USO tours in total, four of which were to Iraq. On March 25, 2009, Franken was presented with the USO's-Metro Merit Award for his 10 years.

Fox News lawsuit
In 2003, Penguin Books published Franken's book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, a satirical book on American politics and conservatism. The book's title incorporated the Fox News slogan "Fair and Balanced" and included a cover photo of Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly; in August that year Fox News sued, claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase. A federal judge found the lawsuit to be "wholly without merit". The incident with Fox focused media attention on Franken's book and, according to Franken, greatly increased its sales through the Streisand effect. The publicity resulting from the lawsuit propelled Franken's yet-to-be-released book to #1 on Amazon.com.

Radio show
Franken signed a one-year contract in early 2004 to host a talk show for Air America Radio's flagship program with co-host Katherine Lanpher, who remained with the show until October 2005. The network was launched March 31, 2004. Originally named The O'Franken Factor but renamed The Al Franken Show on July 12, 2004, the show aired three hours a day, five days a week for three years. The stated goal of the show was to provide the public airwaves with more progressive views to counter what Franken perceived to be the dominance of conservative syndicated commentary on the radio: "I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected," he told a New York Times reporter in 2004. Franken's last radio show on Air America Radio was on February 14, 2007, at the end of which Franken announced his candidacy for the United States Senate.

Other projects
Franken wrote the original screenplay and starred in the film Stuart Saves His Family which was panned by critics, receiving a rating of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Franken also co-wrote the film When a Man Loves a Woman, co-created and starred in the NBC sitcom LateLine, and appeared in the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate.

In 2003, Franken served as a Fellow with Harvard's Kennedy School of Government at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. Since 2005, Franken has been a contributer at The Huffington Post.

Political activism prior to election
According to an article by Richard Corliss published in Time, "In a way, Franken has been running for office since the late '70s." Corliss also hinted at Franken's "possibly ironic role as a relentless self-promoter" in proclaiming the 1980s "the Al Franken Decade" and saying, "Vote for me, Al Franken. You'll be glad you did!" In 1999, Franken released a parody book, Why Not Me?, detailing his hypothetical campaign for President in 2000. He had been a strong supporter of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone and was deeply affected by the Senator's death in a plane crash shortly before the 2002 election. Wellstone was a mentor and political and personal role model for Franken, with Franken stating his hopes of following in the late Senator’s footsteps.

After the funeral, Rush Limbaugh and several other commentators identified by Franken as "rightwing bloggers" and "Republicans" accused the organizers and participants of Wellstone's remembrance ceremony of using the tragedy for political purposes. Conservative columnists Peggy Noonan and Chris Caldwell asserted that 20,000 people booed Trent Lott. Franken, who attended, denied there was widespread jeering: "Along with everyone else, I cried, I laughed, I cheered. It was, to my mind, a beautiful four-hour memorial. I didn't boo. Neither did 22,800 of the some 23,000 people there." In Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, Franken wrote that Noonan and Caldwell had later told him that they had not personally been at the memorial service. Franken felt that "the right wing line on the Wellstone Memorial" was accepted by some "mainstream" journalists such as Howard Kurtz.

Franken said he learned that 21% of Americans received most of their news from talk radio, an almost exclusively conservative medium. Said Franken, "I didn't want to sit on the sidelines, and I believed Air America could make a difference." In November 2003, Franken talked about moving to his home state of Minnesota to run for the Senate. The seat once held by Wellstone, then occupied by Republican Norm Coleman. In 2005, Franken announced his move to Minnesota: "I can tell you honestly, I don't know if I'm going to run, but I'm doing the stuff I need to do in order to do it." In late 2005, Franken started his own political action committee, called Midwest Values PAC. By early 2007, the PAC raised more than $1 million.

Franken was the subject of the 2006 documentary film Al Franken: God Spoke, which premiered in April 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. It was released nationally on September 13 that year.

Views
Franken initially supported the Iraq War but opposed the 2007 troop surge. In an interview with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Franken said that he "believed Colin Powell", whose presentation at the United Nations convinced him that the war was necessary. However, since then he had come to believe that "we were misled into the war" and urged the Democratically-controlled Congress to refuse to pass appropriations bills to fund the war if they don't include timetables for leaving Iraq. In an interview with Josh Marshall, Franken said of the Democrats, "I think we've gotta make [President George W. Bush] say, 'OK, I'm cutting off funding because I won't agree to a timetable.'"

Franken favors transitioning to a universal health care system, with the provision that every child in America should receive health care coverage immediately. He has spoken in favor of protecting private pensions and Social Security. He has also advocated cutting subsidies for oil companies, increasing money available for college students, and cutting interest rates on student loans.

Tax issues
During the 2008 election, New York state officials asserted that Al Franken Inc. had failed to carry required workers' compensation insurance for employees who assisted him with his comedy and public speaking from 2002 to 2005. Franken paid a $25,000 fine to the state of New York upon being advised his corporation was out of compliance with the state's workers' compensation laws. At the same time, the California Franchise Tax Board reported that the same corporation owed more than $4,743.40 in taxes, fines, and associated penalties in the state of California for 2003 through 2007 because the corporation did not file tax returns in the state for those years. A Franken representative said that it followed the advice of an accountant who believed when the corporation stopped doing business in California that no further filing was required. Subsequently, Franken paid $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states dating back to 2003, mostly from Franken's speeches and other paid appearances. Franken said he paid the income tax in his state of residence, and he would seek retroactive credit for paying the taxes in the wrong states.

Elections
On January 29, 2007, Franken announced his departure from Air America Radio, and on the day of his final show, February 14, Franken formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate from Minnesota in 2008. Challenging him for the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party endorsement was Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a professor, author, and activist. Other candidates were trial lawyer Mike Ciresi, and Jim Cohen an attorney and human rights activist who had dropped out of the race earlier.

On July 8, 2007, Franken's campaign stated that it expected to announce that Franken had raised more money than Coleman during the second quarter of the year, taking in $1.9 million to Coleman's $1.6 million, although in early July 2007, Coleman's $3.8 million cash on hand exceeded Franken's $2 million.

In late May 2008, the Minnesota Republican Party released a letter regarding an article Franken had written for Playboy in 2000 entitled "Porn-O-Rama!". The letter, signed by six prominent GOP women, including a state senator and state representative, called on Franken to apologize for what they referred to as a "demeaning and degrading" article. A Franken campaign spokesman responded that, "Al had a long career as a satirist. But he understands the difference between what you say as a satirist and what you do as a senator. And as a Senator, Norm Coleman has disrespected the people of Minnesota by putting the Exxons and Halliburtons ahead of working families. And there’s nothing funny about that."

On June 7, 2008, Franken was endorsed at the DFL convention. In a July 2008 interview with CNN, Franken was endorsed by Ben Stein, the noted entertainer, speechwriter, lawyer and author who is known for his conservative views and generally supports Republican candidates. Stein said of Franken, "He is my pal, and he is a really, really capable smart guy. I don't agree with all of his positions, but he is a very impressive guy, and I think he should be in the Senate."

During his campaign for the Senate, Franken was criticized for advising SNL creator Lorne Michaels on a political sketch ridiculing Senator John McCain's ads attacking Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Coleman's campaign reacted, saying, "Once again, he proves he's more interested in entertainment than service, and ridiculing those with whom he disagrees."

Preliminary reports on election night November 4 had Coleman ahead by over 700 votes; but the official results certified on by November 18, 2008, had Coleman leading by only 215 votes. As the two candidates were separated by less than 0.5 percent, the Secretary of State of Minnesota Mark Ritchie, authorized an automatic recount stipulated in Minnesota election law. In the recount, ballots and certifying materials were examined by hand, and candidates could file challenges to the legality of ballots or materials for inclusion or exclusion with regard to the recount. On January 5, 2009, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified the recounted vote totals, with Franken ahead by 225 votes.

On January 6, 2009, Coleman's campaign filed an election contest, which led to a trial before a three-judge panel. The trial ended on April 7, when the panel ruled that 351 of 387 disputed absentee ballots were incorrectly rejected and ordered them counted. Counting those ballots raised Franken's lead to 312 votes. Coleman appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court on April 20. On April 24, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. and oral arguments were conducted on June 1.

On June 30, 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Coleman's appeal and said that Franken was entitled to be certified as the winner. Shortly after the court's decision, Coleman conceded, Governor Tim Pawlenty signed Franken’s election certificate that same evening.

Tenure
Franken was sworn in to the Senate on July 7, 2009, 246 days after election. Franken was sworn in with the Bible of late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, and Wellstone's old seat was set aside by Senate leaders for Franken to use.

On August 6, 2009, Franken presided over the confirmation vote of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. A year later, on August 5, 2010, Franken presided over the confirmation vote of Elena Kagan. His first piece of legislation was the Service Dogs for Veterans Act, which he wrote jointly with Republican Johnny Isakson. The bill, which passed the Senate with unanimous consent, established a program with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to pair disabled veterans with service dogs.

A video began circulating on the Internet of Franken at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 2009, engaging in a discussion with a group of Tea Party protesters on health care reform, and soon found itself going viral. The discussion was noted for its civility, in contrast to the explosive character of several other discussions between members of the 111th Congress and their constituents that had occurred over the summer.

Citing the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, Franken offered an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR "if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." It passed the U.S. Senate, 68 to 30 in a roll-call vote.

In May 2010, Franken proposed a financial reform legislation amendment which would create a board to select which credit rating agency would evaluate a given security; currently any companies issuing a security may select which company evaluates the security. The amendment was passed; however, the financial industry lobbied to have Franken's amendment removed from the final bill. Negotiations between the Senate and House, whose version of financial reform did not include such a provision, resulted in the amendment's being watered down to require only a series of studies being done upon the issue for two years. After the studies, if the Securities and Exchange Commission has not implemented another solution to the conflict of interest problem, Franken's solution will go into effect.

A March 2010 poll taken by Rasmussen Reports placed Franken's approval rating at 50% with Minnesotans, with 46% disapproving.

In August 2010, Franken made faces and hand gestures and rolled his eyes while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a speech in opposition to the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Franken's actions prompted McConnell to remark, "This isn't Saturday Night Live, Al." Following Kagan's confirmation, Franken delivered a handwritten apology to McConnell and issued a public statement saying that McConnell had a right "to give his speech with the presiding officer just listening respectfully."

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
 * Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
 * Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
 * Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
 * Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law (Chair)
 * Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
 * Committee on Indian Affairs
 * Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Special Committee on Aging

Books

 * I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!: Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley (Dell Books, 1992) ISBN 0-440-50470-8
 * Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (Delacorte Press, 1996) ISBN 0-385-31474-4
 * Why Not Me? (Delacorte Press, 1999) a parody-journal of the fictional “Franken campaign” for President ISBN 0-385-31809-X
 * Oh, the Things I Know! A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness (Plume Books, 2003) ISBN 0-452-28450-3
 * Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton Books, 2003) ISBN 0-525-94764-7
 * The Truth (With Jokes) (Dutton Books, 2005) ISBN 0-525-94906-2

CDs and compilations

 * The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Truth About Corporate Cons, Globalization, and High-Finance Fraudsters with Greg Palast (2004)
 * The O'Franken Factor Factor — The Best of the O'Franken Factor
 * The Al Franken Show Party Album

Personal life
Franken met his wife, Franni Bryson, in his first year of college. In 2005, they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Together they have two children. Their daughter Thomasin has degrees from Harvard and the French Culinary Institute, and she is an elementary school teacher turned "food educator and private chef"; Their son Joseph holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University.

= Resources =