In February 2007, comedian Al Franken announced on his talk-radio show that he was giving up his job with Air America to enter the Minnesota Senate race. The best-selling author is the early front-runner to win the Democratic primary and face off against incumbent Republican Norm Coleman this fall.
In a recent interview with CongressDaily's Erin McPike, Franken discussed universal health care, Paul Wellstone's legacy and why he wants to be a senator. Edited excerpts follow. For previous Insider Interviews, click here.
Q: Why does Norm Coleman need to go?
Franken: The reason Norm needs to go is he had a chance five years ago to serve the people of Minnesota, and instead he blew it by selling out to President Bush and special interests. He has been doing their work for them, he's in their pocket and he takes hundreds of thousands from insurance and pharmaceuticals, you know, so Medicare can't negotiate with pharmaceuticals and Medicare Part D. He takes money from the oil companies and votes them billions of dollars in subsidies, and on and on and on.
So we need a change, we need a new direction, we need a new culture in Washington, and we need someone who's going to stand up to the special interests and stand up for working families in Minnesota, and I'm the guy to do that.
Q: The Bush administration isn't going to be around in 2009, and we may have a Democratic administration, so these Republican senators can no longer be a "rubber stamp" for the Bush White House. How do you modulate your message accordingly?
Franken: You can only judge a person's record by what they've done in the past. What he did in the past is very relevant. And the Bush administration led us into a war that was incompetently prosecuted, and part of that incompetence is right at the feet of Norm Coleman. He was chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and he did not hold one hearing into the contract management in Iraq. And he said that was his responsibility, but he just didn't do any hearings. But he did take money from Halliburton. That's exactly what I'm talking about. He does the work of special interests, and he doesn't do his job for the people of Minnesota.
And what he did for President Bush is a matter of judgment. He said that President Bush was God's answer to our prayers. [Laughs.] And I don't think that displays very good judgment.
Q: Your message seems to parallel Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's as far as change and judgment go.
Franken: I think both Barack and Hillary [Rodham Clinton] would be really great presidents.
Q: Why do you think that message is going to work?
Franken: I'm not trying to go anywhere other than to work for the interests of the people of Minnesota and be a voice for people who feel like they haven't had one in Norm Coleman and feel like they haven't had one in Washington.
Q: And so why are you the guy to do it?
Franken: Well, I've been speaking out for a long time on behalf of people's interests. We have a new progressive majority in this country; I really believe that. I believe we are going to win in November. I believe we are going to have the reins of power in January. And I've been a big part of leading and building this progressive majority -- in my books, through my campaigning for DFLers in Minnesota and Democrats across the country, and my radio show -- I've been speaking out.
Q: Why do you want to be a senator, and why do you deserve to be?
Franken: I want to be a senator to get people health care. I want to be a senator so that kids can have a world-class education. I want to be a senator so that we can convert or build a green economy and create jobs. I want to give common-sense solutions to the problems that we have.
And, you know, we spend twice as much on health care as any country per person. And yet they cover everybody and we don't. And Americans and Minnesotans are looking at their health care costs and the tuition for their kids ballooning, and don't feel like there's anybody there for them. And that's what I want to do. Politics is about making people's lives better.
Q: If you had to tie yourself to one big issue, what would it be?
Franken: Well, I think that the biggest issue, actually, that ties into so many problems our society faces, is health care, because of the ballooning costs. And it's because people want universal care, but they also want our universal coverage, but they also want universal care. [Laughs.] Universal coverage without care is only universal in name only.
So they want to be able to know that they're not one health care crisis away from bankruptcy -- which they don't have in other countries. In other countries something happens and you have insurance and it doesn't ruin you. Half of our bankruptcies in this country are caused by health care.
People want to know that they can change jobs without losing their health care. People can't go into a small business, can't create a small business because of the cost of health care. So to me, health care intersects so many parts of our society. One of the reasons college tuition costs have gone up so much is the cost of health care. Because colleges and universities have so many employees that need health care. [Laughs.] Did I say health care?
Q: If you could bring one overarching thing to Washington, what would you bring?
Franken: There are a couple of things that I have my eye on -- early childhood education. All these fall under a rubric of making common-sense choices to put our resources in a way that’s oriented toward the future and getting the biggest return on investment. I’m looking down the road at our future, and we’ve seen that there is a tremendous return on investment in early childhood education. The same is true on research and development in science education and in science. And we did that after Sputnik, and the space program has brought us incredible dividends that led us to things like computers and the Internet, and grew our economy and grew innovation and grew prosperity.
So I'm always going to be looking at how can we build a future so that we can have prosperity and address our problems in a common-sense way so that we will restore our prosperity for the middle class, and we will restore our standing in the world.
Q: If you classify senators into four different types -- communicators, workhorses, policy wonks and political strategists -- which kind of senator do you think you'll be?
Franken: I think that I will probably be -- and you're going to laugh at this -- all four. Here's why: I'm not sure that everyone fits into one of those categories. I'd like to think that I'll be asked to communicate our message sometimes because I'm an effective communicator.
I am a bit of a policy wonk, and I enjoy that. People who listen to my show know that. I had dinner last night with Norm Ornstein. [Laughs.]
I also hope to be a workhorse, where if there's legislation that needs to be written about something that I care deeply about, I want to be in on spending the hours doing that.
And as far as reaching across the aisle, there are guys on the Republican side that I like a lot. I like Lindsey Graham a lot. I know Lindsey, not just from his reputation. I really look forward to working with John McCain as a colleague in the Senate.
And so I think that I may not be the deal-maker, but I think that there are ways that I may be effective reaching across the aisle.
Q: You seem like you might fit a little less into the deal-making category.
Franken: Yeah, I think that's possible. But on the other hand, people on the other side are trying to paint this picture of me as this terribly partisan person. And Norm Coleman has said, "How is he going to work with Republicans who he's gone after?" And every Republican I've gone after in my books is either out of office, indicted, in prison or, you know, has a talk show. [Laughs.] You know, they're not people I'm going to be working with. There's a reason I went after them. In some cases, it's because they're crooks. In some cases, it's because they were, you know, people I felt were hurting the country, and they're all gone, essentially.
Q: You have a very unique storyline -- and it's not necessarily that you're running away from it -- but is it possible that you are overcompensating a little bit? Are you not being yourself entirely because of what the opposition is saying about you?
Franken: I'm still myself, and I can't not be myself. I've always felt that satire was kind of a serious thing. Obviously, satire has tools in it or elements that are irony and hyperbole, and there are things that you kind of have to say goodbye to. And so I take this very seriously, and I'm running so that I can win. There are some little kinds of techniques of humor that it might be time to say bye-bye to. [Laughs.]
Q: Both Republicans and Democrats warn about you as a very partisan liberal and someone to watch out for because you curse all the time, etc. Do you ever think you'll get to a point where you say to your critics, "Get over it"?
Franken: Yeah, I may say get over it. And also, I don't plan to swear a lot in the Senate. [Laughs.] I think that there's a difference between being a comedian and being a senator, and that you are not going to be disrespectful to -- you know, if John McCain swears at me, I'll swear back. But John McCain's actually a friend of mine. We have a mutual friend who died in 1996 -- it's a long story -- but John's been on my radio show, and so John's a friend of mine. And you know I'm not going to be disrespectful to my colleagues, and I'm not going to be disrespectful to the people of Minnesota.
Q: Democrats and issue advocacy groups went after Coleman in a big way in 2007, but they don't seem to be there now with the same heat. Do you think this race is more in your hands and there's less of a push from Democrats in Washington?
Franken: First of all, I don't hate Norm Coleman. I think he's been a terrible senator, but there are a lot of people who feel strongly about the seat, and about what he said six months after Paul died. He said, "I'm a 99-percent improvement over Paul Wellstone." He said that in Roll Call. He said "To be blunt, and God bless Paul's soul or God's soul, but I'm a 99-percent improvement over Paul Wellstone." People didn't like that. He apologized, and he said what he meant was a 99-percent improvement over Paul Wellstone in terms of supporting this White House. So that's why it's legitimate for us to say that he was sort of a rubber stamp for Bush -- because he told us he was.
And he did Karl Rove's bidding. And he was part of the Truth Squad that went after John Kerry. And he was co-chair of the Bush campaign in Minnesota, and he said that George Bush was God's answer to our prayers. [Laughs.] I think that speaks, one, to his judgment, and two, I think it's legitimate to talk about how we got where we are. And part of the way we got where we are were people like Norm Coleman, who were enablers. They were enablers for this administration, and I think it's not enough that Bush has to go; his enablers have to as well.
Q: How can you use -- or how much can you use -- Wellstone's legacy in your campaign?
Franken: Well, I think you have to be very careful about that, because I'm not Paul Wellstone. It would be so presumptuous to suggest that I'm running to fill his shoes. No one can fill his shoes. Some people say that this is Paul Wellstone's seat. It's Minnesota's seat. Minnesota gets two of them. And Minnesota has got to decide who is going to work for them, who's going to work for Minnesota, who's going to be a voice for Minnesotans instead of special interests: me or Norm Coleman.
Q: Who do you want to emulate in the Senate, and which senators could you see yourself working with most closely?
Franken: You know, there are so many, really, that I admire. Where to start? I really like Dick Durbin, and Dick introduced a bill for public financing of federal elections -- I think that's sort of a meta problem. Russ Feingold and Lindsey Graham together have offered a health care approach that mirrors or is very similar to mine and something that Paul offered in '98, which would let the states decide how they get to universal.
I look forward to working with Sam Brownback on Darfur or on human trafficking. I look forward to working with Bernie Sanders on pensions. I look forward to working with Joe Lieberman on environmental issues and John Kerry on environmental stuff and, you know, on a green economy. And obviously I look very forward to working with [Amy Klobuchar] and working for Minnesota.
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