Franken's Dilemma

E&P looks at Anal Marie Cox report: “Don’t Laugh at Al Franken.”

He is running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota and “at the moment,” she declares, “Franken is well positioned to become the state’s Democratic nominee” -- although the latest poll, she says, shows him losing to incumbent Norm Coleman in the general election by 10%. The Minnesota GOP has called Franken an op-researcher’s “dream,” she notes. They claim he has been hostile, “at times crude” and that “he’s got an anger issue.” While the Republicans admit most of his comments have been merely for fun, “Franken will need to convince voters,” she writes, “that his past remarks were ‘just jokes’ and that he is more than ‘just’ a comedian.”

Tricky bidness that last bit. Franken's a high value target for GOPuke oppo-research because he's been a comic, and harsh (rarely). But Wonkette cautions he be vulnerable unless he convinces voters he wasn't serious, without at the same time claiming he's just a comedian?

Man, this punditry bidness is confusing.