Franken Update! Washed-Up Stars Hate Al!

The video below even stars Bridgeport, CT (and Cheers') own John Razenberger among a 4-person parade of Hollywood almost elites basing Al Franken. Somehow I can't quite imagine this making a huge splash for Norm Coleman... but... yeah.

Franken's Got Map-Skills

In my continuing effort to promote the cool idea that Al Franken may soon unseat Norm Coleman for one of Minnesota's senate seats, I bring you a video of Franken drawing the continental US free hand. I found it via Digg, and a more extensive post on geography and Franken's drawing sills is available on the blog Parenting Squad. The Parenting Squad post sources Greg Laden for the story behind the drawing skills:

This [skill] stems from a bar bet Franken made some years ago in which he claimed to be able to name all fifty states. When he got to the end, the count was only 49, and there was no way to remember which state he had accidentally skipped. So he decided to learn how to draw a map of all 48 states so he could keep track.

A few friends from my study abroad trip to Rome used to razz a friend of ours who went to Waldorf Schools growing up about the fact that his alternate education should have endowed him with innate map-skills useful in any situation. Marky did, indeed, have quite a bit of cleverness... but I don't think his map skills were quite Franken-esque.

My Other Favorite Race

I haven't blogged about it much, and I hope this comes across the way I mean it to, but my favorite political race to casually watch right now is Al Franken's race for Norm Coleman's seat out in Minnesota. I like Franken, and I like the sort of daring choices involved in him getting this far. I also feel like somehow I link him with fellow Midwest comedian poet Garrison Keillor. Regardless of the why behind my finding this race so compelling, frankly it just is.

Background for anyone unfamiliar is that Coleman took over for Paul Wellstone, a wildly popular progressive two-term Senator from Minnesota who died tragically and unexpectedly in a plane crash. When Wellstone passed away his seat in the Senate was somehow passed along ot Coleman, someone who has been labled by some as a moderate Republican.

Coleman is, however, a man who has acted in many ways as a yes man for the Bush administration, and someone who rode to a second term based on his links to an administration that was popular 5+ years ago. Now Coleman is locked in a tight race with Al Franken for his seat, and Franken has overcome quite a few obstacles to get this far, and the race is tight and getting tighter. A recent development involves recent discovery of Coleman stretching ethics rules around gifts. Here's a clip from a press conference today where Coleman's press guy makes um... an ass of himself (I think that's the technical term for what you'll see below).