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The former “Saturday Night Live” star and political satirist kept the jokes to a minimum as he talked about withdrawing troops from Iraq, universal health care and the importance of wind energy.
Franken, who moved back to his native St. Louis Park in 2005, explained his reason for announcing his candidacy nine months ago.
“A satirist looks at a situation and finds all the inconsistencies, hypocrisies and absurdities and finds the truth,” he said. “That’s good training for a senator.”
Franken told the crowd of nearly 100 that his opponent, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, hasn’t been doing his job in Washington. He blamed Coleman, the chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, for not using his power to investigate the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq and the claims made before the invasion.
Mark Drake, a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Minnesota, called it “classic Al Franken, launching personal attacks.”
“Coleman has been a strong leader in Washington and works with Democrats on issues,” Drake said.
Since leaving “Saturday Night Live” in 1995, Franken has written three bestsellers and dabbled in talk radio.
Franken said that he talked more about the war than anything else on his show on Air America Radio, a progressive talk radio network. He announced his run for Senate on his last day on the air, Feb. 14.
Jess McIntosh, spokesperson for the Franken campaign, said the war was the impetus for his candidacy, but that it was a “snowball effect” that made Franken realize that he wanted to try his hand at politics.
In an interview with the Winona Daily News, Franken said the United States should begin withdrawing some troops from Iraq to force other countries to engage in diplomacy.
“That doesn’t mean we get out as fast as we can,” he said.
He acknowledged there is “no good way out, … but there are worse ones.” He said he would support the partition of Iraq into Kurdish, Shia and Sunni states, but conceded there would be obstacles.
Franken toured flood-ravaged sites in southeastern Minnesota, including Rushford. He suggested rebuilding it as a “green town” that could be a model for renewable energy sources. Such a project could build jobs and address climate change, he said.
“We should be encouraging (science),” he said. “We can use disasters to try stuff.”
Saturday was Franken’s first campaign stop in Winona. The Minnesota precinct caucuses are Feb. 5.
Franken’s campaign has raised and spent the most out of all his opponents. As of Sept. 30, he had raised nearly $5.2 million to Coleman’s $4.9 million. Franken has spent more than $2.7 million; Coleman about a million less.
Minneapolis trial lawyer Mike Ciresi, one of Franken’s challengers for the DFL nod, has raised about $1.1 million.
