Al Franken Fundraising for a Possible 2008 Senate Run: That's Just What We Need

The blog Political Wire is reporting that Al Franken is raising money with a possible 2008 challenge to Norm Coleman (R-MN) in mind.

Said Franken: "I think that’s a fair inference to draw. Obviously if I’m going to run in 2008 I will have to have done certain kinds of things but if I don’t, I might as well do something good. This is really about getting people ... a progressive infrastructure built.”

Great. Why not, Al? You're really good at making fun of Ann Coulter, why not lawmaking? Novelty candidates (The Governator, Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Heck, even Lynn Swann is running for Governor of Pennsylvania); everbody loves them when they run, but look how they do once they're in office. Ventura spent more time moonlighting and appearing on Letterman than governing Minnesota; Schwartzenegger has dodged his way through various scandals and expended his political capital fighting gay marriage and having his proposals crushed in statewide referendum.

People love to see novelty candidates; they want "fresh faces" in government. What they forget, of course, is that governing is hard. Sometimes outsiders have the talent for politicking, but often they don't.

Minnesotans made this mistake once with Jesse Ventura; they won't do it again. This means that the Democrats need to go out and find a real candidate to oppose Coleman or risk gauranteeing his reelection through their own poor choices.