Al Franken will run

Published Feb 01 2007, 09:51 PM by David S. Bernstein

...for US Senate in Minnesota. So says the Minneapolis Star Tribune. No surprise -- he's been publicly "considering" this for an awfully long time.

The incumbent, republican Norm Coleman, is beatable. I think Franken could be a more formidable general-election candidate than some think -- but he needs a vigorous primary challenge, to hone his campaigning skills and to convince people that he's a serious person. (Call this the Kerry Healey lesson.) There are good Democrats in the state who could run, but unfortunately it's likely that Franken's star power and deep pockets will scare them off.