At the end of an hourlong meeting with the Post-Bulletin's Editorial Board on Monday I asked Sen. Al Franken about his time in New York, where he lived while he was a writer and actor for Saturday Night Live during parts of the 70s, 80s and '90s.
Specifically, I asked him if he feels a need to spend more time in Minnesota connecting with constituents — as opposed to Washington — than he would have had he not spent so many years away from his home state after growing up here and then leaving for college and work.
He said he hasn't felt a need to make up for his time away from the state. He said he believes the issue of him not being a lifelong Minnesotan is one that's behind him and his constituents. Franken, who was born in New York, grew up in St. Louis Park and graduated from Harvard, said it was always his and his wife Franni's intent to move back to Minnesota when their kids were grown.
I then asked him if Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels had asked him to host SNL, to capitalize on his status as a U.S. senator. "No," he said. "And I wouldn't do it, (if he did ask)."
He explained that he's kept his previous life as a comedian, comedy writer and radio talk show host separate from his current life as a U.S. senator, and he'll continue to do so.
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Franken was a bit taken aback by my followup question about whether he goes out of his way NOT to be funny at public events. This came a few minutes after he did a hilarious, spot-on imitation of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during a committee meeting on health care... Congress might seem like a strange place for a former (and sometimes still) comedian. But Franken claims that, although the Senate might lack humor, "it's not humorLESS."
