Al Franken Returns To Comedy In Goofy New Ad
It looks like Al Franken is finally using his campaign ads to do what he does best: Comedy.
You really need to watch his latest spot, because it's pretty damn funny. It features a novelty talking fish toy, informing the viewer of Republican Senator Norm Coleman's links to indicted GOP Sen. Ted Stevens and Big Oil businessmen:
"Now one of the oil guys that Norm went fishing with has been convicted of bribery -- and Norm refuses to return the money," the fish says. "Something smells fishy, and it ain't just me."
Franken has taken a serious tone for most of his campaign ads in his uphill fight against Republican Senator Norm Coleman, in an effort to get voters to view him as a more serious figure. But now Franken may be going back to his roots, thankfully.
Tough ad. I wonder how Coleman can counter the claims. Was he ever a prisoner of war? That would be helpful in a situation like this.
August 22, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I saw an ad here where the Coleman camp was pushing a local DFLer that was criticizing Franken -- one of those "even the DFL doesn't like Franken" deals. The real gear-grinder in the spot was where she refered to Franken as a "pornographer". I'm not sure how effective of an ad it was because I had never heard of this DFLer before.
August 22, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Digging down into one of the articles about the poll that came out today showing Franken up by one, (I think the Minneapolis Star Tribune print edition) they mentioned that the poll did ask about Faris for the primary, and Franken is ahead by 50. No one else has heard of her either. She got 27% against Coleman in another poll. That percentage will vote for any DFLer against any Republican without knowing the candidates. Unless Franken suddenly has a mistress, the primary is a formality. Rest assured any donations given to Franken are going for the general election.
When I was putting up Franken lawn signs last Saturday, people who weren't on my list saw me and wanted one. OK, that's Minneapolis, but still.
August 22, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm Coleman: A Noun, a Verb, and Hockey..
August 22, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
N, V, and a slap shot.
August 22, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Al Franken's next book: Fish and the Fishy Fishermen Who Fry Them
August 22, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Loved the ad.
August 22, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was just awesome.
Talking trouts still deliver the goods.
August 22, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know you're in trouble when Stuart Smalley is breathing down your neck in August. Let's hope Obama has Minny coattails.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
August 22, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
"... because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, I know fishy when I smell fishy."
August 22, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
what will O'Leilley do when Stuart Smalley is a US senator?
he probably will cream his trousers
August 22, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be cream of falafel, with a loofah on the side.
August 22, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
ewww.
August 23, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Trout Fishing in America
August 22, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Farging finally. HUMOR is Al's forte. I'm glad that my donations have finally gone to good use.
Actually the "But Norm brought back hockey . . ." ad was funnier than all get out also.
August 22, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
BAMM!!!
August 22, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't this the second ad from Franken that ended with "stay tuned for more", or am I thinking of another candidate's ad. I like that approach.
August 22, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Franken's ad about Norm Coleman only paying $600/month rent to live a in the fancy house of a Washington insider also ended with Stay Tuned for More.
August 22, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, but hits Coleman hard. The more MN voters learn about Coleman the less they like what they see. A just released U of MN poll has Al up by 1 point. Just the beginning....
August 22, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mostly good, but damn how I hate that "stay tuned for more" line at the end -- pure cheez whiz.
August 22, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
"It's cheesy but I likes me some cheese." - Joss Whedon
August 22, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I think it's great (since this is showing up in other Franken ads).
It's one thing to run five different ads that all say "Norm Coleman is dirty," but it's a much more dramatic thing to say "Norm Coleman is so dirty that it took five different ads to cover it all."
Everyone's talking about "narrative," and that's what "stay tuned for more" accomplishes. Now every ad that Franken runs is a chapter in a long story, rather than just the random campaign ad of the week. By the time voters start expecting that tagline, you've won.
August 23, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Know that these allegations and connections between Coleman and Stevens have been apparent for several days now. I think Franken is good to have waited to drop this ad to coincide with some welcome news -- a winning but bare margin over Coleman -- in order to change the narrative of this race. Incumbent Norm Coleman is at 40%? That's godawful for an incumbent senator whose state is hosting his party's convention.
Do you think reporters will talk about how unpopular Coleman's become in Minnesota? What about Coleman's cozy Washington apartment deal -- was he knowingly receiving goods or services far below market value? Maybe the media will ask the same 'some people' that they quote so often.
McCain and Coleman: Realty Bites.
August 22, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The talking fish reminds people subliminably of George Bush and his Billy Bass, the talking fish wall plaque present that I believe Laura got him, and people who read about it liked him for his earthy sense of corny humor. Good old George. They didn't realize at the time that Billy Bass is about as sophisticated as Bush's thinking gets!
Billy Bass, George Bush, Norm Coleman, Ted Stevens - no wonder our government is rotting from the head!
August 22, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great Ad--Dems are learning how to fight back. Franken is a good man and will win. The people need a representative for a change.
August 22, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had a drop a few bucks on Al's campaign for that ad. Al does contact me more than any other candidate that I've contributed too, however. Those evening calls get a little annoying after a while. That's the beauty of caller ID, however.
August 22, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the guy was convicted of bribery and Norm has yet to return the money?!? What kind of fishing you guys do up there? Here in Texas it is "catch and release". The guy got "caught" Norm... "release" the cash.
August 22, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Catch and Release my ass, unless you mean catch people like Delay and then release them.
My very own Congressman, Jeb Hensarling, took $20K of Delay's dirty money and to date I have written to him o, 20 times, asking if he's ever going to give it back and every time Jebby says this:
NO!
August 22, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I high or was that a talking fish telling me Norm's a crook just like the rest of em?
August 22, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why do you assume the two options are mutually exclusive? Just because you're high doesn't mean the fish wasn't talking to you.
August 23, 2008 1:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Go big Al! Hahaha! I like it and people will watch it because it's funny and clever and not the usual boring bullshit that campaigns put out.
Way to go Al - keep capitalizing on your strengths, buddy.
August 22, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad Al is using some of his humor to hit back.
I really really want him to win. He'd be a lot of fun to have in the Senate.
August 22, 2008 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Franken needs to be Franken not the serious old guy he's been in most of his ads. A state that elected Ventura and Wellstone isn't hung up about suits and ties. But he does need to connect himself to Minnesotans and he hasn't done such a great job with that. Get out to the fair Al and get some photos with food on a stick.
August 22, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Al is full time at the Fair, beginning today and for the next eleven days (and nights.)
This does connect to Minnesota. Minnesota people, men and women, are nuts about wetting a line in one of our lakes. Besides shoveling snow and listening to Garrison Keillor, Minnesotans go fishing. Moreover, a Senator should not fish anywhere else. And we don't catch and release, we put the critters on a stringer, clean them and have a fish fry. Real Minnesotans don't quit when it becomes winter -- they ice fish for two months in the winter. I can't remember Coleman ever coming back from DC for an Ice Fishing competition.
So yea, good ad, and it should appeal to the strata that Franken needs to reach.
August 22, 2008 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
The fish works but Al has to connect with the fish.
August 22, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow! Good job, Al!
This should be a very effective ad. Keep up the good work!
August 22, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Never mind the cavorting with crooked politicians, this is Minnesota, the land of sky-blue waters and the unforgivable perfidy revealed here is:
Coleman's turning his back on Minnesota's 10,000 lakes and dropping his line in the alien waters of Alaska instead.
August 22, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The talking fish reminded me of organized crime. In "Funhouse," the last episode of The Sopranos second season, Tony has a dream in which a fish, lying on ice and speaking with the voice of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, confesses to being an FBI informant.
Foreshadowing his inevitable end, and referring to Luca Brasi's fate in the Godfather, the fish says: "These guys, on either side of me, they’re asleep."
Norm's ethics sleeps with the fishing.
August 22, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You think that's funny? It strikes me as the usual snarky political ad filled with half-truths and innuendo, only this time with a talking fish. Excuse me for not ROFLMAO.
August 23, 2008 2:11 AM | Reply | Permalink