Almanac: At the Capitol

In our Big Three interview Al Franken was finally funny, recalling how he probably became a comedian because his dad loved comedy.  The photo shows them together at Harvard.  In part of the interview that didn't air, Al told me how his father smoked a pipe and often had a cough and when something was really funny on TV that cough turn into coughing up some serious phlegm which delighted the young Al and sent his mother running from the room.  

Franken should be feeling good, five polls in a row have showed him leading Norm Coleman (although the margin is slim).  At Pollster.com Franken has officially pulled ahead when you factor in all the polls.  Coleman still should not be underestimated. He is a very skillful politician.

I've talked to a couple of undecided voters who have been watching the series. One said he sees Franken as a much more "positive family man" and would be more comfortable voting for him, the other said "Franken is better than I thought" but this independent male says he's now leaning towards Coleman because he denied the charges of infidelity for perhaps the first time in public in our interview.  There seems to be a gender divide in what people think of Coleman's comments.  Many of the men I talked to say they saw the comments as a total denial he has ever cheated on his wife as has been rumored for years.  However, I've heard from many women who see Coleman saying his "marriage hasn't been perfect" but he has been "true to his wife" meaning to them he could have cheated but been honest to his wife about it.  I guess I wasn't splitting hairs when I asked Coleman about the claims of infidelity and if he had been "true to his wife because people question that."

Anyway, back to Franken who was really emotional, fighting back tears through our interview as he talked about his family and how lucky he has been.  Here's the three biggest moments of Franken's life directly from him:

 1. Watching the news with his dad during the civil rights struggle when Al was 13 – it’s a very specific memory about his dad’s reaction. (Al called it a lesson about ethics and right and wrong.)

2. Meeting Franni – the first week of college.

3. The birth of his kids