With my eyes shut

Al Franken is running for US Senate out of Minnesota.

Citizen Analog has strong Minnesota ties, so we'd like to extend our incredibly influential endorsement.

I actually haven't been following his campaign all that closely. I used to listen to Franken on Air America, so when he officially announced he was running I said to myself, "Yeah, that seems about right". He's a funny guy, I think what I appreciate most about him is that he doesn't condescend to the country. When he's attacked for saying outrageous things during his long comedy career he just says, "C'mon, you know the difference between satire and reality, don't be an idiot". He isn't constantly walking on eggshells, making sure each and every word is weighed and measured to be universally bland enough not to offend anyone. Everyone is so vanilla nowadays, just talking in circles and saying sentences that are completely hollow of meaning, but buzz with 'acceptability'.

I like Al Franken because he's funny and he trusts us to be able to tell the difference between the funny things he says, and the important things he'll do. He isn't going to bring the same flippant levity to economic policy decisions on the senate floor that he does to a joke about how fat Rush Limbaugh is.

Also, he can draw a phenomenally accurate map of the United States from memory.