Three weeks before the DFL caucuses that will begin the process of choosing the party's U.S. Senate candidate, Al Franken rolled out a pair of TV ads Monday aimed at introducing himself to Minnesotans.
The satirist-turned-candidate became the second DFLer to air ads, following trial lawyer Mike Ciresi by several days.
And while Ciresi's ad took sharp jabs at the Republican incumbent, Sen. Norm Coleman, Franken's are soft-edged and biographical, one of them featuring his fourth-grade teacher in St. Louis Park, Val Molin.
"He was funny, too," she says at one point. "I guess that's why he became a comedian."
"I was really more of a satirist," Franken replies. He ends both ads saying he's "serious about fighting" for Minnesotans.
That's an indirect way of trying to defuse a potential vulnerability -- that some might consider Franken's career background as too frivolous for a U.S. senator.
The ads will be broadcast on network and cable channels in the Twin Cities and Duluth between now and the Feb. 5 caucuses, said Franken spokesman Andy Barr.
Although a good showing at the caucuses is a first step toward winning the DFL endorsement in June, Barr said the ads aren't aimed specifically at caucusgoers.
