In keeping with his attempt cut a profile as a workman, not a showman, U.S. Senator-since-July Al Franken has developed the habit of avoiding national reporters' questioning in the hall of congress.
From Politico:
Al Franken has gone from stand-up comedian to silent movie star.
Reporters who try to buttonhole freshman Franken (D-Minn.) in the Capitol hallway know the drill: Franken, presumably seeking to avoid political self-immolation through candor, gaffe or quip, scurries away and refers all questions to his press office.
The silent treatment reached an apex (or nadir) of sorts on Tuesday, when I caught Franken on the way to the Senate Democratic policy lunch to ask him the obvious question-of-the-day: What did he think of the Obama administration's plan to increase Afghanistan troop deployments by 34,000.
Franken turned slowly to face me and pursed his lips as if to speak. Just then his body man intervened and flicked out the business card of Franken's well-regarded spokeswoman, Jess McIntosh.
...
Franken -- an outspoken critic of the Iraq War and one of his parties' most articulate critics of the right -- has occasionally answered hallway queries, but only rarely. He does one-on-one interviews and gets on the phone with reporters from time to time.
