Al Franken gets serious ahead of taking office

WASHINGTON — So, did you hear the one about the comedian who spent a whole day on Capitol Hill and told no jokes?

Democrat Al Franken arrived in Washington on Monday content to be as mundane in the Senate as he was brazen in his previous job as a "Saturday Night Live" performer.

Forget funny. Soon after he showed up in a Senate hallway with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Franken made clear his new schtick is serious senator from Minnesota, the once-funny funny man.

"I am ready to get to work," Franken said. "I'm going to work day and night."

Franken's seriousness didn't faze the dozens of onlookers who packed into a narrow Senate hallway hoping for at least one salty quip.

What they got was essentially a rather dour politician, in a blue-and-white striped tie and a dark-blue pinstriped suit, standing behind a podium with the seal of the Senate on it, speaking slowly from prepared remarks. Franken barely cracked a smile as he talked at length about his duty to his constituents and emphasized repeatedly that he would work hard.

Franken's been working on this role for years. The man who many considered ribald was the picture of reserve during a two-year campaign and eight-month recount from which he emerged victorious over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman.

Franken first made a splash as a political satirist with his 1996 book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot (And Other Observations)." He initially dubbed his liberal talk-radio show on Air America "The O'Franken Factor," just to goad O'Reilly. Fox News sued over the name and Franken won.

Franken's temperament also could be tested inside the Senate, which still places a premium on an old-school collegiality. One of his assignments is the Judiciary Committee, where some of the Senate's biggest egos delight in taking on judicial nominees and, occasionally, one another.

"If Franken can turn his edginess into a sort of frank authenticity, I think he can do well," said St. Olaf College political-science professor Dan Hofrenning. "Some people might say that on the campaign trail he wasn't funny enough, wasn't edgy enough."

Franken is expected to be sworn in today. He'll be the junior senator from Minnesota, alongside fellow Democrat Amy Klobuchar.

"I think he still has some good jokes in him, but right now he's doing some serious work," Klobuchar said.

Not only does Franken bring with him a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority for the Democrats, but also a catalog of comedic material and lively commentary as a radio host and writer.

Not that you would know it Monday.

As cameras clicked, Franken downplayed that 60th Democrat business.

"A lot has been made of this number sixty," he said. "I'm not focused on that." He listed education, health-care and energy issues as areas he hoped to take on immediately.