Al Franken has key seat at Sotomayor confirmation fight

WASHINGTON — Back in his "Saturday Night Live" days in 1991, during the X-rated Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, Al Franken played a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee less interested in the nominee's qualifications for the U.S. Supreme Court than in his own chances with a cute government receptionist.

On Monday, as a real-life senator, Franken, D-Minn., will debut in his new role as the "people's proxy" on the Judiciary Committee, questioning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and thrusting himself into the first major judicial battle of the Obama era.

The weeklong showdown, which could pave the way for the court's first Hispanic justice, is expected to focus on issues of race and ethnic preference, particularly Sotomayor's record on affirmative action. Senators on both sides are expected to tread carefully in this tricky political thicket, leaving little room for the sort of tension-breaking wisecracks on which Franken built a career.

But while the central focus will be Sotomayor, some of the spotlight certainly will be on Franken, whose classic sendup of Illinois Sen. Paul Simon — whom he played in the SNL skit, still bounces around the Internet, if only in transcript form.

Now, playing himself, Franken gets his first big chance to play down a comedic past that the media have found hard to ignore.

Franken's "photo opportunity" with Sotomayor on Thursday attracted such a huge throng of reporters that some were inadvertently barred from his office. One staffer called the crush of media "insane."

The new senator took no questions but released a statement after the meeting saying he is "thrilled" to participate in the confirmation process. He praised Sotomayor's experience and nodded to her "humble" life story. But he stopped short of saying he would vote for her.

All the same, fellow Democrats expected Franken to be a sure vote for confirmation.

In an interview, Franken, one of only five non-lawyers on the judiciary panel, declined to preview the questions he will put to her.

"One of the things that I think is of tremendous value in these confirmation hearings is not just weighing the qualifications of the nominee ... but also as a sort of education for the American people," he said. "I'll represent the American citizen watching the confirmation hearings ... more than anybody on the panel."

Democratic leaders who put Franken on the Judiciary Committee say they did so because of his smarts and his engagement in public debate over the past three decades as author and radio host.

"He's been involved, even though it was from a radio commentator's viewpoint, with the big issues," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime friend of the late Simon, the Democrat that Durbin succeeded on the Judiciary Committee.

Franken called himself "somebody who always watches confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees." That was evident in 1991, when "SNL" did its spoof on the sexual-harassment allegations featuring former Clarence Thomas assistant Anita Hill.

As the senator with the least seniority on the committee, Franken will be the last to quiz Sotomayor — probably sometime midweek.

Franken also expressed a bring-it-on attitude in his statement after meeting Sotomayor. "The current Supreme Court has been sliding back on the rights of Americans as employees, as parents, as consumers, and as investors," he said. "It is critical that the next appointee understand the importance of these protections."