Do people here feel Al Franken is more powerful as U.S. Senator or as host of The Al Franken Show?

McCain is on tv every Sunday and a lot of days of the week

things up before she was even sworn in.

... put their noses to the grindstone and focus on the business of legislation, etc.

I heard that the other day in an interview.

Sorta like 'Senator' Obama laid low for over two years when he first became a U.S. Senator and then he came out in front of the public more and more after that.

I think that Senator Franken doesn't do hardly any tv or interviews because he wants to be viewed as a serious politician.

He would only be interviewed at the convention when he was with his delegation.

Republicans dominate the Sunday talk shows. And, even when Democrats get on the air, they're often with a Republican to present an opposing viewpoint. Republicans are far more likely to be on by themselves.

And, how often do the true liberals get on the air? Barbara Boxer, Patrick Leahy, Sherrod Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse? Most likely, it will be Kent Conrad, Joe Lieberman or Harry Reid for a "Democratic" point of view.

sick.

dating back to the 1980s, and Republicans have always had a big advantage on the Sunday talk shows, even in the 1980s.

and i think he was a great comedian/entertainer.

That's a DUzy, right there.

Jerry Brown had a show on Pacifica radio called We the People for a while, and so did Mark Ridley Thomas, now an LA County Supervisor, one of 5, a big step up from working for free. A couple of other So Cal pols ran cable shows before they hit the jackpot. All Dems. Not sure how many Rs also do this. I don't think they're as keen on it, though Sonny Bono had a TV show before he went to Congress as an R and he probably made more money on TV. But from what I've seen the shows are the temporary gigs and public office is the real deal, irrespective of the money.

I have to vote for the show.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/1209/Frankens_silence.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/al-frankens-press-policy-winners-and-losers/2011/06/29/gHQAMMj4yH_blog.html

Unless one had an Air America Radio affiliate in their town, or knew enough to web stream it, they never heard him when he was a radio show host. He didn't reach the vast majority of the country then, so I really don't think he had all that much influence. That being said, I miss it, too. He and Katherine Lanpher were a great team.

If you remember the election against Norm Coleman, Coleman was ahead after the votes were counted but it was close enough to trigger a recount. Franken won the recount but that was like plunging a trocar into the MN Republicans. So he has been building a base in Minnesota before taking a more prominent place on the national stage. This is a podcast of some local media he did last week. The interview starts about 4 minutes in and goes for ~10 minutes.
http://www.am950radio.com/am950-podcasts/matt-mcneil-show

Remember how close the vote was. It was months before he was determined the winner. I'm thinking he'll spread his wings and become more vocal on a national basis once he gets re-elected. Getting re-elected will prove his being a Senator isn't a fluke. He'll then be more effective as a Senator than he ever can be as a talk show host.

As pointed out once by Larry O'Donnell, Al Franken isn't like the scores of hack senators who'll say anything to keep themselves before major network audiences. Al has had fame. He doesn't need the spotlight. He would rather just be a very good Senator and serve his state and address local media.

I think it's admirable.