Minnesota Dems Scrutinize Comedian, Senate Hopeful Franken for Racy Playboy Article

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum said that a Playboy column written by Senate candidate Al Franken eight years ago was offensive and presents a serious political problem for Democratic candidates this year. McCollum, who had supported Franken rival Mike Ciresi until he dropped out of the race, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she was worried that Minnesota Democratic congressional candidates will be running with a candidate “who has pornographic writings that are indefensible.”

“Do they spend all of their time defending him, or do they spend their time talking about issues that are important to this election?” she asked. “The whole story was a shocking surprise.”

Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” star and best-selling author, is the Democratic front-runner to take on Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.