Al Franken could become senator

Fans of the comedian Al Franken (pictured), an Emmy award-winner and one-time regular on NBC's Saturday Night Live, are bracing themselves for the tantalisingly prospect that come November 4 he will be on his way to the US Senate. For Franken, whose books include the fabulously titled Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, has emerged as a serious contender to become a Democratic senator for Minnesota, having put himself up for election earlier this year with little hope of success.

Today, the race is so close in Minnesota that Hillary Clinton has even flown in to support Franken, delivering a tub-thumping speech on his behalf. The Republicans. clearly worried, wheeled out Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, to speak up for his opponent, Norm Coleman. Together, the two campaigns have spent more than $32 million on the race - one of the most expensive in the country.

However, it hasn't been plain sailing for Franken, 57. In May this year, the Minnesota Republican Party released a letter regarding an article Franken had written for Playboy magazine in 2000 entitled 'Porn-O-Rama!'. When the predictable storm broke, his spokesman brushed aside the article by saying: "Al had a long career as a satirist, but he understands the difference between what you say as a satirist and what you do as a senator".