Senate

It's been an exhausting two months for the men vying for Minnesota's seat in the US Senate. The November 5th results put encumbant Norm Coleman ahead by a small enough margin to require an automatic recount. What resulted was an arduous process of reanalyzing absentee ballots and threatening litigation. For now, it seems like challenger Al Franken has taken the seat, though it's certain we haven't heard the last from the Coleman camp. They'll be fighting this until there's no ground left.

It's no doubt that a big part of Franken's appeal is his past as an entertainer and radio personality. Who would have thought a Saturday Night Live alum would ever hold a high public office, at least outside of the epilogue for John Belushi's character in Animal House? Even if a lot of people know Al Franken the comedian or Al Franken the AIr America radio personality, a lot of people don't know Al Franken the United States Senator. So, here's a run down of this citizen's political positions.

Agriculture

Minnesota has a fairly large, important farming community. Like everybody else in this country, those farmers have been hit hard by the shaky economy. Read more