Franken May Attempt a Jesse Ventura in 2008

Al Franken is ready to be taken seriously.

The comedian-cum-radio host is eyeing a U.S. Senate run, with tentative plans to oppose Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) in 2008. The outspoken left-wing satirist told Associated Press that there’s more than a 50-50 chance he’ll campaign against Coleman.

“I’ve thought about it and discussed it with my family more,” Franken said. He said his son, Joe, 19, had reservations about the demands such a job would make on his father’s time.

While Coleman declined to comment on a Franken candidacy, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner offered his opinion: “That’s a joke, right?” Minnesota already “had one Jesse Ventura,” he said. “We don’t need another one.”

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Kerry Talks Down

Sen. John F. Kerry made a big -- and tall -- impression on the kindergartners he visited at Longfellow Elementary School in Albuquerque on Tuesday.

The Democratic presidential candidate sat and read to the class, which piled serious and silly questions on him. Some of the students marveled at the Massachusetts lawmaker’s lanky 6-foot-4 frame, daring him to touch the roof.

One student, Pablo, had a weightier question for Kerry: “What will you do to make sure airplanes don’t fly into tall buildings?”

Find the bad guys, Kerry answered.

Another kindergartner asked: “Can you make sure dogs don’t get run over by cars?”

“That’s a hard thing for a president to do,” Kerry said. “But I’ll try.”

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Life After Politics

Al Franken isn’t alone in jumping between entertainment and politics -- former Vice President Al Gore and former Gov. Howard Dean may be making their marks on a TV screen near you.

Gore announced Tuesday his purchase of Newsworld International channel from entertainment conglomerate Vivendi Universal for an undisclosed sum. Gore, along with investors and media types, hopes to launch an edgy cable channel that offers a mix of news and entertainment friendly to twentysomethings.

And Dean recently met with Paramount brass to discuss hosting a possible talk show. A show with the former Vermont governor, who is considering several TV offers, would deal with ordinary Americans’ problems, rather than just politics, said a spokesman for Dean’s political organization, Democracy for America.

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Nader Crying Foul

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader has expressed his umbrage at advertising on players’ uniforms in a vitriolic letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. The letter was published Tuesday on Nader’s sports reform website, LeagueofFans.org.

Nader called ads appearing on the sleeves and batting helmets of New York Yankees and Tampa Devil Rays during a two-game series in March in Tokyo an “obscene embarrassment.” The ads for Ricoh, a Japanese office equipment company, cost more than $10 million, according to Advertising Age magazine.

“This over-commercializa- tion is sapping the fun out of being a fan of Major League Baseball,” Nader wrote.

Selig has said he does not foresee the advertising practice becoming widespread under his leadership.

Similar uniform ads appeared in a 2000 game between the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.

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Duly Quoted

“Kerry was here in Los Angeles; he was courting the Spanish vote by speaking Spanish, and he showed people he could be boring in two languages.” -- Jay Leno on NBC’s “Tonight Show” Wednesday.

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Compiled from staff, Web and wire reports by Times staff researcher Susannah Rosenblatt.