STUNT CASTING

I have a really bad feeling about this:

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll reveals big obstacles for U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman in his reelection race, but his opponents look to be on shaky ground, too.

The poll shows that only 45 percent of Minnesota adults approve of the job that Coleman is doing, although 52 percent have a favorable impression of him overall.

But Minnesotans are not that impressed with Coleman's challengers, either.

Comedian Al Franken, who has been working double time to establish his bona fides among the DFL [Democratic-Farmer-Labor] faithful, is viewed favorably by only 27 percent of Minnesotans. Fewer than half of DFLers view the political satirist favorably, and more than a third of Minnesotans hold a negative opinion of him. Nearly 30 percent say they've never heard of Franken.

Attorney Mike Ciresi, who ran for the Senate in 2000 and lost, remains unknown to more than half of those responding to the poll.

Large majorities of Minnesotans polled said they had never heard of environmentalist Jim Cohen or frequent candidate Dick Franson, the other two declared hopefuls....

The poll shows that Franken has high negatives precisely among those with whom he might expect to do well: middle-age boomers, college grads and metro residents. In each of those categories, Franken is seen unfavorably by 40 percent or more.

Here's an all-but-ironclad rule of politics today: Republican entertainers can run for office; Democratic entertainers can't. If you're a Republican entertainer, you can be a president (Ronald Reagan), a governor (Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger), a senator (Fred Thompson), a congressman (Sonny Bono). If you're a Democrat? Er, well, OK -- maybe you can be like the guy who sang "Still the One." But it's an uphill fight. In nearly every case you'll be regarded as a frou-frou elitist. This has been true since the days of Helen Gahagan Douglas.

In fact, while I'm talking about this, may I make a request? This time around, could all the Democratic-leaning rock stars please, please stay home? I'm talking to you, Bruce Springsteen, and Jon Bon Jovi and Dave Matthews and R.E.M. and the Dixie Chicks and all the rest of you. I don't care how much money you can raise -- you do more harm than good, because far too many Americans have been brainwashed into feeling class envy when you get involved in politics. And yes, the reaction to your country-music and action-film counterparts will be 100% different. That's unfair. But it's reality. So stay home. And Minnesota DFLers, please gently tell Al to go back to his day job.