Source: Franken's running for Senate

Comedian and Air America Radio host Al Franken has decided to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota in 2008, challenging incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, a senior Democratic official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The official, who requested anonymity because Franken has not made an announcement, said that Franken told her of his decision recently.

Andy Barr, the political director of Franken's Midwest Values Political Action Committee, declined to comment.

In a swiftly issued statement, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey said he was confident Minnesotans "will reject Franken's divisive, scorched earth attacks." Which, of course, sounds pretty ironic coming from a Republican, but oh well.

UPDATE 2/2/07: Al Franken said Friday that he will make an announcement on whether he's running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota on his final show, Feb. 14.

"Look, it ain't official until it's official, and it ain't official," Franken said on his Air America Radio show, responding to reports by The Associated Press and other news organizations that he had already decided to run.

"Some media outlets might look kind of silly on Feb. 14, you know what I'm saying? That's our last show, and that day, I'm going to announce my decision on whether I'm running or not. I'm going to do that during the show."

He hinted that he had not made a final decision, saying, "I'm not exactly - who knows what I'm doing?"