Politics & Power Quote by Al Franken

Franken is doing something a working comedian does instinctively: reframing a suspicious resume item as a transferable skill set. When he says politics is “communicating with people,” he’s quietly demoting ideology and policy to the secondary tier. The real job, he implies, is message discipline, timing, reading a room, and building a relationship with an audience that didn’t ask to be there. That’s not a lofty civics lesson; it’s a backstage view of how public life actually functions.

The line “obviously comedy has something to do with that” carries a sly defensive posture. Franken knows the knock: that a comedian in government is a stunt, a novelty, a culture-war punchline. “Obviously” is the tell - he’s insisting the connection is self-evident because he’s aware it’s contested. He’s also laundering the word “comedy” into “communication,” a more respectable label that still preserves what comedy uniquely teaches: how to compress meaning, how to land a point without sounding like you’re lecturing, how to survive hecklers.

Then comes the résumé pivot: “I’ve been a producer and led people.” That’s the credential politics supposedly respects, translated into industry language. The subtext is that leadership isn’t born in marble hallways; it’s learned in messy institutions, including television.

“Under pressure” is the kicker. Comedy isn’t just jokes; it’s public failure, constant evaluation, and the discipline of staying coherent while being disliked in real time. Franken’s intent is less “elect me, I’m funny” than “I’ve trained for the part of politics everyone pretends isn’t the whole job.”