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The idea of a liberal radio network that would try to offset what Democrats see as the tractor beam of Fox and talk-radio franchises like Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity and Savage -- which together, Democrats argue, pull the mainstream media to the right -- first came up early last year. It was initially spearheaded by the Chicago investors Sheldon and Anita Drobny, and when Franken heard about it, he was immediately interested. It languished for months until David Goodfriend, a former Clinton White House staff member, and Evan Cohen, an entrepreneur who at the time was developing a pan-Asian radio network, saw an opportunity and pulled together a group of investors(can't wait to see who these are) to resuscitate the project. They brought in Walsh, who had been volunteering for Kerry's presidential campaign.

Franken's political views are more eclectic than you might imagine. He's a big booster of the military and counts John McCain as one of his heroes .

''I want to reclaim 'liberal,''' Franken likes to say. ''I'm a liberal, and I think most Americans are liberals.''

Franken has reportedly signed only a one-year contract. ''I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected,'' he told me. ''I'd be happy if the election of a Democrat ended the show.''

''Al is truly unusual for an entertainer and celebrity in that he is a functional person with a functional family,'' said *Norman Ornstein, whose family vacations with the Frankens.

*Norman J. Ornstein is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and election analyst for CBS News. In addition, Dr. Ornstein writes regularly for USA Today as a member of its Board of Contributors and authors a column called "Congress Inside Out" for Roll Call newspaper. He is currently leading a coalition of scholars and others in a effort to reform the campaign financing system.

If there is one event that changed him in recent years -- if not dampening his cheer, then hardening his anger -- it was the 2002 memorial service for his friend Paul Wellstone. The central chapter in ''Lies,'' and one that isn't meant to be funny, is his painstaking examination of how the event became ''a sort of perfect political storm for Republican opportunists.'' Franken teared up as he talked about his friendship with Wellstone, the circumstances surrounding his death and how moving he found the memorial. But some parts of the event were overtly political, and Franken became enraged as he watched these be highlighted and then pumped up by conservatives until the memorial wound up, in the words of Christopher Caldwell in The Weekly Standard, as ''a rally devoted to a politics that was twisted, pagan, childish, inhumane and even totalitarian.''

''The bastards lied about it,'' Franken said. ''They used it to influence the election. And they got what they wanted.'' Republicans retook the Senate in 2002 and added to their margin in the House. Wellstone's seat, for which Minnesota Democrats had hastily put up Walter Mondale, went to the Republican Norm Coleman.

Franken came out of that event, among other things, with a new prospective ambition. In the aftermath of Mondale's defeat, some influential Minnesotans approached him about running against Coleman in 2008. He is seriously considering it. It would mean moving back to Minnesota and reconnecting with his roots, which attracts him now that he and his wife are empty-nesters. He has talked to Democratic consultants; party fund-raisers have offered to work for him. ''Eventually I'd go to Hillary for advice,'' he said. ''She became a senator without ever having lived in the state before.''

Paul Begala, who has offered his advice, said: ''I think he'd be a terrific candidate. But the biggest thing any politician needs is a thick skin. He'd have to develop that or perish.''