Meanwhile, Republicans heaped another log on the fire Thursday by unearthing a 1995 New York magazine article that mentioned Franken discussing a possible "Saturday Night Live" skit involving "60 Minutes."

The skit idea centered on a sedative pill bottle found in essayist Andy Rooney's desk. According to the article, during a brainstorming session, Franken, adopting a Rooney-like voice, suggested several possible lines for the Rooney character:

"And 'I give the pills to Lesley Stahl. Then when Lesley's passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her.' Or 'That's why you never see Lesley until February.' Or, 'When she passes out I put her in various positions and take pictures of her.'"

When another writer suggested that the rape comment be about Mike Wallace, Franken said, again assuming the Rooney role: "What about 'I drag Mike into my office and rape him. Right here! I guess that makes me bad.'"

I saw the Kids in the Hall live in Minneapolis a few weeks back. They opened the show with a joke about raping KitH member Kevin McDonald. The joke behind the joke was Kevin suggesting that it would be funnier to open the show by raping Bruce McCulloch. The other cast members stared at him until one said, "How is raping Bruce funny?" Thing is, a joke about raping Bruce wouldn't be funny.

Bottom line, though, is that Al Franken will not be at the top of the ticket come November. Barack Obama will be. Minnesotans are going to come out for Obama in droves. Franken will ride Obama's coat-tails, as will the rest of the Minnesota delegation.