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Something tells me my world would be filled with a little less laughter if Al Franken ran for the Senate. But I guess I could make do.

By the end of next year, Franken said he expects to decide whether to move from New York City to his native Minnesota to take on Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008. If he runs, he would seek to reclaim the seat of his hero and friend, the late Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone.

"When Paul said something, whether you agreed with it or not, you knew where he stood," Franken said. "And that's a great thing. I kinda like the idea of my running because I think I'm in a position to do that, and it might be for having have been a comedian. You know, I feel like I can say what I want to say."

Franken, interviewed outside a New York skyscraper that hosts his new liberal radio talk show, said his decision will depend partly on the fate of his new show and whether a stronger candidate emerges.

"But I don't see anyone necessarily in line," said Franken, adding that the odds are nearly even that he'll run. (To be precise, he said the odds are 48.5 percent to 48 percent, the same margin that separated Al Gore and George Bush in 2000.)