I don’t have a heck of a lot to add to this story, so here you go: Al Franken is leaving Air America to gun for a Senate bid.

The news was not unexpected. Franken has been calling members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to get their input on a run, and he announced this week that he would be leaving his show on Air America Radio on Feb. 14. He told listeners he would be making a decision on a race soon.

The response has been swift!

In a swiftly issued statement, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey said he was confident Minnesotans “will reject Franken’s divisive, scorched earth attacks.”

Yes, I’m sure they will. After all, it’s not like divisive attacks carried the Republican party from 1994 up until the 2006 midterms. I mean, Bush didn’t derail any attempts to discuss issues by swamping Gore with “liar and exaggerator” claims or ruin Kerry’s campaign by making him defend his military record against a bunch of people who weren’t even present at the contested events, not to mention pretty much any “a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Al Qaeda” ad from the past six years.

Good point, Carey!