A few words about @alfranken, with no opinions or judgement as to the accusations against him, his guilt or lack thereof, or the wisdom of his resignation:
As is well known, Franken was close to Paul Wellstone, devastated by his death in 2002, upset by the loss of his seat shortly thereafter, and decided to try to win it back.
As is less well known, he moved back to his home-state of MN in 2005, and started laying the groundwork for his run by getting to know issues/people in MN politics. 100s of meetings, dinners, listening sessions.
So by the time he ran in 2008, he had won the support of the MN DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor) party, via hard work. He wasn't a dive-bombing celebrity, he was a legit candidate and then narrowly won the election.
Then, for 6 years, he kept his head down and his mouth shut and went about the work of being a Senator. He drove journalists crazy because he wouldn't give quotes. Never made jokes. Cruised to re-election in 2014.
And thus, became a model of how a "celebrity" should pursue politics. He respected the trade of government so he learned it first and then practiced it. We can think of counter-examples. /FIN
