Rating: 
Summary: Very funny, very witty political satire and human tragedy
Review: This is a hilarious account of Al Franken's campaign for presidency, election win, and then disgrace that ended with his resignation as president after only 144 days in office. It is classic Al Franken, though it felt to me a little more teenage boy humor than he usually has - this is not a bad thing, just a different thing. In the context of his campaign in New Hampshire and Iowa with Dan Haggerty, Al's alcoholic brother, Dick Morris, and a few others using rented cars and sharing hotel rooms, it makes sense to include lots of fart and physical humor jokes.The best part of the book, as others have noted, is the campaign diary. I laughed out loud many, many times, even on the subway with lots of people around. It is simply hilarious, sometimes gutbustingly hilarious, almost always at least a chuckle. The diary works so well, because it is so honest. He recorded all his bad thoughts (hating New Hampshire people enough to refer to them as "inbred", his time spent with prostitutes, etc.), his brother's drunken fests of hitting people with boards, etc. Franken's writing is such that the characters have a real consistency in their actions throughout the course of the campaign year, and after the election. The demise of his presidency reads like a really funny Greek tragedy, filled with ennui and hubris. This is very good writing - tight, succinct, and awfully funny - and very good at skewering people, politics, and traditions, of all faiths, beliefs, and inclinations, whether on the right or on the left. The rest of the book is also very good. If the book were only the non-diary material, it would still be very funny. The situation is simply that the diary is ***so*** extra-hilarious, that the humor in the other parts seems diminished in comparison. The transcripts of Franken's debates against Gore will leave you shaking with laughter, too. Franken takes many digs on Gore and Democrats, and of course nails the republicans and corporations, and the whole political machine, with his wonderfully funny sarcastic wit. This is a book that you should read, especially if you like humor. Conservatives, probably especially of the Christian Right type, will probably not like it because Franken doesn't worship Ronald Reagan. Normal thinking people, though, will find this wonderfully funny and entertaining and get a few hours of decent laughter out of this skewer of the political process - skewers that are aimed at Democrats and Republicans and Independents alike.
Rating:
Summary: The first half of the book was hilarious...
Review: As a big fan of Al Franken, perhaps I hold him to too high a standard, but I found that the first half of the book more than lived up to his previous works. The campaign trail and his combination of both clever and ridiculous commentary made the book truly a fun read. I especially loved the extra effort to put in action photos and newspaper headlines, making the whole spectacle of the Franken candidacy seem all the more outrageous. Once in office, I found the book a little lacking. It almost seemed like Al ran out of steam and wanted to stop writing. Beyond the all Jewish cabinet, I really did not read a whole lot to laugh or at least smirk about. The wit that was present during the campaign trail really disappeared. I plan to read the campaign trail part of the book again, since it is really good stuff. Just be warned that it goes downhill from the moment Al enters office.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull and Plotless
Review: While comedian Al Franken is normally quite humorous, this novel was a bit dull. There's very little plot and after awhile every page seems like the one before it. Sure, there's the occasional funny part, but overall this book is not worth reading. Quite frankly, it's just stupid. If it didn't have Al's name on the cover it is very doubtful anyone would pick this up. If you're looking for something humorous read The Idiot Girl's Guide to Action and Adventure or The Bear Went Over the Mountain.
Rating: 
Summary: Al Franken writes another winner
Review: If you are a intense Al Franken fan back from the years of SNL, as I am, this "novel" will capture your interest moreso than any I have read so far. Laugh-out loud comedy in the form of bringing Al Gore down through subversive and humorous tactics show how American politics could let an ordinary man take the ropes at our nation's highest office. Although a good friend to President Clinton in real life, this pseudo-diary adds the perfect blends of speeches, entries of his hatred for his family, treating of campain chairs as children, and extra-marrital affairs which are never discovered. The attachment to a ATM issue which gives him a 38% dominance over Al Gore seems a bit upserd, but lends the reader some powerful commendary on the type of people running for office. Absolutely a winner that left my sides aking from laughter.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun for insiders, dull and obnoxious for others
Review: This would be the LAST place I would send someone to get a taste of Al Franken. The first half of the book makes the same jokes over and over and over and over again, and throughout, you really need to know a lot of Washington inside stuff to get the jokes. In some ways a sharp expose of our political and media system, and in other ways far, far, far too long with the general feel of a train wreck.
Rating:
Summary: Gutbustingly hilarious and poignant too
Review: This is the third Franken book I've read - I read _Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot_ and _Liars..._ before this 1999 book. In the other two mentioned Al Franken aims his deadpan and dead-aim wit at our nation's crop of so-called conservative (actually reactionary: conservatives want to keep the status quo; Limbaugh, Coulter, O'Reilly et al want to take us back to the good Old Days of the 19th Century) commentators and the politicians for/over whom they slaver. In _Why Not Me?_, Franken goes to town on the entire American political circus, skewering left right and center. The story of his fictitious campaign for President, landslide election, and brief dysfunctional presidency satirizes anyone who's ever thrown their hat into nomination ring, as well as the corrupt dog and pony show of campaign politics. He takes on not just the politicians themselves - particularly his "rival" for the nomination, Al Gore - but also the pundits, consultants, campaign handlers and groupies, and corporate campaign contributors. I read _Why Not Me?_ in two sittings, interrupted only by fits of hysterical laughter. Anyone with the slightest interest in American politics needs to read this one - although I should warn you that you may laugh yourself painful.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing. Conservatives should check this one out.
Review: Al's first work of political satire, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot", alienated many with its attacks on conservative icons. His second such work, this one, should prove palatable to anyone interested in Presidential Politics. Franken satirizes the process of becoming President. First, he gives us "Daring To Lead", his fluff-piece autobiography that announces his hat's presence in the Presidential ring. Then, through his unedited diaries, we watch him slog through a messy, illegal, incredibly amoral, and hilarious Primary process. We move quickly through the actual Presidental election, and then into the final portion of the book where Al's Presidency tumbles due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (the least amusing and successful portion of the book). The level of imagination displayed is astonishing. The level of detail and insight into politics is impressive and revealing. Franken's gift for humor is gigantic. This is one great book. My only complaint is that, as is his wont, Franken occasionally becomes more abrasive with his humor than he has to - shades of SNL and 1970's humor - if a few less people had been maimed in this book, I would have enjoyed it more.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Political Satire
Review: This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. End of story. If you liked Franken's "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations", you're going to love "Why Not Me?". It tells the hilarious story of Franken's successful run for the Presidency in 2000, and his subsequent downfall as chief executive. The single issue on which candidate Franken campaigns is one of deep national concern: ATM fees. Once he also proposes lifting the regulations that bar insurance companies from entering the banking business, he finds himself awash in money and other perqs, such as the Geico jet and the MetLife blimp. What makes the whole escapade so funny is the candidate's seemingly genuine belief in the importance of the ATM fee issue, and his obliviousness to the immorality of the insurance companies' largesse. At one point, his campaign manager Norm Orenstein writes him a memo that enumerates the campaign's ``very illegal'', ``illegal'', and ``probably illegal'' activities. Franken eventually gets around to reading the memo several weeks after it is written. The largest and funniest part of the book is a diary kept by Franken during his campaign for the presidency. The diary is interspersed with memos, speech transcripts, newspaper and magazine articles, and transcripts taken from Sunday news shows. Franken is obviously a studied political junky. His take-offs on commentators like George Will and Sam Donaldson are right on. One very funny aside is a hilarious commercial in which David Brinkley acts as spokesperson for both Archer Daniels Midland and Depends. The book is replete with countless other political references. All in all, a very funny look at our sad political system....
Rating:
Summary: Boring, even for liberals.
Review: I am a liberal and I loved Franken's previous book, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat ... and Other Obervations. But I have to say that Why Not Me was extremely disappointing. Most of the humor in this book is not really related to politics, but instead focuses on hookers, drugs, and the incompetence of candidate Franken and his team. While there are occasional bright spots throughout the book, they were few and far between. Franken became one of my personal heroes after Rush Limbaugh..., so to find his next book to be so lackluster is quite a letdown. I was unable to find much of a critique of anything in this tome. And even when Franken gets it right, he then repeats the joke until it is completely bereft of humor. While at first it was funny (and pertinent!) to hear Franken talk about his single-issue campaign, ATM fees, it eventually gets so old that the reader is begging for a return to prostitute humor. Anyway, read Franken's Limbaugh book, but skip this one. Why Not Me?--because your book is not worth the reader's time or money.
Rating:
Summary: Slap-dash Slapstick
Review: Franken's book is sophomoric, boorish, sloppy, disorganized, and pointless. While he makes a very few insightful points about politics, the majority of the "jokes" are stale, played-out riffs on violence, drinking/drugs, and hookers. In light of the turbulent aftermath of the 2000 election, Franken's blithe cracks about that race come across as particularly un-humorous. One of Franken's previous works, "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People like Me!: Daily Affirmations by Stuart Smalley," is a great piece of humor writing which manages to be both funny and insightful. "Why not me?" is neither.
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