STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, Biography, Aug2000, Vol. 4 Issue 8, p38, 1p, 1c by Groer, Annie

On comedian Al Franken's desert island, there would be two political parties: the Al Party and the Franken Party. The slogans? They'd both be the same, he explains: "The other party is great."

Outside his imaginary paradise, though, Franken, 49, can't imagine running for office. "I don't think I'd be a very good officeholder," he says. "I'm kind of indecisive. I don't expect much from anybody around me. I can't ask people around me to do any more than I am willing to do."

Don't mistake his modesty for apathy. The child of a "mixed" marriage (Dad was an active Republican, Mom an involved Democrat), young Al grew up outside Minneapolis and came of age during the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War struggles. "It was a very volatile period of history and there was a lot of reason to be interested," he says. The Harvard grad, perhaps most famous for his Saturday Night Live Stuart Smalley routine ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"), has long been associated with liberal Democratic politics. He penned the best-selling Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot in 1996; that same year, for the Republican and Democratic Conventions, Comedy Central teamed him with Republican pundit Arianna Huffington for some left-right banter; and this year he's helped raise money for Al Gore's campaign.

Franken's current island of habitation is Manhattan, where he lives with his wife, Franni, and their two kids. Al Franken

If you could only have one TV show on your desert island, which one would it be?

The new CBS show Survivor. Misery loves company.

What magazine?

"Shipbuilding" magazine.

CD?

The audiobook made from "Shipbuilding" magazine.

What restaurant would have to be on your desert island?

Not The Palm. There will already be a lot of palm trees on my island.

Which actress would you like to join you?

Sharon Stone.

Which stand-up comic would entertain you?

Sharon Stone. A lot of people don't know this, but she has been working on her stand-up comedy.

What would you miss most and least about civilization?

I'd miss my family most, but what I'd miss least is my wife if Sharon Stone was there. I would miss my kids and my wife if Sharon wasn't there.

What part of your day would you be most glad to leave behind?

Going to the tanning parlor.

Would you allow political consultants on your island?

Only Bob Shrum [a Democratic consultant working for Gore] because he once helped me get a room at the Cipriani, a great hotel in Venice.

Which presidential biography would you like to read on your island?

I'd want to have a lot of books about Abraham Lincoln because he is the most written-about president. There is a lot of time to kill, you know. And it would teach me how to handle a civil war.

What former president, living or dead, would you want to hang out with on your desert island?

Jack Kennedy. But if Jackie was there, I'd have to eliminate him and then it would be just me and Jackie ... and Sharon.

Would you give the island's inhabitants basic rights like free speech and freedom of assembly?

I would let people think I did, and then not. Actually, Jackie can say whatever she likes. If she wants to talk dirty, she can.