[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Al Franken brought his nationally syndicated radio talk show to Madison Wednesday, delivering his program live in front of listeners at the Memorial Union Great Hall.

The comedian-turned political pundit talked about the environment, health care and stem-cell research along with co-host Katherine Lanpher during a three-hour broadcast of “The Al Franken Show.”

A who’s-who of liberal Wisconsinites joined Franken throughout the program, including Gov. Jim Doyle, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Senator Russ Feingold and Capital Times editor John Nichols.

Franken and Baldwin discussed the amount of cooperation between House Democrats and Republicans, which Baldwin described as having reached “abysmal levels.” In particular she criticized tactics Republicans used in passing the Bush Medicare Bill.

“We need a majority (of Democrats) in Congress to bring civility back to Washington,” Franken said.

Doyle, who this week helped establish a program to link consumers to prescription drugs from Europe and Canada, attacked the Bush administration for bowing to the demands of drug companies.

Franken agreed, saying the decision not to allow re-importation “is a windfall for the pharmaceuticals.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a federal government that was thinking about suing the drug companies for lower prices instead of (Doyle and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich),” said Doyle, who anticipates a response from the FDA concerning his new program.

Franken’s show airs weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 92.1 The Mic, Madison’s Progressive Talk radio station.

Franken’s visit should be a boon for the station, Operations Manager Mike Ferris said.

“It’s certainly a big boost for us, as we’ve been on the air now for just a month,” Ferris said. “I would call Al Franken the star of the network, and quite frankly the star of the [progressive] movement. He’s a great spokesperson for this movement, which is giving a progressive voice to the other 50 percent of the population.”

Clear Channel Communications introduced Franken to the Madison market last month by supplanting an adult contemporary station on the 92.1 frequency with The Mic. Ferris said the change dispels the widespread notion that Clear Channel, the nation’s largest radio conglomerate, is out of touch with local listeners.

“We’re building it from the bottom up,” Ferris said. “These are local decisions made by the local managers. We make local decisions that affect our local listeners.”

One such listener Wednesday said she appreciated the change. UW junior Kathleen Coughlin, who described herself as liberal, said she did not expect Franken to be so political but nonetheless enjoyed the program.

“As much as Franken is slanted liberal, he takes a very direct and honest approach to politics,” Coughlin said, likening Franken to an “honest” version of Rush Limbaugh.

Franken autographed copies of his book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them” after his show. The comedian held a fundraiser for the Democratic Party at Luther’s Blues later Wednesday.