TVSquad

Everyone who has been laughing at the idea of Fran Drescher taking over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat for the state of New York, you can stop laughing now. It's not that wild an idea, not when you consider that Fred Grandy -- Gopher from The Love Boat -- was a Congressman from Iowa, and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura was the Governor of Minnesota, and there's a really good chance that Saturday Night Live alum Al Franken (remember Stuart Smalley?) has won the Senate seat for Minnesota, too. (They're still recounting the votes!)

Oh, and let's not forget the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger from the great state of California. In other words, why not Senator Fran Drescher!

In actuality, Fran Drescher has some impressive credentials to recommend her. You may just remember her as the funny Fran Fine on the CBS sitcom The Nanny, but she's also been a U.S. diplomat for health issues who has traveled to four Eastern European countries representing our country. She's a cancer survivor and has advocated for patient's education and cancer prevention Cancer Schmancer Movement based on her book of the same name.

Drescher is likely not being seriously considered, especially since Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo are the names on the top of Governor David Paterson's list, according to the people in the know. But Fran isn't kidding about wanting the job. She's gotten the word out -- including mentions on Countdown by Keith Olbermann. She told People, "I would hope that he'd take into consideration that I'm a beloved New Yorker who gets the New York constituents probably as good, if not better, than any of the other people being considered."

You know, in light of the recent news about the alleged corruption of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as well as the questionable intellect of some politicians who have run for office, maybe Drescher would make a good senator. She's a bestselling author, a successful TV writer, actress, producer and director, so why shouldn't she throw her hat in the ring? Gopher did and he served four terms in Congress.

Just to show you how serious Fran can be about serious issues like health care, check out her cancer awareness PSA: