norm youtube3 improvedA new YouTube video suggests that former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman still has what it takes to generate excitement in people — in particular among the younger generation that the Republican Party is so desperate to attract.

The 23-second video, entitled “Hilarious Encounters 3,” catches Coleman as he traverses a big-box retail store’s parking lot. The clip’s charm is in the audio, as the videographer and a companion in a parked car practically ululate with delight at their sighting:

Oh my gosh, it’s Norm Coleman! … You’re going on YouTube, dude. … Where is he? … Dad will run into him. … It’s Norm! Oh gosh!

The video’s description provides context: “Waiting for dad at Joe’s Sporting Goods, and look who we see. LOL”

Coleman, out of office since January, fully relinquished his hold on his old Senate seat in June, when he called a halt to court challenges to Sen. Al Franken’s 312-vote victory. Coleman vowed to do a lot of fishing (supplies for which he may have been seeking at Joe’s) and to mull over entering the 2010 race for governor of Minnesota.

All the while, Coleman has been offering opinions about the future of the GOP and of fellow Republicans like Gov. Tim Pawlenty, while remaining circumspect about his own plans.

Attracting young people via social media outlets like YouTube is key to the party’s growth, Coleman has said. ”Hilarious Encounters 3″ is Exhibit A that Coleman can elicit enthusiasm in people too young to buy 8-track tapes, without even worrying about that old “ethernet.”

Franken also appeals to amateur paparazzi. In the throes of his recount ordeal last April, he played to the camera by planting a kiss on a picketer’s cheek on a rainy night in downtown Minneapolis.