As the day cooled off, farmers, friends, and a few elected officers gathered to talk politics…and eat sweet corn brought in from the fields that morning. Each candidate addressed the crowd from the porch of a beautiful farmhouse, and we were lucky enough to hear from Congressman Collin Peterson and Congressman Tim Walz in the same evening.

The farm bill had passed the house, and both were happy to share all the progress they had made during the session in Washington.

The food was simply amazing – the best of Minnesota pot luck, and with enough corn to keep Al happy for at least another week or so, we headed home.

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Sunday we left for a four day tour of western Minnesota, mostly in the 7th congressional district, which is represented by Congressman Collin Peterson, who just became chair of the House Agricultural Committee when the Democrats took the majority. (Minnesota had a special reason for wanting the Democrats to take control of the U.S. House – Minnesota congressmen now chair two powerful committees – Collin on Agriculture and Jim Oberstar on Transportation. Minnesota is one fortunate state!)

We started in Osseo, where Senate District 32 DFLers were gathered. We ate brats and cupcakes, and listened to local band Ravenwolf – and what a voice on their lead singer!

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We (officially) threw open the doors to Franken for Senate HQ Saturday evening at 5pm. We’d put out some snacks, turned up the music and invited the neighbors – but we never expected 500 of them to show up!

The interns at the doors were working overtime as people just kept flooding in to check out the campaign’s new home and hear Al thank his supporters. There were about 300 more than we had ever expected – and the most wonderful part is, almost all of them stayed to sign up as volunteers!

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Saturday ended with a perfect evening – cool and clear – just right for a summer bash on a patio in Chaska. You’d think after such a packed day that Al and the rest of the candidates would be losing steam, but this round of speeches were the most energetic yet!

Al followed the rest of the field and really hit it home talking about the need to get out of Iraq, the need to keep a safety net for America’s middle class, and the need to fully fund stem-cell research.

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Saturday opened with a beautiful morning, and TeamFranken headed into St. Paul. It was Rondo Days, featuring one of the biggest, loudest parades in Minnesota. Dozens of volunteers woke up early to spend Saturday marching and cheering. Al met them all before hand to tell them how much he appreciated them coming out to support – and represent – his campaign. As the summer goes on, he’s seen more and more Minnesotans putting on the blue TeamFranken t-shirts and joining the crew. And he truly values each and every contribution to the team – he says it’s going to take a people-powered machine to win this race, and so far, the people are coming through strong.

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Edina isn’t really known to be a big democratic district in Minnesota – but you wouldn’t have known it from Saturday’s picnic! Over a hundred DFLers showed up to enjoy the gorgeous day, the company of friends and more than a few hot dogs. Kids from the Edina High School spoke to the group about the need to focus on our environment, specifically how we could recycle to do our part to make our planet healthy. Al said they were a great example of what politics are supposed to be – ordinary people getting together to make life better for everyone.

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Saturday would have been Paul Wellstone’s 63rd birthday. And we were honored to be heading to a garden party held in his honor called Don’t Park the Bus. The garden (day lilies) was absolutely lovely, and the speeches were fiery (especially the keynote by freshman congressman Tim Walz). But the star of the event was a still and silent presence – Paul Wellstone’s green school bus – once quirky and cheerful, now an iconic inspiration to us all. Paul’s bus, covered in union bumper stickers and Wellstone! lawnsigns, reminded us what a grassroots campaign is all about. And what we can hope to achieve if we remember the tenets of Paul’s career – principle, passion and hard work.

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Last year, Al attended over 50 bean feeds, burger bashes, and other DFL events designed to help build the party and send strong progressive majorities to St. Paul. He even attended one fundraiser via the magic of videoconferencing – Frank Moe’s annual event in Bemidji.

This year, Al showed up in the flesh to keynote – and received Frank’s moving endorsement, as well. Over 250 people packed into the Bemidji Eagles Club for Franken, Frank, and franks and beans (groan). It was a wonderful evening, with speeches from local legislators honoring one of the DFL’s most dynamic rising stars.

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July 4th itself was a classic American summer day – sunny, bright, clear, warm – and nothing beats a small-town parade on Independence Day. Our friends from the Steelworkers and about a dozen other volunteers came out to help us make a strong showing.

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We’d been in Nashwauk before – in fact, our very first rally was up there. That day, we attracted 200 people (in a town of 935), but the parade was even bigger. We were excited to see a Dairy Queen float, although we had already made one DQ stop on the way from Eveleth.

If there’s anything more exciting to Al than Dairy Queen, it’s getting to talk policy with experts. And when he spotted Rep. Oberstar in the float ahead of us, he went over to say hello. Al’s always been a huge fan of Rep. Oberstar, the chair of the House Transportation Committee, and when we were in DC a couple of months ago, Al had the opportunity to watch Rep. Oberstar’s handling of that Committee up close and personal. They traded stories and thoughts on high-speed transit until their respective staffs (“TeamOberstar”?) dragged them back to their floats for the parade.

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