On Friday, we announced “Seniors for Franken” (a new effort to organize seniors on behalf of Al) and Al unveiled a 5-point agenda to help Minnesota seniors. Al stood with Seniors for Franken co-chairs Don and Arvonne Fraser and Jim Johnson at Lyngblomsten Nursing Home in St. Paul for the kick-off, which coincided with the release of our new ad about Al’s support for Social Security.

Al’s proposals to help seniors also include allowing Medicare to negotiate drug costs, allowing the safe reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, and giving Minnesota seniors and their families more flexibility for long-term care.

More, including coverage of the event, after the jump…

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Al Kicks off General Election at the Wellstone Center

As you may have heard on the news already, yesterday Al Franken became the DFL nominee for U.S. Senate. Thanks to everyone who voted for Al in the primary – and consider it good practice for Nov. 4!

Today, Al kicked off the general election with a speech at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center in St. Paul. Joined by Paul and Sheila’s son David, Al spoke about the choice Minnesotans face – between Al’s commitment to stay loyal to Minnesotans and Norm Coleman’s work for the special interests.

Read Al’s speech here.

From the Pioneer Press:

At a rally at the Paul and Shelia Wellstone Center for Community Building on St. Paul’s west side, Franken summoned numerous Wellstone associations in the issues he highlighted and in choosing the late senator’s son, David Wellstone, to introduce him.

“Al’s a principled progressive who’s going to fight for the things that matter to us,” Wellstone said, adding he hoped Franken’s message would appeal to the same type of blue-collar and middle-class voters that helped propel Wellstone’s unlikely victory over a Republican incumbent in 1990.

In his speech before about 200 supporters, the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian and liberal satirist mixed economic populism and Barack Obama-like demands for change in Washington with a stinging rebuke of Coleman’s record.

“Norm Coleman’s not going to change Washington. Why would he?” Franken asked. “For Norm Coleman and his special interest friends, Bush’s Washington has worked just dandy.”

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U of M Student Emily and Her Stepdad John Listen
While Al Announces the “Ticket to Success”

At the University of Minnesota yesterday, Al proposed a new college tuition tax credit that would provide middle-class families with a $5,000 credit per student to help pay for college. U of M student Emily and her stepdad John spoke at the news conference as well about their family’s struggle with high tuition costs. Later in the day, Al spoke to students at a rally in Coffman Memorial at the U of M with Rep. Keith Ellison and other DFLers to kick off the DFL’s youth organizing campaign.

Read excerpts from news coverage about the plan after the jump…

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For those of you wondering what Al’s wife Franni has been up to, not only has she been busy with Women for Franken events, but she also spent Saturday visiting DFL offices in Central and Western Minnesota.
From the Hutchinson Leader:

On Saturday, Sept. 6, Franni Franken made a personal appearance at the new McLeod County DFL office on Main Street in downtown Hutchinson. The crowd filled the small space and overflowed onto the sidewalk.

Franni was on the stump for her husband, Al Franken, who is running as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate representing Minnesota. He is challenging incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman.

According to Paul Wright, chairman of the 7th Congressional District’s DFL Party, it’s been at least 30 years since the Democrats had an office on Main Street.

“We have more money, more people and more interest than ever before,” he said. “It’s a great time to be a Democrat.”

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Al and Congressman Tim Walz held a roundtable in Mankato on Tuesday to talk to southern Minnesotans about the economic squeeze on middle class families. They sat down with folks from Mankato and St. Peter who told them about struggling to get by in today’s economy.

Al talked about his common-sense solutions for easing the burden on Minnesota’s middle class, such as a caregiver tax credit for families taking care of elderly family members as well as children, a new family leave policy for 21st century families, and the 401(u), a new, flexible type of retirement account to help every Minnesotan develop long-term financial security.

Read an excerpt from the Mankato Free Press about the event after the jump…

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Al headed up to northeastern Minnesota for Labor Day weekend after a busy couple weeks at the State Fair. On Sunday, Al visited the Iron Range for a Day Before Labor Day Celebration in Virginia and to shake some hands with workers at the Minntac Plant in Mountain Iron.

On Labor Day, we started the day at a parade in Cloquet and then headed to Duluth where Al spoke at a news conference with Congressman Jim Oberstar to lay out a new stimulus proposal to rebuild our infrastructure and create new jobs in Minnesota.

Coverage from MPR, Northland’s NewsCenter, The Brainerd Dispatch, and The Duluth News Tribune after the jump…

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After Al’s trip through northwest Minnesota to lay out energy policy a week or two ago, the Roseau Times-Region had a story this weekend about Al’s visit to Roseau for a breakfast meet & greet and tour of Roseau’s Polaris plant. Former Secretary of Agriculture and Congressman Bob Bergland joined Al for both stops.

Read the full entry for excerpts from the article…

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Al’s been busy at the State Fair bouncing between our booth, several radio interviews live from the Fair, stops at the DFL booth, and all sorts of other booths in between (the roasted corn is a big hit ­ and it’s even on our special State Fair campaign buttons). It’s been a busy few days, so we’re lucky to have all of our great volunteers and interns to help out at our booth!

And since the Frankens consider the campaign a family operation, Franni and Thomasin have also been spending time at our Fair booth. In fact, Franni’s mother and sister are even here to pitch in.

LCV President Gene Karpinski Endorses Al

Al was back at the Fair on Friday to receive the League of Conservation Voters endorsement. Gene Karpinski, national president of LCV, came out to Minnesota to roll out the endorsement so we brought him right out to the Franken for Senate State Fair Booth – where else would we have a campaign event in Minnesota during the State Fair?

Read much more (we had a really busy few days at the Fair) after the jump…

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We wrapped up last week with a swing up through northwestern Minnesota (all the way to Roseau, on the Canadian border!) for our “Planting the Seeds for Minnesota’s Energy Economy” Tour.

Al kicked things off with a speech in St. Cloud to the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. The St. Cloud Times covered his remarks in the article “Franken touts energy ideas for future.”

“I believe Minnesota should be powered by Minnesota energy and that Minnesota energy should mean Minnesota jobs,” Franken told the crowd at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites.

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“But it doesn’t matter if we get to zero emissions in this country” if other nations continue to build new greenhouse gas-producing energy plants, Franken continued. “So we’d better develop coal sequestration, not just for us but for the world, and wouldn’t it be nice if we had something to sell to China for a change?”

Read more from the tour after the jump…

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As part of his northwest Minnesota swing last week, Al sat down with the Bemidji Pioneer to talk about the needs of Minnesota’s American Indians on his way to a pow-wow at Red Lake Nation.

Al at Red Lake

Al talked about the importance of American Indians in Minnesota, and explained why he would like to serve on the Indian Affairs Committee.

The Bemidji Pioneer and Red Lake Net News both wrote articles about Al’s visit. Read more after the jump.

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