From the New York Times this weekend:

Senator Norm Coleman kicked off the final stretch of his re-election campaign on Main Street in this old railroad town about two weeks ago with a new theme: The Hope Express.

But the express had not even left its first stop when it hit a bump in the road in the form of tough questions from a crowd of Coleman supporters gathered in a hotel dining room.

Norman Sampson, a retired banker, asked why Mr. Coleman and his peers had not “blown the whistle” on the bad lending practices that led to the recent financial meltdown on Wall Street because, he said, “everyone knew what was going on.”

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Al Franken and the “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Bus Tour headed to southern Minnesota on Saturday night for campaign rallies in Austin, Albert Lea and St. Peter. Vice President Walter Mondale joined Al for the inaugural bus ride to Austin, and they got a great reception from the crowd!

Check out the story from the Austin Daily Herald:

“Ten days; we can have a choice,” Franken said. “We can elect John McCain and give Sen. Norm Coleman another term, or, we can elect President Obama. We can send Norm Coleman packing, and we can give Minnesota families the change we need.”

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From Lori Sturdevant’s column in the Star Tribune today:

Paul Wellstone died six years ago yesterday. But he’s been present in Minnesota memory time and again as the race for his U.S. Senate seat, now occupied by Republican Norm Coleman, has unfolded.

“I’m running for the mother in Fergus Falls who has to share her insulin with her 23-year-old son because they both have diabetes, and he doesn’t have health insurance. We need universal health insurance, and we need it now!”

That’s DFLer Al Franken’s line. But imagine the voice a little higher and the fervor a notch stronger, and Wellstone’s back.

Read more after the jump…

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SAINT PAUL [10/13/08] U.S. Senate Candidate Al Franken:

“Franni and I want to share our deepest condolences on the passing of Senator Allan Spear. Senator Spear was a principled statesman and an inspiration to many for his fortitude and his leadership in ensuring that all Minnesotans enjoy equal protection under the law. We should all mark his passing by re-committing ourselves to equality in our laws and courage in our politics.”

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JOINED BY REP. SABO, FRANNI FRANKEN SHARES HER SOCIAL SECURITY STORY AT ROUNDTABLE

Pledges That Al Will Defend Social Security For Minnesotans

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Saint Paul [09/17/08] – At a roundtable with Minnesota seniors today, Franni Franken, wife of DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, shared her family’s Social Security story and promised that when her husband is elected, he’ll protect the program from Norm Coleman’s attempts to privatize it.

Joined by Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, Franni talked about her father’s death and her family’s reliance on Social Security survivor benefits.

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As Ethics Committee Probes Ties To K Street Fixer And Special Interest Senator Ducks Questions, New Television Spot Raises Questions About Coleman’s Ethical Lapses

Saint Paul [08/06/08] – The Al Franken for U.S. Senate campaign today released a new television ad, “Who Does Norm Work For? (Vol. 1)” that answers a recent personal attack issued by the campaign of Senator Norm Coleman (R – Big Oil) and lays out the troubling facts about one of Coleman’s ethical lapses.

Watch the ad.

More after the jump…

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Last week, Randi Kaye from Anderson Cooper 360° came out to follow Al for a day. She wrote about her trip on the AC360° blog – apparently her trip home was a travel nightmare, but at least she had a good time while she was in Minnesota.

I came to Minneapolis on Tuesday so I could spend the next day shooting with Al Franken, who’s running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

My flight was smooth as silk. My shoot with Al Franken was great. We went to a county fair, played games, he won me a stuffed animal, and of course we talked politics, and lots of it.

Make sure to watch Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN tomorrow night at 9 PM Central to watch their profile of Al. (And in case you’re wondering, it was the Rice County Fair in Faribault and Al really did win her a stuffed animal!)

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Sunday morning, TeamFranken assembled en masse on the steps of the Minneapolis Library to walk over to our spot in the huge Twin Cities GLBT Pride Parade. Our energetic volunteers and interns ran ahead to pass out Franken stickers as Al walked through the parade line-up to say hello to everyone. As the parade started, Al returned to take his place at the head of the TeamFranken parade unit, where a big crowd of supporters (including St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman) had gathered together to march with Al.

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Al spent a week touring the living rooms of middle-class Minnesotans, meeting with neighbors and hearing story after story about an economy that isn’t working for them.

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