It wasn’t really fair at all. It was the weekend where prospective students came to check out Macalester College and decide if it was the place for them. And this group had gotten a lot of fat envelopes from the sound of things. We heard Brown, Princeton, Boston and Smith topping the short list of possible college destinations. But Macalester’s secret weapon was visiting the College Democrats.

Al talked to a room packed with young progressives, but before he made his pitch for the senate, he made a pretty compelling pitch for Macalester. And we think he changed more than a few minds. Just don’t be too surprised if the class of 2011 is WAY bigger than administration is used to.
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(but Franni steals the show)

Eric Ebert of the West Central Tribune has the story:

Franken said getting into the small “grass-roots” communities is what his campaign is all about. He said the events help him draw more attention to his campaign and help him understand the people he hopes to represent.
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The silent auction at the SD 47 & 49 Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser contained some excellent political memorabilia, but the best trip down DFL lane wasn’t for sale. A display case set up by one Paul Bengston housed the wares from a century of DFL campaigns – Wellstone buttons of varying punctuation marks, the black ribbons worn in Minnesota for the 1909 funeral of Gov. John Albert Johnson, and all manner of HHH insignia.

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We spent the weekend at an amazing hotel in Redwood Falls. After attending the NAACP dinner in Bloomington on Friday night the decision was made to get a head start on our weekend. We pointed the Hybrid in a Southwesterly direction, grabbed us some Red Bulls and made good time into Redwood Falls.

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Dana Yost, Marshall Independent Editor:

MORTON — He is best known for sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” and best-selling humor books that poke fun at figures like Rush Limbaugh.
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With your help, we made the strong end-of-quarter showing we were hoping for – and we can keep our volunteers in pizza for some time to come. Heck, we can order extra cheese.

Star Tribune reporter Brady Averill has the whole story:

Franken, seeking the DFL nomination, reported raising $1.3 million and has $1 million on hand.
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MINNEAPOLIS (04.04.07) – Al Franken for Senate today announced preliminary fundraising totals for the first quarter, which ended March 31.

The campaign expects to report over $1.3 million raised from over 10,000 contributors from all 50 states and Washington, DC. In addition, the campaign enters the second quarter with over $1 million cash on hand. This total represents funds raised in the campaign’s first 45 days after its February 14 launch.

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In the New York Times last week, Ben Stein wrote about the ‘Split-Screen’ nature of America and backdating stock options:

Let me give you a tiny example of how confused we can be at the corporate level, and I owe my old pal and colleague Al Franken for making it crystal clear to me.
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Mark Anderson, St. James Plaindealer:

Al Franken is known as a comedian, author, and radio host, but on his visit to St. James on Saturday, he just wanted to talk politics. As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Franken stopped at the Encore Cafe for 45 minutes on his way to an event in Fulda.
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