Al on the Late Show with David Letterman discussing his candidacy for the US Senate, issues facing voters in Minnesota, and good rules for anyone calling home.
It’s also on our video page.
When she was introducing Al at the Senate District 62 Spaghetti Dinner, state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray told him to look around at the DFLers packing the room. “These are your volunteers,†she said. And she was right. What a great crowd!
The enormous crowd showed up to hear from Al and other candidates about health care, renewable energy, and the war in Iraq. And it probably didn’t hurt that Keith Ellison, our fabulous new Congressman from the 5th District, made a rousing speech, or that Amy Klobuchar, our great new Senator, dropped by to say hello. (Al noted that he planned to be the hardest-working candidate in the race – because Amy isn’t running this year.)
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As you might know, I’ve done seven USO tours. Four of them have taken me to Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan.
When I go, I learn a little bit about the wars in those theaters, but I learn an awful lot about our troops. These men and women make tremendous sacrifices, not only in that they’re in harm’s way, but also in the amount of time they spend separated from their families – 12, 14, 16 months or more.
Thanks for checking out our new website! Take a few minutes to look around and marvel at the bells and whistles. Here’s what you’ll find here at our online campaign headquarters.
This is where you can learn a little bit about Al. You might know some of his story (maybe you’ve even read his books, seen him on TV, or watched one of the movies he’s written), but you probably don’t know how the story starts. Learn about Al’s roots in Albert Lea and St. Louis Park, his lovely and talented family, and how he went from performing at Dudley Riggs’s Brave New Workshop on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis to “Saturday Night Live†and back again.
A newly-released poll indicates that the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota has tightened dramatically since satirist and author Al Franken announced his candidacy.
The poll, conducted on March 7 by independent pollster Rasmussen Reports, shows Senator Norm Coleman leading Franken 46% to 36%. Rasmussen notes that “incumbents who poll below 50% are considered potentially vulnerable.” In addition, Franken holds a lead among voters under age 30.
Matthew Stolle reports in the Rochester Post-Bulletin:
Dressed casually in jeans and a buttoned-down maroon shirt, Franken spoke from a stairs overlooking an appreciative crowd that filled the hallways of the Labor Union Center in downtown Rochester.
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One of the things you learn very quickly when you’re running for office in Minnesota is that pretty much everything is “weather permitting.” And with a blizzard forecast for much of Minnesota the day of our scheduled rally at the Dilworth Depot, we were getting a lot of calls wondering if the event was still on. We huddled at HQ, poring over forecasts and radar images, until Al walked in and declared that we were going. So go we did. Al and Franni went up the night before to make sure they didn’t get caught in the storm, and the advance team made it to Dilworth about a half hour after our event started, which is not generally how advance teams operate.
Tim Krohn reports in the Mankato Free Press:
Students Katie Gilder and Mike Nelson were all smiles after getting a photo and autograph. Gilder said a lot of her friends don’t know Franken from watching old SNL skits.
“I think most kids know him from his books and seeing him on The Daily Show or Leno.”
But, she said, it was Franken’s political messages that energized her.
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Mankato, as DFL-watchers know, is Tim Walz country, and this time, we planned for a big turnout, knowing that the energy and enthusiasm generated by Tim’s amazing win over Gil Gutknecht last November had the town where he spent years as a high school geography teacher buzzing. Al spoke to 400 folks at MSU-Mankato, but this time, he was smart enough to speak after a Walz, not before. You see, Al spoke before Tim in Winona last July, and although Al really got the crowd going with his speech, Tim’s passion and energy blew our guy out of the water.Tim’s wife, Gwen, is just as terrific a progressive and just as talented a speaker, and she was generous enough to introduce Al, telling the story of how she and Tim got to know Al and Franni.
