NEW REPORT: $700 BILLION BAILOUT BEING ABUSED BY BANKS – FRANKEN DEMANDS HEARINGS

Franken Opposed Bailout, Now Calls For More Oversight As New York Times Reports Taxpayer Dollars Are Being Used To Help Wall Street Profits Instead Of Economy

New York Times Editorial Today: “The Bailout Should Not Be An Occasion For Banks To Make A Killing.”

SAINT PAUL [10/29/08] – DFL Senate candidate Al Franken, the only candidate for Senate who opposed the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, today called for immediate hearings in light of reports indicating that banks may not be using those funds to unfreeze credit markets but rather for other purposes – with the encouragement of the Treasury Department.

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TODAY: OBAMA, FRANKEN SUPPORTERS GET READY FOR CLINTON RALLY!

Thomasin Franken Hosts Sign-Making Party At Franken Campaign HQ

SAINT PAUL [10/29/08] – Today, Barack Obama and Al Franken supporters will get ready to welcome President Bill Clinton to the Twin Cities. Franken’s daughter, Thomasin Franken, will host a sign-making party at Franken campaign headquarters this afternoon. These homemade rally signs will be used at Thursday’s "Five Days To Change" Get-Out-The-Vote Rally with Clinton.

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Our “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour has been barnstorming Minnesota since its debut on Saturday, and Al has arrived to packed houses at college campuses, DFL volunteer centers and coffee shops around the state. Just yesterday, enthusiastic crowds met Al in Moorhead, Crookston, Brainerd, Morris, Climax, St. Cloud and Bemidji ­ and those enthusiastic supporters will be the ones fueling our statewide Get-Out-The-Vote operation on Election Day.

From the Morris Sun Tribune:

“It’s going to be a close election,” Franken told an audience at the University of Minnesota, Morris’ Oyate Hall. “I don’t want to wake up on Nov. 5 thinking there was something else I could have done, and I know you don’t want that, either.”

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Politico: NRSC celeb thinks Obama may be anti-Christ, ’sooooo evil’

Jonathan Martin noted with some amusement a new video from the NRSC video featuring celebrities you may not have heard of, plus Pat Boone in a swimming pool, attacking Al Franken.

A reader adds an odd note: One of those “celebs,” Victoria Jackson, a Saturday Night Live vet (though no Franken admirer) voices rather strong feelings about Barack Obama on her website:

  I don’t want a political label, but Obama bears traits that resemble the anti-Christ and I’m scared to death that un-educated people will ignorantly vote him into office.

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BILL CLINTON HEADLINES ‘FIVE DAYS TO CHANGE’ RALLY FOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN, FRANKEN THURSDAY EVENING IN MINNEAPOLIS

Clinton Campaigns with Al Franken To Bring Change For Minnesota’s Middle Class

SAINT PAUL [10/28/08] – The Obama for America and Al Franken for Senate campaigns today announced that former President Bill Clinton will headline a “Five Days to Change” Get-Out-The-Vote rally in Minneapolis Thursday evening. Clinton will be joined by U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

“President Clinton has always understood that you grow the economy by investing in the middle class and putting people first,” said Al Franken. “Minnesota families need a change in Washington so we can get our economy back on track — and I’m so honored to be able to stand with President Clinton in fighting for that change in this election.”

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JOINED BY SEN. KLOBUCHAR, FRANKEN PROPOSES NEW LIFELINE FOR MINNESOTA SMALL BUSINESSES

Franken And Klobuchar Meet With Rochester Small Business Owners For Economic Roundtable

Franken Offers Economic Recovery Plan, Including New Proposal To Unfreeze Credit For Small Businesses

SAINT PAUL [10/28/08] – Joined by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken hosted an economic roundtable in Rochester today with a group of small business owners. Franken offered a new proposal to unfreeze credit for Minnesota small businesses, part of an economic recovery plan designed to create jobs and help Minnesota families in these tough economic times.

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The strategy backfired — though the ad brought down Franken’s favorability ratings, it also cost Coleman in a state where “Minnesota nice” prevails. Once polling showed Coleman losing ground, he decided to take down all his negative ads.

10 moments that rattled race for Congress
By: Josh Kraushaar, Politico
October 28, 2008 06:37 AM EST

A case can be made that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made the gaffe of the election when she went on MSNBC’s “Hardball” and suggested that Barack Obama and other Democratic members of Congress held anti-American views. Her comments changed what looked like an easy path to victory into a political dogfight with a very uncertain outcome.

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FRANKEN STATEWIDE TOUR DRAWS OVERFLOW CROWDS IN GREATER MINNESOTA

Packed Houses Greet Franken On “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour

Momentum Builds As Hundreds Rally For Change At High-Energy Events

SAINT PAUL [10/28/08] — Promising a truly state-wide grassroots operation to turn out change voters in every corner of Minnesota, DFL Senate candidate Al Franken has been greeted with wild enthusiasm and overflow crowds throughout Greater Minnesota on his “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour.

Communications Director Andy Barr:

“This campaign for change isn’t just about Democrats. It’s also about Independents, disaffected Republicans, and people who never even thought about what party they belong to but know that the government just hasn’t been working for our middle class. And as we sprint towards the finish line, it’s clear that voters from everywhere on the ideological spectrum and everywhere in Minnesota are responding to Al’s message of change. Everywhere our tour goes, we’re overwhelmed by the energy and enthusiasm of Minnesotans ready to reject the failed policies of George Bush and Norm Coleman, and vote for a new direction with Barack Obama and Al Franken.”

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COLEMAN MANAGER ON NRSC CHAIR BID: “That’s For After The Election”

Norm Coleman’s answers continue to change regarding his not-so-stealth campaign to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Republican Senators have already said that Coleman has asked for their support. Last night on KMSP, his campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said his effort to head the group responsible for the most offensive direct mail piece this cycle was “a conversation for after the election.” Meanwhile, in an interview with WCCO’S Pat Kessler, Norm Coleman has already begun thinking about how he would run the committee.

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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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