I know this has been reported and diaried elsewhere. On February 14th, Al Franken is going to announce that he'll seek the DFL endorsement for U.S. Senate in Minnesota.
I've had the fortune to hear Al stump twice for candidates. The first was for Tim Walz in Winona, MN. That was a great event, and I took a few pictures, but it was hard to remember everything, even with notes.
The second time was when he came to Crookston, MN on behalf of Colin Peterson, the current Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. This time, I brought a dictaphone and recorded it.
I don't have a lot of comment on this race yet. I'm glad Al is in it, and he's smart by getting in early so people get used to the idea (although it's been pretty much an open secret since just before he moved here), but I don't know how he'll compare to the other candidates on issues. He'll almost certainly be the most polished. However, what I do have that audio, and I hope it gives this community a better picture of how Al handles his audience. I haven't been following his show at all the last year or so (always busy when it's streaming online), so I don't know how it compares to what he's done on his show.
In order to share the file with everyone here (it's 45 min. long) I had to break it up into 5 pieces and put it into Youtube.
Below are links to each of the 5 segments along with a description of what you'll find in each. I also want to apologize for the poor quality of the audio. It was amplified by a crappy sound system recorded on a Sony dictaphone, and then re-recorded through my computer's microphone from my dictaphone. There's also a fair amount of background noise from my table. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Al Franken Part 1
This segment begins with an introduction by former State Senator and DFL candidate for Governor, Roger Moe. After Al comes to the microphone he begins with a story just after he graduated college when he and Tom Davis visited Concordia University in Moorhead, MN. He then talks about doing a 4th of July Parade with Tim Walz. I get mentioned here for wearing my Walz t-shirt. It ends with his "I'll be the only New York Jew who was raised in Minnesota."
Al Franken Part 2
Al talks about being serious about running for Senate when he moved back in winter, and mentions his PAC. He brings up Republicans cutting VA funding. This leads into his interview on Air America Radio with Col. Hamness about counter-insurgency operations. He then talks about our dead and wounded soldiers and a visit to Walter Reed Hospital. He begins discussing family values when the segment cuts off.
Al Franken Part 3
This segment begins with Al continuing his discussion about family values and health care. He then moves into Republicans and attacking Democratic patriotism and a tale about one of his USO tours in Kuwait. This goes right into the real 'Hollywood Agenda.'
Al Franken Part 4
Al begins this segment with the mistakes made in Iraq, looting, disbanding the army, torture, etc, as well as Bush's view on his own mistakes. He then goes into the recently broken Foley Scandal and the mishandling of Katrina. He talks about the Republican failure to do oversight. It ends with a "sniper attack" (a sign fell down behind him).
Al Franken Part 5
The final segment begins with him describing the Contract with America, and then makes his predictions of a Democratic sweep in MN. Hearing him predict Wetterling and Hatch is a little painful to listen to. He talks about how polarized the political dialog has gotten, and how it wasn't after 9/11. He talks about how President Bush spoiled his chance to be a great President. He goes into the Republican attack against science, global warming, and the effect on the economy. He closes with the typical rally to bring out support in the last month before the election.
Just in case you're interested, here's the photo I got taken with Al before this event got started.