Al Franken met with volunteers from the community at the Labor Temple on Monday, October 20, 2014.  His emphasis was on students but he hinted at other nuances in this mid-term election that might sway voters.  He opened up the dialogue by addressing third-party antics: “The Tea Party is using the theme that jobs are leaving the state.  Our opponents think cutting taxes and increased mining are the magic pill.”  Minnesota is not suffering from a recession anymore.  Minnesota has recovered a lot of leading-edge jobs.  Franken bragged, “Minnesota is number one in the country in the value of delivery of health care.”  It is rated number one by the Department of Health and Human Services.  
“This election is about the middle class and those aspiring to be in the middle class.  We have had an assault on the middle class over the last 30-40 years.  Job growth over the last few years is going to the top in distribution.”  Franken continued, “Flattening of the median wages and earnings are rigged for those at the top.”  He moved on next to student loan issues.  “Contrasted between my opponent and I, I want people to refinance their student loans at a lower rate.  There is 12 trillion dollars in circulation for student loan debt.  Those dollars need to be recovered.”  
He went on to say that the federal government makes a profit off of student loans.  In 2013, the federal government made $66 billion.  “Elizabeth Warren and I introduced a student debt bill. Students should pay what a median-wage earner pays on their taxes.  It’s called the Buffet rule.  Warren Buffet, a millionaire, was paying less taxes than his secretary.  Now, I don’t know why Warren Buffet was snooping around his secretary’s desk, but that is the discovery he made.”  The crowd laughed.  “The top 21 billionaires have their money in hedge funds.  They pay less through loopholes.  Lobbyists protect them.   Shutting down taxes and sending it overseas is wrong.”  Franken stated, “I have been attacked for voting for higher taxes.”  Al Franken doesn’t necessarily want higher taxes, just for those who are wealthy to pay their fair share.
“I grew up in St. Louis Park.   My father was a high school dropout.  I grew up in the height of the middle class when it was the middle class.  We thought we had a great life.  You could work and be rewarded.  My wife’s father died when she was 18 months old.  Her mother had five kids.  As a woman with Social Security survivor benefits, her mother was able to make it.  All five kids went to college on Pell grants.  The government made it possible.  Kids could bet on themselves and take risks.”  “I support Pell grants.  Nowadays, some kids have to work one, two, three jobs to make it during college.”  Hands were raised with each number he pronounced.  
“This year, please get as many people to vote as possible.   I won by 312 votes.  Go to that last house on the street you are canvassing.  That house may make the difference.”  “My friend wrote a book about my last election.  The title of the book was ‘This Is Not Florida.’  Every vote in Minnesota was hand-counted.  We needed volunteers to be trained as election judges for my last Senate race.  We needed 1,000 election judges.  The first day, 1,300 people showed up at Macalester College to recount the votes and be trained.  Minnesota is a volunteer state.  We like to volunteer.”
Last question.  “People always ask me some form of this question. Is stand-up comedy better than being a senator?  Of course it’s more fun.  But being a senator is the best job I have ever had.”  He ended by saying, “Go out and vote on November 4th.  Our opponents want Chinese steel in the Keystone pipeline.  That’s not thinking about Minnesota and Minnesota jobs.  This port is important to our state.”

- Jane Hoffman