Now, don t get me wrong Norm Coleman won t be easy to beat. But I ll never get discouraged, because the reasons to get up in the

Transcription

1 1 Thank you! I m Al Franken, and I m going to beat Norm Coleman. Now, don t get me wrong Norm Coleman won t be easy to beat. But I ll never get discouraged, because the reasons to get up in the morning and fight are all around us, even in this room. There s Casey Carmody from Blue Earth County. Casey just graduated from MSU-Mankato. He told me last fall that in addition to working full-time, he had to sell his blood plasma twice a week to afford tuition. There s Kathy Kawalek from Kanabec County. Kathy s a nurse who told me last summer she sees elderly patients rushed into her intensive care unit because they can t afford their medications.

2 2 And there s Sergeant Sam Scott from Anoka County. I met Sam in Mosul, Iraq while I was on a USO tour in Many of the men and women he served with are still there. Some aren t coming home. That s why I m doin this. For Casey. For Kathy. For Sam. For the people of Minnesota. That s who I wanna work for. And that s what this election is about. That s not exactly what this past week has been about. I ve had some tough conversations this week. It kills me that things I said and wrote sent a message to some of my friends in this room and people in this state that they can t count on me to be a champion for women, a champion for ALL Minnesotans, in this campaign and in the Senate. I m sorry for that. Because that s not who I am.

3 3 I m a husband married to my favorite person on earth, Franni, for 32 years. I m a father of a son and a daughter who we taught to respect everyone and who we re incredibly proud of. And, for 35 years, I was a writer. I wrote a lot of jokes. Some of them weren t funny. Some of them were inappropriate. Some of them were downright offensive. I understand that. And I understand that the people of Minnesota deserve a Senator who won t say things that make them uncomfortable. But I m in this race because there are some people in Washington who could afford to feel a little less comfortable. And that s what I m gonna do.

4 4 I m gonna say to the oil companies and the drug companies and the insurance companies, you don t get to keep gouging us. And you can keep your PAC checks, because I don t work for you, I work for the people of Minnesota. And I m gonna say to the politicians in Washington, we ve been waiting for universal health care for sixty years, and it s time to stop telling each other we need health care reform and just do it. Because I m not going to Washington to give speeches, I m going to Washington to work for the people of Minnesota! And because the people of Minnesota need a Senator who works for them and not for the special interests, well, we re just going to have to make Norm Coleman a little uncomfortable by holding him accountable. I m gonna hold him accountable for voting 8 times in the last year to renew George W. Bush s blank check in Iraq.

5 5 For voting against health care benefits for our veterans. And for taking campaign checks from Halliburton and then, as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, failing to do a single hearing into the corrupt re-construction of Iraq. I am going to stand up to Norm Coleman in a way he s never been stood up to before. Because that s what I ve done, and that s what I m good at. When Fox News made a business of lying about pretty much every issue I stood up and said, you re lying, and they sued me, and I beat em. And when Karl Rove said that the Republicans were going to build a permanent majority I stood up alongside so many of you and said, not on our watch, and we beat them, all of us, working together to stop George W. Bush in his tracks.

6 6 And so when Norm Coleman tries to convince the people of Minnesota that six years of selling out to Exxon and Halliburton counts as getting things done, you know what I m gonna do? I m gonna stand up and say, Senator, you stabbed the families of this state in the back when you sold out to George W. Bush and his corporate cronies. And together, we re going to win this race and take this seat back for the people of Minnesota. Because, you know what? This election isn t about me. And I know I m up here asking for your endorsement, but I gotta tell you, it isn t just about you, either. We are here, each and every one of us, to take a stand for five million people the mothers and the fathers and the teachers and the firefighters

7 7 and the farmers and the veterans and the children of this state every Minnesotan who needs a voice in Washington. We are here to take a stand for the college student graduating with that crushing burden of debt. For the steelworker fearing his pension won t be there when he retires. For the farmer wondering if he ll be able to pass the rural way of life on to the next generation. For the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving overseas and the communities waiting to welcome them home. We are here to take a stand not because politics is easy, not because we re hungry for power, not because we think we have all the answers, but because at this moment in our history, our neighbors need a Senator who has their back, and Norm Coleman isn t even on their side. So, it s up to you to endorse a candidate who can carry this message across Minnesota, who can build the people-powered machine we need to win, who can beat Norm Coleman.

8 8 And it s up to all of us to work together every day, to get up early and stay up late, to make the phone calls and knock on the doors and stand tall together until the last vote is counted. Because we are the DFL Party. We are not afraid to tell the truth. We are ready for change. And we are here to take a stand for the people of Minnesota. I m Al Franken, and with your endorsement, I am ready to lead the fight. Thank you.