Meet up with Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken

Get your tickets to the Humphrey-Mondale dinner here: http://humphreymondaledinner.com/

Hey, all you Minnesotans and any other interested parties, guess who's coming to town on March 29th? Well, I'll be, if it isn't Elizabeth Warren joining Al Franken at the annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner!  And if you're not lucky enough to be a Minnesotan and enjoy our fine winters here, you might win a trip to the big gala event. Check out Warren's letter that hit my inbox this a.m.:

Dear Virginia,

Would you like to meet up on March 29th?

It won’t be just the two of us – you could bring a friend along, too. And my friend Al Franken will be there -- along with a room full of the most passionate, fun-loving, ready-to-win-in-2014 Democrats.

It’s the annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner, and I’m told it’s the biggest night on the calendar for progressives in Minnesota.

Click here to make a contribution to help Al win this year, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win!

I’m looking forward to a great night -- but I’m not just coming to Minnesota for fun. We have work to do to make sure Al gets to continue standing up to Wall Street, pushing for a fair minimum wage, and fighting for middle class families in Washington.

That’s what I’m going to be talking about in Minnesota: taking on powerful special interests and leveling the playing field so every kid has a chance to succeed.

When it comes to fighting for progressive values in the Senate, I can’t do it alone. I need senators like Al with me. And that means I need all of you to stand with him.

Click here to help Al reach his $250,000 March goal, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win a trip to meet with Al and me in Minnesota on March 29!

Make no mistake: The powerful special interests will spend whatever it takes to defeat Al this November. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he has the resources to fight back. Are you with me?

Thanks for doing your part to help. And I hope to see you in Minnesota on the 29th!

Elizabeth Warren

P.S.: Al’s campaign is covering travel and accommodations for the winner and his or her guest. And that winner could be you! Click here to contribute, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win.

Al Franken wants you to stand with Sen. Wendy Davis

Al Franken's invitation to help him stand with Texas Sen. Wendy Davis:

Help me stand with Wendy
1 message

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Al Franken	Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 9:42 AM
Reply-To: info@alfranken.com To: Virginia Bergman
Dear Virginia, Watching Texas State Senator Wendy Davis stand up -- literally -- to right-wing politicians who wanted to take health care decisions out of women’s hands was incredibly inspiring. She spent nearly 13 straight hours standing in her now famous sneakers, telling the truth about what that bill would do to women and families in Texas. That’s why we were all proud to #standwithwendy online -- and it’s why I’m going to be proud to stand with Wendy in real life when a bunch of my colleagues and I get together to thank her in person later this week. Will you join us? You don’t even need pink shoes to stand with Wendy Davis. You just need to click here to help say “THANK YOU!” Even before her famous stand, Wendy was a hero. A single mother who worked hard to put herself through college -- becoming the first in her family to graduate (and doing so first in her class!) -- before going on to earn a law degree from Harvard, she brings real-life experience to her job fighting for Texas families. And even with the fight over that one bill behind us, Wendy’s exactly the kind of person we need in elected office, especially in states like Texas where all too often we only hear about radical conservative politicians. That’s why I’m so excited to stand with Wendy -- although, with all the other Senators joining me to thank her for her work, it could get crowded. But there’s still room for you. Join me in thanking Wendy Davis by clicking here to sign our card. Thanks for helping me stand with Wendy. Al P.S.: A bunch of us Senators are saying “thank you” to Wendy by helping her continue her great work for Texas families. We’d love if you’d join us: Click here to thank Wendy Davis! Paid for and authorized by Al Franken for Senate 2014 P.O. Box 583144  |  Minneapolis, MN 55458-3144

The Minnesota way

NY Times columnist Tom Friedman's report on a recent visit to his hometown in Minnesota reiterated all of the reasons this native Ohioan fell in love with the North Star state back in the 60s when I moved here with my husband and our two kids. Friedman describes changes in St. Louis Park, the suburb where he was born and raised, but the principles espoused by state political leaders like Klobuchar and Franken have long been upheld here:

I was debating whether to go to the Turkish-Syrian border this week or to visit my old high school in Minnesota. I decided to make the exotic foreign trip and go to Minnesota. I thought it might be useful to look at this election through the window of my hometown of St. Louis Park. I have not been disappointed. I found in this little suburb of 45,250 people outside of Minneapolis — which was memorialized in the movie, “A Serious Man,” directed by the Coen brothers, who also hail from here — all the key trends impacting America.

For starters, there is the changing face of the town. We had two African-Americans among the 2,500 students at St. Louis Park High when I graduated in 1971, and everyone there was either Christian or Jewish. When I walked through the high school cafeteria on Monday, there were six teenage girls covered in colorful Muslim hijabs and the principal, Robert Metz, explained to me that “today we have more Muslim students than Jewish students.” This is the byproduct of the huge influx of Somali refugees to Minnesota. Metz said my old high school, which now has open enrollment and competes for students from around Minneapolis, attracts young people both for its academic rigor and because they want to go to a richly diverse school that mirrors the world in which they’ll be working. There are more than 30 languages spoken in the elementary school near my old house — exactly 29 more than when I lived here. 

Read more:

 

The NY Times’ Gail Collins and David Brooks on the Specter Earthquake

Note to Katalusis readers: Hi all, I’m sorry I haven’t posted for awhile as I’ve been busy working on a couple of freelance writing projects and meeting a few other obligations.

It’s always entertaining and informative to read the dialog between The NY Times’ Gail Collins and David Brooks on current political issues. Today, Collins and Brooks discussed Arlen Specter’s switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Brooks is no doubt suffering from this latest blow to his party, but he reveals his take on the situation with a sense of humor:

Here are a couple of excerpts:

David Brooks: In the meantime, I do have to salute Specter’s deft ability to survive. I thought he was cooked. He would have lost the G.O.P. primary. I’ve been told he no longer has the physical stamina to run two tough campaigns — primary and general. I figured he couldn’t get the Democratic nomination, because Democrats do after all prefer to vote for Democrats. And it’s tough to run as an Independent.

And yet the odds are that now he’ll keep his job. He did it by winning over the Obama administration, and, I presume getting Gov. Ed Rendell to clear the field for him. What a savvy dude!

Gail Collins: David, if the question is whether the Democrats are happy because: A.) They have the potential 60th Senate vote or B.) They’re looking forward to the opportunity to spend more quality lunch time with Arlen Specter, I think we can all agree with your assessment.

And you sound so sad and discouraged that I don’t have the heart to wallow in this latest Republican disaster.

To read the Conversation in its entirety, go here.