FULDA -- Blue was the color, and donkeys had their day at the District 22 Prairie Blue Southwest Fundraiser for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party Saturday night at the Fulda American Legion Hall.
Speakers were Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, competing to be named DFL candidate for a seat in the U.S. Senate currently occupied by Sen. Norm Coleman. Coleman has been in office since 2003, and his seat will be up for grabs in 2008.
"Republicans run saying government doesn't work. Then they get elected and prove it," quipped Franken, a comedian and author.
Franken then got more serious, stating that the United States spends 16 percent of the gross domestic product on health care and only covers 82 percent of the population, compared to other industrialized nations that spend no more than 11 percent of its GDP and have better coverage rates.
Franken was also critical of Coleman. "Anybody in this room would make a better senator than Norm Coleman," he said.
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A supporter of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, Franken focused on universal health care coverage for all Americans and an increased investment in alternative energy, particularly windmills and cellulosic ethanol.
Ciresi emphasized the importance of the middle class and international diplomacy.
"I have a dream of America," Ciresi said, echoing the words of Martin Luther King Jr. " ... What we have today is the middle class collapsing. What I think the Democratic Party stands for is the middle class -- a middle class not one paycheck away from losing their homes."
Ciresi is a trial lawyer who successfully won a settlement with tobacco companies that netted $6 billion for the state of Minnesota.
Fundraising was the purpose of the gathering, and as such, 100 dedicated Democrats laid out $20 a plate for a meal of Minnesota-grown pulled pork, Scandinavian meatballs and chicken drummies with an abundance of sides.
The other major fund-raising activity of the evening was a silent auction with a wide variety of Democrat-friendly items: home movie kits featuring "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Silkwood," donkey-shaped salt-and-pepper shakers and a copy of one of Franken's books.
Minnesota's long tradition of a strong Democratic party was definitely evident. Some of the pieces up for silent auction were a Hubert H. Humphrey sweatshirt -- with a tiny HHH figurine -- and a well-aged portrait of John F. Kennedy.
The most unusual fund-raiser came at the end of the evening, when Franken came to the front of the hall and related a story of a time when he lost a bar bet. The bet required him to name all 50 states, and Franken got all the way to 49, alphabetically, before he realized he'd missed one. Franken resolved never to lose that bet again.
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As a result, he practiced until he could draw all 48 contiguous states freehand.
At Fulda's meeting, Franken stood up and drew his map freehand with a blue pen and then auctioned it off to raise funds for the DFL party.
Bill Mulligan of Luverne snapped up the drawing for $100.
"It's the worst West Virginia I've ever done," Franken said.
