Joycelyn Elders, Al Franken, Planned Parenthood, Arkansas

AL AND JOYCELYN

Away From Home, Franken's Political Tone Shifts






Has Al Franken been taking his political cues from Hillary Clinton?

In a seeming break from the ideologically cautious tone seen recently, the Air America Radio host spoke at a fundraiser Saturday night for Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma. Joining Franken was radical former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

From the Arkansas Times Arkansas Blog:

Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders and comedian Al Franken spoke last night at a gala event to benefit Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma. They drew a capacity crowd at the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, and the evening raised about $40,000 for the organization.

Elders focused on her longstanding message of talking openly and factually about sexuality. Franken made a more wide-ranging critique of the Bush administration.

Interestingly, beyond the one blog entry, we can't find any coverage of the event. For Franken, that sure seems convenient, since it seems unlikely he would come within a mile of such a crowd, or the likes of Elders, in his home state of Minnesota.

There, he's been busy crafting a Hillary-esque moderate image, even carrying that over to his radio talk show in recent times. While that may have ticked off some of the Dean / Sheehan types that make up Air America's listenership, it's a smart strategy for taking on Republican Norm Coleman in 2008, if he can get away with it.

In other parts of the country, however, a different Stuart Smalley emerges. This one isn't afraid to associate with the likes of Joycelyn Elders, or others on the far left.

For fundraising purposes, that keeps his liberal credentials intact, without attracting too much attention at home in Minnesota. Isn't that right from the pages of Hillary's political playbook?


Remember Elders? If not, here's a trip down memory lane (via the Washington Post):

Talking is what got Elders into trouble in Washington. She arrived with great fanfare as the first black woman to be surgeon general, a sharecropper's daughter who overcame racism and poverty to rise to the top of her field. But she was preaching safe sex and condom use at a time policymakers didn't want to hear it. Even more, they didn't want to hear about masturbation. In December 1994, during a talk, someone asked Elders what she thought

of discussing masturbation with young people as a way to prevent them from having unsafe sex. She said, well, yes, masturbation probably should be discussed in a sex-education curriculum.

Critics were apoplectic. They said she was promoting teaching masturbation to children. The story wouldn't die, and she was forced to step down.

And, from Wikipedia:

Elders wrote a book an attempt to present her side of the controversies that surrounded her during her 18-month tenure as surgeon general. Already reviled by conservatives for advocating abortion rights and condom distribution in schools, Elders drew fire — and censure from the Clinton administration — when she suggested that legalizing drugs might help reduce crime and that the idea should be studied. Almost immediately afterward, her son Kevin was arrested for cocaine possession, in what she still believes was a frame-up designed to embarrass her and the president.

On December 7, 1993, Dr. Elders commented at a press luncheon, "I do feel that we would markedly reduce out crime rate if drugs were legalized." Eight days later, in the midst of a media frenzy, the Little Rock police issued a warrant for her son's arrest.

What's next for Franken? For the latest, watch here.

UPDATE-- New press release from MoveOn.org:

MoveOn.org Hosts National Conference Call With Sen. Barack Obama, Al Franken Events to Mobilize and Energize Democrats for '06 Elections Cutting-Edge "Call for Change" Phone Program Will Be Unveiled


WASHINGTON - July 31 -

WHAT: National conference call open to media
WHEN: Tonight, Monday, July 31, at 8:20 p.m.
WHO: Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Al Franken headline 685-plus GOTV House Parties Nationwide

DETAILS:

Tonight, MoveOn members will gather in homes across the nation to eat dessert, get energized on a conference call with Sen. Barack Obama and Air America host Al Franken, and strategize about what they can do locally to ensure a national democratic victory in 2006.

Thanks for your continued and vital Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order!

Elders photo: AP