The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

29 July 2006

Al Franken, Midwest Values PAC, Larry David, Jimmy Smits, Barbra Streisand

AL'S HOLLYWOOD JACKPOT

Elite Insiders Line Up To Give Franken Big $$$






Are conservatives misunderestimating this year's effort by Hollywood insiders to overthrow Capitol Hill's GOP leadership?

With a mistaken assumption that the end result of 2004's giant waste of liberal money will repeat itself this year, the right seems dismissive about their chances for success.

Given today's Washington Post report detailing big celeb dollars flowing into Al Franken's Midwest Values PAC, however, it might be time to rethink the threat level. So far, his list of contributors reads like a who's- who of the entertainment industry establishment.

It's clear they aren't at all discouraged by what happened during the last election cycle.


As we've previously reported, Franken is downright clever when it comes to money. He's got Air America Radio covering everything, including his recent move from Manhattan to Minnesota, studio expenses there and even the tab incurred when dining with executive producer Billy "$625,000 per annum" Kimball.

And to cover his bloated $2 million - plus salary and other perks, George Soros and Rob Glaser of RealNetworks are always happy to open their pocketbooks.

In today's report, we discover that a whole host of Hollywood stars have been tripping over each other in order to to fund Al's liberal PAC.

Sounds like a great deal for Franken, doesn't it?

From the AP's Frederic J Frommer:


WASHINGTON -- The list of contributors to comedian Al Franken's political action committee reads like a celebrity who's who: singer Barbra Streisand, writer-director Nora Ephron, actor-writer Larry David and actor Jimmy Smits.

Franken, who hosts a radio show on the liberal Air America Radio network, is considering challenging Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., in 2008. Franken moved his show from New York City to Minneapolis earlier this year, fueling speculation of a possible bid.

His leadership PAC, Midwest Values PAC, raised $500,000, according to a review of campaign finance reports. Franken couldn't use the money for his own race, but he can contribute to other candidates, engendering goodwill.

He has used the cash to contribute to national Democratic Party organizations, Minnesota Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar and House candidates Coleen Rowley, Tim Walz and Patty Wetterling,

Among the contri- butors to the PAC were actor Larry Hagman, directors Christopher Guest and Barry Levinson, and writers Harold Ramis and Aaron Sorkin.

Franken says he still hasn't decided whether to run for the Senate. Coleman's office declined to comment, but his campaign is already making an issue of Franken's Hollywood money.

"One of my potential opponents is comedian Al Franken," Coleman wrote in a fundraising letter a few months ago, "but there's nothing funny about his venomous 'Air America' liberal radio show, his high-powered and deep-pocketed Hollywood friends, his national network of Bush-haters or the magnitude of his personal wealth."


We've been tracking Franken's recent moves and the only conclusion that can be drawn is that he is certain to run in 2008. You could bet the farm on it.

And given the way he's been spreading around the dough, lots of politicians are going to owe him favors once his own effort kicks off.

For Hollywood's lefties, it's a two-fer: while planting seeds to get one of their own in the US Senate next time around, they're also helping to elect upper- midwest liberal Democrats in 2006.

While we're glad to see Senator Coleman keeping an eye on Franken's antics, we hope the Republican Party is also paying attention to what could very well turn out to be a serious future threat.

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

Franken Aid, Wanted, Franken PAC: David A Lunde for the Radio Equalizer, Franken Golf: Pete at IHillary

9 Comments:

  • I donated $100 to the Midwest Values PAC and got to see a fine show at the State Theater to boot! Good to see Franken & Davis back together again.

    Although I have never done any political fund-raising, I may get motivated to do something more for Franken should he decide to run for the Senate.

    By Blogger @whut, at 29 July, 2006 18:30  

  • Wow Brian, with the photoshops.

    Are you applying to work at The Onion?

    / Don't quit your day job.

    By Blogger Ben, at 30 July, 2006 12:33  

  • frankenlies,

    Thanks for the link to Franken's lies. His prevarications will be especially helpful if he runs for the senate.

    Likewise, we should be able to get some mileage out of the photoshop pictures here in Minnesota.
    .

    By Blogger The Benson Report, at 30 July, 2006 13:14  

  • I don't know if Franken is the right candidate for the Democrats, but I think Norm Coleman in 2008 will be the Rick Santorum of 2006. The moderate voters will have had their fill of that phony and will be anxious for change.

    By Blogger none, at 30 July, 2006 15:35  

  • Having looked over the trascript of Franklin and Humes comments I have to say I don't think anything Hume said constituted a lie and that Franken should have been more precise in quoting Hume.

    However, I think Hume deserved criticsm since he cited FDR in order to support the President's plan without elaborating further on how FDR's view of private accounts was different from the Presidents.

    By Blogger none, at 31 July, 2006 04:39  

  • pbrauer said
    "Oh, I see, now it’s only a mistake and not a lie. I am making headway..."

    No, you are still wrong. You are falling into the same trap other Frankenfiles subscribe to.

    Anything that does not meet Franken's litmus test, whether it is a mistake, a different opinion, a logical response, or the truth is AUTOMATICALLY CLASSIFIED AS A LIE according to the teachings of misanthrope Franken.
    .

    By Blogger The Benson Report, at 31 July, 2006 11:43  

  • pbrauer said:
    "And the reason he did this was because he wanted to deceive his audience."

    Objection, your honor! Are we to assume learned counsel is now a mind-reader?

    By Blogger The Benson Report, at 31 July, 2006 18:22  

  • If you think the Democratic Party is going to fold up its tent and go home just because they failed to get anywhere in 2004, you are SADLY mistaken.

    The Republican Pary didn't disband itself in 1974 after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency in shame, did they? Of course, it should have, if any Republican had any morality or shame. But, of course, they don't.

    No, they retrenched, rethought their strategy, and came back stronger, leading to the scandalous Reagan administration and the idiotic witch hunt against Bill Clinton.

    The Democractic Party will do the same, or at least try to.

    By Blogger Scott, at 02 August, 2006 15:00  

  • And by the way, Franken was right, Brit Hume was distorting FDR's intentions through omission, and was assuming nobody would even check up on him and call him out on it. Hume used FDR's words to mislead the public into thinking that the positions of FDR and Bush were the same.

    And common sense alone would tell even you Frankenlies, that such a thing, prima facie, is NOT RIGHT.

    FDR was a liberal, and Bush, well, he's not a liberal.

    Why are you expending all this energy trying to prove that Brit Hume was right when he said that Bush was a liberal? (Or had the same position as a liberal?)

    Tee hee.

    By Blogger Scott, at 02 August, 2006 15:11  

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