What if a political candidate scheduled a campaign appearance and no one showed up? Democratic senatorial hopeful Al Franken came within one person of finding out in St. Cloud, Minn.
Only one soul turned out for a “roundtable” on veterans’ issues Friday at Brigitte’s Café in the city northwest of Minneapolis.
Josh John, a St. Cloud resident who said he served in the Navy from 2000 to 2004, had the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian all to himself for an hour, the St. Cloud Times reported.
In his one-on-one chat, Franken — who seeks to unseat incumbent Republican Norm Coleman — discussed his proposal to expand veterans’ benefits, decried what he called a lack of leadership from Coleman, and touted veterans-friendly legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
“Everyone’s running around saying Congress never gets anything done,” he said. “But despite 90 filibuster threats by Senate Republicans, it took Democrats to get the new G.I. Bill passed and to finally fully fund V.A. healthcare.”
Coleman’s campaign spokesman Luke Friedrich responded: “Norm has been a champion for veterans throughout his time in office and Al Franken’s dishonest, negative attacks cannot change that fact.”
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