Al Franken PAC and more political news (Dubai Port Deal Backlash)
Just received this by email:
Al Franken getting celebrity support
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 25 minutes ago
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 (news, bio, voting record),
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 contributors to the PAC were actor Larry Hagman, directors
Christopher Guest and Barry Levinson, and writers Harold Ramis and Aaron Sorkin.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David said he couldn’t refuse Franken.
“Al is a friend of mine, so more than anything, when friends ask me to do
things, I have a hard time saying no to people. If he asked me to drive him to
the airport, I’d do that too,” David said in an interview Friday.
Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” writer and performer, said that most
of the contributors are people he knows from the business.
“These are people who do quality work who I’m very, very proud to be
associated with,” he said in an interview.
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.”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Bush visits Miami on Monday, he might not
want to take a spin around the radio dial. Chances are he’ll get an earful.
A nonprofit organization financed by Florida ports operator Eller & Co. has
purchased ads on four radio stations that criticize the administration’s
initial support for a business deal that shifted operation of several U.S. port
terminals, including the Port of Miami, to a company owned by the government of
Dubai.
“Mr. President, why did you let the United Arab Emirates, an enemy of Israel
and friend and trading partner of Iran, take over our ports,” the one-minute
ad states. “Welcome to Miami, Mr. President, but please don’t allow the emir
of Dubai to control the operations and security of our port. Please don’t
endanger our families. You took an oath to protect us, please honor your oath.”
The government-owned Dubai Ports World acquired operation of U.S. port
terminals earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation. Following an outcry in Congress over placing an Arab-owned
company in charge of security-sensitive U.S. port terminals, Dubai Ports
announced in March that it would sell the U.S. terminals to a U.S.-owned firm
Deutsche Bank, which is handling the sale, provided potential bidders with
information last week. The final sale is not expected until the fall.
Alan Neigher, a lawyer for Eller and chairman of Portsforus.org, which paid
for the ads on four Miami radio stations, said they’re intended to remind the
public that while the furor over the ports deal has subsided, the fate of the
ports remains in question. Neigher described the ad buy as modest, in the
“low five figures.”
Continental Stevedoring & Terminals, an Eller subsidiary, has filed suit in
Florida contending the initial sale of P&O to the Dubai-owned firm violated
contracts between partners at the Port of Miami. A judge this week dismissed
some portions of the suit, but let others stand for further litigation.
The ads are running over the weekend and on Monday. Bush plans to be in
Florida Sunday and Monday. His trip includes a tour of the Port of Miami.
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On the Net:
Midwest Values PAC: _http://www.midwestvaluespac.org/_
(http://www.midwestvaluespac.org/)