MINNEAPOLIS -- Two weeks before Election Day, first lady Michelle Obama swept into a North Minneapolis high school with a simple message for DFL supporters.
“This room alone can sway this election,” Obama said, noting the slim victory margins of U.S. Sen. Al Franken and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton the last time they were on the ballot. “This is on us.”
Both Franken and Dayton won their races after recounts. Franken’s victory margin in 2008 was just 312 votes.
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The Tuesday afternoon rally that attracted about 2,200 to Patrick Henry High School is the first of three visits from high-profile Democrats to get supporters of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party to the polls in November. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden also visit the state this week.
Minnesota Republicans used the first lady’s visit to link Franken to her husband, President Barack Obama.
“The first lady’s visit to Minnesota is a reminder that President Obama’s policies are on Minnesota ballots this fall in the form of Al Franken,” said Becky Alery, press secretary for Mike McFadden, the Republican challenger for Franken’s U.S. Senate seat.
Dayton, Franken and other DFL candidates and lawmakers took it as an opportunity to champion political victories like raising the minimum wage, legalizing gay marriage and increasing funding for early education.
St. Paul resident May Vang took her mother Lay Vang to the rally to see the first lady, “because she is in love with her.”
“I never thought I would be in the same room with the first lady,” May said. “This could be the last time she is in Minnesota.”
The Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service.
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