On the Road with Senator Klobuchar

Posted by on October 30, 2008

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hitting the road with Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar came all the way to Oregon to do her part to help send Jeff Merkley to the Senate.

Here's a pic of Jeff, his wife Mary and Senator Klobuchar:

Our first stop on the tour was a Women for Merkley meet and greet at the Broadway Market in Eugene, Oregon. Senator Klobuchar stressed how important it is to elect more Democrats like Merkley to the Senate so we could end the paralysis in the Senate:

“Ninety-four times we were blocked by a filibuster,” Klobuchar said, telling the crowd about times that Republicans stood in the way of passing legislation. “I was brand new in the Senate, and I just couldn’t believe what would happen when we tried to get something done.”

Jeff Merkley also chimed in about the importance of gaining more seats in the U.S. Senate:

“We know something about paralysis in this state,” Merkley said, referring to the Oregon State House before the Democratic takeover in 2006 and his tenure as House Speaker in 2007. “We have to elect a working majority in the U.S. Senate.”

After Democrats took back control of the Oregon House and unanimously elected Merkley as Speaker of the House, Jeff went on to lead the most productive, greenest and labor friendly session we've seen in thirty years. Wouldn't be nice if Congress could come together and pass legislation to help working families and invest in our children's future without being blocked every step of the way by the Republicans?

Our next stop on the road was at the Demoforum in Salem, Oregon. When we arrived at Kwans Restaurant, the place was packed with supporters wearing Obama and Merkley gear. Senator Klobuchar spoke about the financial struggles American families are facing these days. Wages are stagnant while the cost of everything from energy to college tuition has risen dramatically during the Bush years. She talked about how important it was to change the direction of our country and to do that, we needed to elect candidates like Jeff Merkley.

But, she cautioned, Jeff can't do this by himself:

“Jeff and his wife Mary did all this hard work, standing up when no one thought they had a chance,” Klobuchar told the crowd. “They’re 90 percent of the way there, but you need to get them the last 10 percent of the way.”

We have just five days to go until election day! Please consider hitting the streets for Merkley and making phonecalls. It's time to GOTV to get our country back on track!