CLEVELAND: Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) surprised a group of union workers and retirees preparing to canvass for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday.
Kaine and Franken arrived by motorcade before 11 a.m. to the SEIU 1199 union hall on East 30th Street in Cleveland. The two spoke for a half hour then left around 11:30 p.m. — an before scheduled to speak again at a high school in Lorain.
Franken, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, joked that he was once in the running to be vice president. “No, really,” he said. A friend of Clinton for 34 years, Franken said he wasn’t comfortable being president in the event of tragedy.
In introducing Kaine, Franken noted the former Virginia governor’s long public service from city councilman to senator and a Jesuit missionary before that.
“I can’t keep a job,” Kaine said, stepping into Franken’s comedy routine.
The crowd of 75 union members cheered and clapped as the senators, announced by union leaders moments earlier, made their surprise visit. The audience was dressed for the chilly, rainy weather, wearing trademark purple stocking caps and T-shirts designating the SEIU’s collective support for the Clinton-Kaine ticket.
On the wall behind Kaine and Franken, instructions on how to categorize voters who answer doors and inspirational labor movement quotes sandwiched Clinton campaign posters. Signs outside the hall advocated for a $15 minimum wage, Ted Strickland, Clinton-Kaine and racial justice.
Franken and Kaine praised the work the canvassers do.
“I know so many of you are volunteers and I thank you, thank you, thank you for that. We’ve got less than two weeks,” said Franken.
“Secondly, I know many of you have jobs, many of you have family. Ignore them,” Franken joked, adding that politicians get elected to get away from family. “Now let me tell you something about kids, they love it when parents aren’t home.”
Franken turned a joke about how 8-year-olds can use microwaves to score political points.
“They believe in science,” Franken said of the latchkey keys at the center of his joke. “We Democrats believe in science, too. Another scientific fact, an 8-year-old kid can teach a 4-year-old to use a microwave.”
Kaine then delivered a boiled down version of remarks he gave the day before in Pennsylvania and likely would again Thursday afternoon in Lorain.
As in Pennsylvania, Kaine called Ohio one of “four or five checkmate states.” If Clinton wins here, he said, she’s guaranteed to win the national election. “Alright, here we are. You guys are more than battleground. You are checkmate,” Kaine said, repeating a line from the night before about how the election may be decided before sunset on the West Coast.
Franken had reminded the canvassers that he won his first Senate race in 2008 by 312 votes. Kaine, then the DNC chairman, recalled Franken asking for a “big check” from the party to help in that effort, which came down to a recount. Kaine said it was “the best money the party has ever spent” as Franken has been a champion of progressive policies while in the Senate.
Kaine reminded the crowd of how tight the presidential race is in Ohio and that he has never lost in a career spanning eight races, though many were close and tough fought in battleground Virginia.
The SEIU presented Kaine with a black SEIU T-shirt that read: “WE’RE KICKING ASS FOR THE WORKING CLASS.”
Kaine continued to press upon the canvassers the importance of door knocking and face-to-face interaction, especially as voters become turned off by a barrage of television ads.
“Well, people are tuning out to TV ads. So many ads are run by ‘Citizens for Apple Pie,’ Kaine said, creating a fictitious outside spending group. “You don’t know if it’s true or not. And so people are tuning out. But what they do trust is somebody they know.”
Kaine reiterated to the union crowd that the election is about telling Russia it can not meddle in an American election, rejecting Trump’s insults and “whining that the election is rigged” and — like the first black president — electing a woman as an inspiration for others.
“If you can see yourself as president of the United States,” Kaine said, “you can see yourself as anything. The same thing is going to happen on Nov. 8.”
Before shaking hands and taking photographs with the audience, Franken borrowed material from another comic for his walk-off joke.
“Chris Rock, when Obama got elected, said that George W. Bush was such a bad president he made it impossible for a white guy to ever get elected president again. Let’s keep that going,” Franken said as the racially diverse crowd laughed.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .