Minnesota Senator Al Franken is the keynote speaker at this Sunday’s “Steak Fry” fundraiser for Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. Franken says he’ll deliver a “hopeful” speech that will rally his fellow Democrats.

“I have known Senator Harkin for quite some time and I’ve always had tremendous regard for him. He was a friend of (former Minnesota Senator) Paul Wellstone’s, a very dear friend and Tom came and campaigned for me in Minnesota which I’m extremely grateful for, ” Franken said early this afternoon, clearing his throat and pausing before he delivered the punch line: “You know I didn’t win by a lot there, so that might have made the difference.”

After a recount and a seven-month court battle, Franken won his seat in the U.S. Senate by 312 votes. His Republican opponent conceded in late June and Franken was sworn in as a senator in early July. Franken is no longer the most junior member of the senate, however, as a new senator from Florida was sworn into office this week.

“Of course we had the long wait between the election and the swearing in, but it’s been worth it. You know, I got here late, but not too late,” Franken said during a telephone interview with Radio Iowa. “I’m looking forward to having an impact on this health care debate.”

Franken is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which Senator Harkin now chairs. Franken said there’s a lot of “political work” to be done on health care reform and President Obama’s speech on Wednesday night helped the process.

“I think that the speech did rally people and from what I can tell it clarified a lot to Americans about what this is about and what it isn’t about,” Franken said.

Franken also found himself at the center of the action just after he became a senator in July. He’s a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee which held a public confirmation hearing on Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I came to the senate at a very crucial time,” Franken says.

Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are among the list of previous “Harkin Steak Fry” keynoters and Franken wrote a 1999 novel titled “Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency.” Today, however, Franken tamped down the idea he has White House aspirations.

“I guess that most people who speak at the Steak Fry eventually run for president. I guess that’s been the history but I’m not interested in running for president,” Franken said. “I’m coming because I like Tom Harkin and I like steak.”

Franken started as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” in 1975 and he left the program in 1995 after creating memorable characters like self-help guru Stuart Smalley. Franken has had three books reach the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, including his “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.”

In 2004, Franken started a three-year stint as an “Air America” radio talk show host. During his last broadcast, on Valentine’s Day in 2007, he announced his candidacy for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seat.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer headlined Senator Tom Harkin’s 31st annual Steak Fry Sunday afternoon.

"Woodrow Wilson was in his first term when you did your first steak fry, wasn’t he?" the 53-year-old Schweitzer asked Harkin as the two Democrats flipped steaks on the grill.

Harkin, who is 68 years old, offered this retort: "No, Teddy Roosevelt." Cameras captured the moment as Harkin and Schweitzer, accompanied by Schweitzer’s pet dog Jag, walked up to the grills. "We got some Montana steaks over here or is this all Iowa steaks?" Schweitzer asked. 

Harkin gestured to the grill: "This is Iowa corn-fed beef."  A bystander joked that the pair of politicians had better not be grilling moose for the crowd of Democrats who’d paid $30 each for a steak dinner.  As you may know, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has expressed a liking for moose burgers. "There’s nothing wrong with moose," Schweitzer said.  "All right.  All right," Harkin said, and Schweitzer added, "Don’t be picking’ on the moose."

 When given the opportunity during a question and answer session with reporters, Schweitzer didn’t pick on Palin either. "I actually know her as a governor.  She’s from a neighboring state up there in Alaska — about as close as you can get, Montana and Alaska.  She’s going to bring some of the western issues to this race," Schweitzer said.  "And by the way, she’s not the only one who’s been around moose.  I have, too."

 According to Schweitzer, there’s no need for Democrats to panic about recent polls which show Democrat Barack Obama now trailing Republican John McCain. "You’re a long ways from the end of this race.  There hasn’t even been a debate yet…I got to be honest with you.  The people that are focused on this race are the mostly people who are writing newspapers and doing television," Schweitzer told reporters.

"The regular folks out there who are raising families and working on farms and driving truck, they’ve got a lot of things that are important in their life, and politics comes about third or fourth. They’ll focus on this race on about the first of October." 

Schweitzer held up his cell phone to make a point about the pitfalls of polling at this point in the presidential race. "A lot of young people don’t have a land line and you can’t poll them," Schweitzer said.  "Young people are voting 70/30 for Obama, so if you want to start talking about the people that are underpolled, start talking about the college students, start talking about young people, start talking about generation Y." 

A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll released Sunday indicates Obama is leading McCain in Iowa by 12 points.  Harkin says he "senses" as he travels Iowa that Obama is doing "very well" here. "But you know polls are a snapshot," Harkin counsels.  "They are no substitute for being right on the issues, working hard, being energized, getting your vote out and we’re going to do that here in Iowa." 

The Montana governor who made a surprising splash at the Democratic National Convention is the keynote speaker at Senator Tom Harkin’s annual “Steak Fry” fundraiser.

“I just thought Brian Schweitzer just gave a great speech at the convention. I told him so afterwards,” Harkin says. “He’s been a friend of mine for a number of years. I helped him when he first ran for senator out in Montana and I can tell you he’s going to be a force to be reckoned not only within the Democratic Party, but I predict nationally.”

This coming weekend, on Sunday, September 14, Harkin will hold his 31st annual “Steak Fry” in Indianola. All of the Democratic presidential candidates spoke at last year’s “Steak Fry.”

“Last year’s ‘Steak Fry’ was the biggest ever. The second-biggest was when President Clinton came in 1996. We had just about 12,000 then. Last year we topped 14,000 to 15,000,” Harkin says. “So, no, it won’t be as big as last year. We hope to get around 3000 people there, something like that.”

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer spoke on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Wearing cowboy boots and a bolo tie, Schweitzer delivered a feisty speech and as the audience responded to his remarks, Schweitzer urged party elders to “get off (their) duffs” and applaud with the rest of the crowd.