Jump to full article: Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune, 2007-09-19
Author: Mark Brunswick and Kevin Diaz
Intro: Republicans criticized DFL Senate candidate Al Franken Tuesday for seeking campaign contributions through an heir to a Big Tobacco fortune, accusing him of hypocrisy for decrying Republican opponent Sen. Norm Coleman's special-interest fundraising.
The fundraiser at the Washington, D.C., mansion of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and Smith Bagley was scheduled to feature songwriter Paul Simon and high-flying co-hosts who include former Clinton administration advisers James Carville and Paul Begala. . . .
While they are longtime contributors to major Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations, Smith Bagley is an heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune. Carey said Franken has criticized Republican opponent Norm Coleman's acceptance of special-interest money from the tobacco and oil industries at the same time he is accepting money from the Bagleys, "the very definition of big tobacco." . . .
"If they can't tell the difference between taking industry PAC dollars and a fundraiser at the home of a grandson of someone who started a company, they are willfully missing the point," she said.
The Franken campaign also said that Smith Bagley currently has no tobacco holdings and did not attend the fundraiser, even though the invitation lists him as one of the co-hosts.
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