ST. LOUIS — Missouri Democrats will be hosting their third annual Truman Dinner on November 4, at the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel. Attending the event will be Democratic leaders in Missouri as well as Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
Previous speakers at the Truman Dinner include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington state, and current Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.
Franken previously visited St. Louis on August 12. The former SNL comedian visited the Ethical Society of St. Louis along side freelance writer and author Daniel Durcholz to discuss his semi-comedic memoire, Giant of the Senate. In his discussion, he mentioned his rise from being a comedian on SNL to his 2008 campaign for the U.S. Senate.
His 2008 Senate campaign against incumbent Norm Coleman was brutal for Franken, as his opponent claimed that because of his comedic background, he was too inappropriate and irresponsible for the U.S. Senate. In his book, Franken also mentions how then-candidate Barack Obama refused to campaign with him, which he feels would have helped him win by an easier margin.
The Truman Dinner is a large annual event for Missouri Democrats. Ticket prices range from $150 to $15,000. The dinner, which was formerly called the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, was renamed in 2015 because of the slave-owning history of presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, as well as Jackson’s genocidal campaign of the Trail of Tears which resulted in the deaths of over 10,0000 indigenous Americans.
The dinner will entail a VIP reception starting at 6 p.m. while the dinner and program start at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Missouri Democratic Party website.
Michael Layer is a reporter for the Missouri Times and the Missouri Times Magazine. He joined the Missouri Times in August 2017 after graduating from Goucher College the previous May. To contact Michael, email michael@themissouritimes.com or follow him on Twitter @_MichaelLayer
