I am writing to let you know about my campaign for the U.S. Senate - to update you on the progress we've made since our friend Senator Mark Dayton decided not to run, and to introduce you to my family.  I always think it's important to know where someone's coming from...it helps you understand where they're going.

Running for the U.S. Senate is going to take hard work and lots of money.  Already, I'm pleased to report that I've been endorsed by 57 state legislators and countless other Minnesotans from every corner of this State.   In the first reporting period, we raised $592,000 - more than any other candidate, including the presumptive Republican candidate.

We are building a large statewide grassroots network, and I'd like you to be part of it in whatever way you can.  Please join us by visiting our website at http://www.amyklobuchar.com/ and sign up as a volunteer and consider contributing if you can - $25, $50, $100, or whatever you can afford.  I'm not a millionaire but I need to raise millions of dollars to win this campaign and bring some Minnesota common sense to Washington.

Where I come from and where we're going...

Two weeks ago, on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, with hundreds of friends, family, and supporters on hand, I announced my candidacy for the United States Senate.

The two most important people in my life were there with me that day - my husband John and my daughter Abigail.  Without their love and support I couldn't be doing this.  John is, well, - he's the nicest guy in the world.   Abigail, who is 9, said that her biggest concern about this campaign is "those mean commercials."  "Do you think they'd put me in them mom?" she asked one night.  I thought for a moment and said, "maybe if you don't practice piano, it could happen, but other than that, I doubt it."

We kicked off our statewide campaign from the same place where so many of my life's journeys have begun - the driveway of the home where I grew up in Plymouth and where my mom, Rose Klobuchar, still lives today.  After getting over her initial concerns about whether her newly sprouting tulips (the green part, that is) could survive a visit from 400 exuberant guests, and whether her maple tree could survive 10 kids perched on its branches, my mom had a good time.

My mom was a second-grade teacher until she was 70.  Her now-grown-up students still stop me on the street to tell me about how, with commitment and love, she shaped their lives just as she shaped mine, by teaching me to value education and curiosity and good humor.

My dad, Jim Klobuchar, was also there with us that day.  He's also retired, or sort of retired.  I say that because he continues to write books and still organizes adventure trips.  As a newspaperman he brought life to the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  He taught me that with faith in God we can meet our biggest challenges.  He taught me to be leery of those with too much power, to take on the tough fights and follow my dreams.

The house and driveway where we gathered that Sunday have marked the beginning of many journeys for me.  My first day of kindergarten, and all through elementary school, my sister and I would walk across the street, through the Bezenar's backyard, and up the hill to what was then called Beacon Heights School.   It was on the driveway where I started many a bike trip with my dad, including the one that took us all the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming: 1100 miles in 10 days with all our gear on our bikes and our backs, three flat tires, five angry farm dogs, and one big tornado.   He says that trip was my idea.

Now I begin the most important journey of my life.

It is a journey that I cannot take alone.

I talked that sunny afternoon about the reason for the journey, about why I'm running to represent you in Washington, and about how I want to bring Minnesota common sense to the halls of Congress.

As the chief prosecutor for Minnesota's largest county, in which I represent nearly one-quarter of the people of this state, I've fought to make our communities even better, safer places to live.  I've fought to make government more accountable and efficient.  I have a proven record of making a difference and producing positive results for the people I represent.

I am a public servant who will put the greater good of the many in front of the interests of the few.  Just as I have done as a prosecutor, I will stand up for what's right without fear or favor.  I will devote myself to solutions that improve people's lives instead of fixating on issues that divide.

Meet my in-laws in Mankato

Following the Sunday afternoon announcement, we spent four days traveling around Minnesota.  We went first to Mankato, my husband's hometown, where I spoke with students at Minnesota State University.  We were greeted by my in-laws, Bill and Marilyn Bessler.  Bill and Marilyn raised six boys in Mankato, first in a trailer home and then in the house where they live today on Mulberry Street.   Bill teaches biology at the college and has a really loud voice which is helpful in large classrooms, and, as I've learned, in large families.

On the trip to Mankato, like so many of my trips around the state in the past few years, I heard a lot about what's wrong in Washington.  The students know something is not right when they're getting huge increases in tuition while an outsized portion of the tax cuts have gone to the wealthiest among us.  We talked about how Washington has taken a $200 billion surplus and turned it into a $400 billion deficit, amounting to a $26,000 "birth tax" for every baby born in Minnesota.   We talked about the need to go back to the pay-as-you-go rules Congress used during the Clinton administration to balance budgets and produce surpluses.  You want to do some more spending, fine, but show how you're going to pay for it.  You want an additional tax cut, ok, but show how you're going to pay for it.  

Duluth and the Range, my family's roots

We then went north to Duluth and the Iron Range, where my grandpa worked 1,500 feet below ground in the iron ore mines.  He and my grandma saved money in a coffee can of the basement of their house in Ely to send my dad and his brother to college.  My grandparents always believed that with hard work comes opportunity and security.  That's something that Minnesota has always stood for.  I have always been proud to live in a state and country where we wrap our arms around the people who need it the most - our kids, our elderly, our disabled.  It's what we do.  We take care of our kids, our parents and grandparents.  That's why we know that you can't protect Social Security by diverting money out of the system.  We need a Social Security system that's a guarantee, not a gamble.

The Red River Valley and farm country

Next, after a great coffee stop at the Cabin Coffee Shop in Bemidji, we made our way to the Red River Valley where, in Moorhead (after a nice gathering the evening before hosted by my friend and no-nonsense and good-cook prosecutor, the Clay County Attorney Lisa Borgen), we toured the American Crystal Sugar beet processing plant.  Sugar is a $3 billion industry to Minnesota and North Dakota, and I met with farmers, workers and business owners about why we need an even playing field in trade agreements to ensure the economic livelihood of Minnesota's working families.  We also had the privilege of visiting an ethanol plant in Benson - where I talked to people about rising gas prices and alternative fuel sources - and were hosted at a wonderful farm in rural Swift County.

Coffee shops and crowds across greater Minnesota

As we drove around the state, we stopped at coffee shops along the way in towns like Alexandria and Willmar and Austin and greeted crowds of supporters in places like Rep. Joe Opatz's house in St. Cloud, and Daube's Bakery in Rochester.  All along the way, I talked with Minnesotans and heard about what's important to them.  As I said in my announcement speech, the 2006 election shouldn't be a 24-hour TV shout-fest about what's right and what's left; it should be about what's right and what's wrong.

Hard work and fair play

Our campaign will be about bringing the debate back to issues of importance to Minnesota's everyday heroes - our teachers, our workers and small business owners, our farmers, and our service men and women.

No matter where we were across the geographic or political spectrums on this trip, whether we were talking with Democrats, Independents or moderate Republicans, I found that people are sick and tired of fiscal irresponsibility, special interest agendas, and issues that divide.  I found that Minnesotans share much in common.  We believe in opportunity through hard work.  We believe in fair play.  We believe in a secure nation and strong communities.  We believe in personal integrity and responsibility.  

I've often said that we can't have two systems of justice - one for the rich and powerful and one for everyone else.  Well we can't have two health care systems - one for the people that can afford it and one for everyone else.  And we can't have two economic systems.

In Minnesota we believe in fair play.

Minnesotans are ready to elect someone to fight for their issues, and I'm ready to take on that fight.  At Tobies in Hinckley, one enthusiastic customer said she'd vote for me, but then she wanted to know when the election was going to be.  When I told her it's in 18 months, she said, "At this rate, you'll be able to shake every hand of every citizen in Minnesota."  Believe me, if I can, I will!

Winning with a grassroots campaign

I know what it takes to run a winning grassroots campaign.  When I first ran for County Attorney I beat a well-funded Republican opponent in what was the costliest, most aggressive, most heated campaign ever in the history of that office, in an area that covers two congressional districts.

And I know what it takes to win the tough fights.  As a mother, I fought for one of the first laws in the country guaranteeing new moms and their babies a 48-hour hospital stay - and we won.

As a prosecutor, when I saw all the people that were injured and killed by drunk drivers, I fought for the first law in Minnesota ensuring that repeat drunk drivers - some with over 20 DWIs - could go to prison - and we won.

As a public servant, I fought to put the interests of the greater good in front of the interests of the privileged.  We took on the white-collar cases - and we won.

Two things you need to know about me: (1) I know that putting people first - a real grassroots effort - is the key to victory; and (2) I don't let baseless attacks go unanswered.  I fight back.

But to do it I need your help.  To run the kind of aggressive statewide campaign we need to win this Senate race, to seize the terms of the election debate in 2006, and to bring Minnesota values of opportunity, fair play, and responsibility to Washington, I will need your early support.  I will need your volunteer energy, and, if possible, your financial contribution.  Please log onto our website at http://www.amyklobuchar.com/ and join this important effort.

Sincerely,

[Amy Klobuchar's signature]

P.S. Visit our website at http://www.amyklobuchar.com/ to read the announcement speech and see pictures from the announcement tour!

Paid for by the Klobuchar for Minnesota Committee

Contributions and gifts to Klobuchar for Minnesota are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

www.amyklobuchar.com

Amy Klobuchar for Minnesota Committee P.O. Box 4146 St. Paul, MN 55104