GOP CALLS FRANKEN HYPOCRITE OVER 'BIG TOBACCO' SUPPORTER
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.
