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  • From the Desk of Al Franken

50 Years of SNL!

Earlier this year, we got to celebrate SNL’s 50th anniversary. It was great to get together with compatriots whom I worked with thirty-five, forty, even fifty years ago.

We changed the face of TV comedy and satire. Some of my favorites were our political sketches.

We always tried to make the comedy accessible to the large majority of our audience, with a special treat or two for those who followed current events closely. Folks like you Midwest Values PAC supporters.

Back around the 50th, Time magazine asked me to write a piece about my time at SNL. So I focused on our political humor and this idea of “rewarding people for knowing stuff, but not punishing them for not knowing stuff.”

TIME: Al Franken on Political Humor at SNL: ‘Our Goal Was to Get Laughs From Everyone’

Generally, we tried to be as even-handed as possible — something that ended with Trump’s first election.

Al

P.S. I hope you enjoy my piece and that you enjoyed the political humor I helped write during my fifteen seasons at SNL. And, of course, the work MVP does to get Democrats and progressive independents elected nationwide.

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Somehow, it’s been 20 years since I started Midwest Values PAC to help Democrats win elections — from progressive organizations to state legislatures to Congress to the White House — who share the values I grew up with in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Since 2006, Midwest Values PAC has invested more than $4 million in 341 candidates and organizations — and counting. 

Of course, none of this happens without you (or supporters like you) who care enough to pitch in.

As we mark our 20th anniversary, the work is more urgent than ever. This year, we have a big job: flip the House, take the Senate, and win up and down the ballot at the state and local level.

To mark our 20th year, we’ve set an ambitious goal: 26,000 contributions by Election Day 2026.

DONATE HERE

Thanks for being part of this fight, and for sticking with us for 20 years (or for just joining — welcome!).

Al

P.S. Over the years, okay, decades, we’ve helped Democrats win tough races all across the country by investing early, intelligently, and strategically. That’s how you flip seats. That’s how you protect democracy. And that’s how you stop the worst impulses of a president who never should have been president in the first place.

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