Garrison Keillor, best known for his National Public Radio program “A Prairie Home Companion,” stole the show Sunday afternoon in Alexander G. Hill Ballroom at a College Democrats of Minnesota get-out-the-vote event. “We’re not panicking, we’re not alone, we're Democrats,” Keillor said to cheers from the crowd of approximately 500 people.

Keillor and U.S. Representative and former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich were among the speakers at the event, which served as the kick-off to campaign season for the College Democrats of Minnesota.

Both speakers encouraged students to support John Kerry in the presidential election and challenged students to get involved in the campaign.

A self-described “museum-quality Minnesota liberal,” Keillor criticized President Bush’s Iraq policy, but focused much of his speech on the current economy. “When you lose good-paying jobs and replace them with low-paying jobs, you're taking a step back.”

“Kerry is intelligent and hardworking, yet difficult to market to the voting public,” Keillor said in a later interview. “I think he’s a good person, [who has] had a real life [and who has] used his time in the Senate to educate himself about public policy.”

Keillor also speculated about what the nation might be like in four years if President Bush is re-elected. He lambasted privatized Social Security and Medicare programs, the elimination of progressive income tax, and what he described as the “increased concentration of wealth and power in a very small pocket [of society].”

Macalester College Student Government President Michael Barnes ’06 made closing remarks encouraging active student participation in politics.

Macalester GOP chair Kramer Lawson ’05, who was unable to the attend event, refuted Keillor's criticisms of Bush's handling of the economy. Lawson said that the President should be given credit for an economic policy that economists have acknowledged is very aggressive. “I give [more] credence to what economists say than what Garrison Keillor says,” he added.

As people streamed out of Kagin Commons after Keillor’s speech, some seemed surprised that Keillor would have even chosen to speak at such an event. “That was great,” said a resident of Rochester, Minn. who traveled to Macalester to hear Kucinich speak, “I didn’t realize how political Garisson Keillor was.”

Kucinich, who attended a fundraiser earlier in the afternoon in order to help pay for the debt he incurred while running for president, spoke about the power of the individual, peace and political involvement. “Each time anyone steps forward,” he told the audience, “they have the ability to change the world.”

“We have to create a better future, not just defeat George Bush,” Kucinich said.

At times, loud applause drowned out Kucinich, who leapt from his feet while he spoke. “Kucinich is the most [left-wing] candidate besides Nader,” Alex Wise ’07 said. “He’s speaking to his own.”

State House Minority Leader Matt Entenza ’83, who spoke after Kucinich, said he had never seen the Macalester community as energized for an election. Representative Betty McCollum described the turnout as “awesome.”

“There was a wide-range of people,” Andrea Johnson ’06, Macalester Democrats co-chair said. “There was appeal beyond political minds.”