Al Franken's U.S. Senate campaign in Minnesota has turned a corner.
After a tough summer with a series of setbacks, there were plenty of announcements of his demise, but the former comedian and talk host is actually, barely, minutely leading Bushite neocon incumbent Norm Coleman.
His campaign has started to click, calling attention to Coleman's close
philosophical and political alignment to the most despised presidency
since Herbert Hoover.
With more than a little resentment of McCain's campaign who led
Minnesotans believe native son Tim Pawlenty would be his VP choice, the
Obama coattails have been lenthened.
It's anyone's race... and that's pretty amazing after the depressing past months in the hard fought campaign. In June, after some old blue comedy material of Franken's surfaced, Coleman took a 10-point lead in the polls.
The University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute/Minnesota Public Radio poll puts Franken at 41 percent, Coleman at 40 percent. A relative newcomer to the race, the Independence Party's Dean Barkley, posts 8 percent; 11 percent are undecided.
Barkley could be a spoiler, but he faces six other IP candidates who weren't included in this polling. He is seen as sharing the pissed off at the status quo Republican votes with Franken, but he has no money, and pollsters see a momentum with Democrats across the board in Minnesota.
One snapshot in time. My money is on Coleman.
Posted by: KS | August 29, 2008 at 06:36 PM
Franken's persistence will pay off. I'll bet on it. He's a likable kind of guy and his hearts in the right place at the right time - which is left.
Posted by: joanie | August 30, 2008 at 12:49 AM
" He's a likable kind of guy and his hearts in the right place at the right time - which is left."
Don't think you are describing the Al Franken I know. That's because his real name is Stuart Smalley for one thing. The right time for Franken to run would have been 2006. The Democrat wave that swept over in 2006 will have dissipated some in 2008 - it will be a close loss for him though.
Posted by: KS | September 01, 2008 at 12:25 PM