Franken and Coleman Now Tied for Minn. Senate - Coleman Had Large Lead for Months

[JPZenger]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-22-minnesota-senate-race_N.htm

The above is a brand new poll showing Franken and Coleman tied. Franken has closed a large lead that Coleman had in the polls for many months. The first poll that showed it to be a close race was in July.

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Great analysis of the senate race in Minnesota:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080804/zaitchik

excerpt:

"With every national and state political wind at his back, this race should be Al Franken's to lose. Minnesota is a blue state where Barack Obama currently leads John McCain by 18 percent. Coleman's recent efforts to distance himself from the President and reposition himself as an moderate Republican will have to contend with the fact that he has voted with the President nearly 90 percent of the time over the course of his term. As recently as last month, Coleman attended a fundraiser with and publicly embraced the President he once called "part of God's answer." According to Hannah August of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Norm Coleman is "one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country."
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Official campaign blog:

http://blog.alfranken.com/
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Meanwhile, Coleman has run a TV ad with 3 bowlers complaining they won't vote for Franken because of all that "juicy porn" he wrote. It is apparently a reference to one 2000 satirical article that Franken wrote for that hardcore magazine Playboy.

[truthisfreedom]

1. "hardcore" magazine Playboy? The Great American Institution? Psshhh... I don't buy it for a second

Al is going to cream norm the womanizer.

[dflprincess]

2. Depending on which poll you believe,

Coleman has never had that large a lead - especially for an incumbant. Most the polls I've seen have been very close to the margin of error.

The weasel may be changing his ad tactics. I caught one this morning talking about energy and ends with wanting America to "make history" again. He still hasn't mentioned his record.

[gratuitous]

3. Any incumbent polling under 50 is in trouble

And Republicans in general are in big trouble this time around. They don't have all the money in the world, so they're having to try to run their campaigns using strategy and touting the issues, and the GOP just isn't very good at that. They're used to an overwhelming money advantage with which they saturate the airwaves and the newsprint, sucking all the air away from their opponents. Coleman might actually have to explain one or two things, and that's just not a recipe for success on his side of the aisle.

[L. Coyote]

4. Coleman's links to Ted Stevens and Big Oil are not helping him at all!

2008.12.12 $1.42