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MUST READ FROM CQ: “FRANKEN STUMBLING IN MINNESOTA SENATE RACE”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | July 21, 2008
The bad news for Team Franken just keeps on coming. Now, CQ has changed their rating on the U.S. Senate race from No Clear Favorite to Leans Republican.
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“Just a few months ago, Al Franken had plenty of reasons to smile about his chances of unseating Minnesota’s Republican Sen. Norm Coleman .
Minnesotans oppose the war — and the president — that Coleman supported. Franken was doing his homework: he had entered the race early and was running a strong grass-roots campaign focused on local organizing and smaller-venue events.
And, in early June, he secured the DFL nomination at the state convention on the first ballot.
But costly mistakes in the campaign of former Saturday Night Live writer are now imperiling his chances of winning.
Poll trends in the past several weeks indicate that Coleman has increased his lead over Franken. Although the numbers have fluctuated, four of the last five polls show Coleman ahead of Franken – three by more than 10 points. So now, CQ Politics is changing the rating on the race to Leans Republican from No Clear Favorite.
Lawrence Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, says that Franken now finds himself tied with Coleman among women voters, union members and Twin Cities residents. ‘Clearly there’s been some damage. What the polls are showing is that the kind of coalition a Democrat needs to win just is not forming.’
Franken has ‘really been unable to get on track where he’s got a consistent message with regards to what he stands for that’s credible, and a line of attack on the incumbent,’ Jacobs said. ‘Again and again in this race Franken’s on the defensive.’
Franken has struggled with issues related to his late payment of taxes in 17 states that dated back to 2003-2006 as well as some of his more controversial work during his career as a satirist, including a piece titled ‘Porn-O-Rama’ that was published in Playboy in 2000. These problems have created an odd situation ‘where the challenger is the one who’s being challenged,’ Jacobs said.
The issues over taxes and Franken’s writings ‘have really stuck with voters, I think,’ said Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College. And now, Franken has drawn a primary challenge from Priscilla Lord Faris, the daughter of well-known Minnesota Democrat Miles Lord, a retired federal judge.” Source: CQ Politics, July 20, 2008
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12 Responses to “MUST READ FROM CQ: “FRANKEN STUMBLING IN MINNESOTA SENATE RACE””
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July 21st, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Maybe it’s just me, but I like to think neither the latest polls four months out nor the latest ruminations of Larry Jacobs qualify as news. And by the way, is Miles Lord, let alone his biographically undistinguished daughter, really all that well-known?
I freely concede that as long as the focus is on issues that don’t matter, Norm has the advantage. But I like to think sooner, or at the very least, later, Minnesotans will start thinking about what has happened in the last six and the integral part Norm Coleman played in making those things happen. When that happens, I think the advantage will very definitely, and very quickly shift to Al Franken.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:54 AM
Come ’round state fair time, when people finally start to pay attention, and they see Norm either losing debates to Al, or ducking the offers, then we will see how the people of Minnesota respond. After all, we are talking about a politician whose crowning achievement as U.S. Senator was playing a role in a public subsidy for a professional sports team ten years before he entered the Senate, and while a serving as a democrat.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:28 AM
What we will see if we get a debate is Angry Al’s inability to control his legendary temper.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Oooh, state fair time is my favorite time of the year.
There is nothing,/i> quite so satisfying as getting nose to nose with lefty morons and watching them squirm and sputter.
I just hope that ol’ Porn-O-Rama Franken is still around come fair time; with the way things are tanking for him, he may well already have packed up his treadmill and his butt boys and retreated back to NYC.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Franken will be a no show at the fair.
He doesn’t have the guts to face the Minnesotans who will ask real questions. and if he is at the fair he will be surrounded by handlers who will keep him away from any hard thinking.
HE IS TOAST!!
July 21st, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Hiram,
If Al doesn’t think real issues are being discussed then why doesn’t he just bring them up?
Let him tell everyone his tax plans, energy plans and plans for the economy. I want everyone to know what they are! Hell, I wish he would run his Lobbyists are responsible for $4 gas spot a lot more. That add makes anyone with an IQ even approaching triple digits laugh.
This weekend my parents, who are hard core, died-in-the-wool bleeding-blue democrats, told me they will not vote for Franken. My Mom says she is voting for Norm; my Dad is waiting to see who else shows up. In 50 years of voting neither of them has ever voted Republican before…ever. A real snowball-in-hell moment. If Al is losing people like them then he has a lot of work to do.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:51 AM
hottip said:
“if he is at the fair he will be surrounded by handlers”
One would hope. Otherwise he will probably be the subject of a new show: “When Senate Candidates Attack”. Heck, there might be enough footage available for that show already.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Have you seen Porn-O-Rama’s handlers?
He’s surrounded himself with an assortment of bloated, obese buffoons sporting fraudulent military histories, pencil necked weeinies, wankers, reprobates and various wanna-be’s.
Trust me, if Porn-O-Rama shows himself at the fair, I’ll be right there up in his grillz with a few choice questions.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:39 PM
I think it is funny that you all say AL is the one who is hiding from Minnesotans.
Norm won’t speak at a group that isn’t pre-screened, provided with questions (should there even be a Q&A) and then time limited to ensure that he can escape without having to face the reality of the situation in which he has left Minnesota.
You think a lot of people lined up to meet Jesse Ventura back in the day? You haven’t seen anything yet.
I just wonder if all 11 of the republican office holders from around the state are going to have to ship in republicans from other states to have enough people to work their booth this year.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:10 PM
Leroy i will use a Tommy Line!!
Go with that!!
Norm is hiding!! BULL!! You dems have no defense for Al Franken so you have to resort to Lying and shit-bag throwing.
Good luck
July 21st, 2008 at 1:18 PM
And by the way, is Miles Lord, let alone his biographically undistinguished daughter, really all that well-known?
Miles Lord is extremely well known to the older folks out there. And well-liked. (I can’t explain it, it’s just the way it is…
)
July 21st, 2008 at 2:12 PM
Leroy: “face the reality of the situation in which he has left Minnesota.”
Specifically, what situation is that?
Which of Norms actions/votes caused said ‘situation’?
What is Al’s plan for improvement of each situation?
I’m always hungry for knowledge so please educate me.
I await your list of logical, though provoking specifics.