Franken fights on

Comedian Al Franken in Minn. Senate tossup race

By PATRICK CONDON – 1 day ago

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — From the Department of You Can't Make This Stuff Up: Comedian and "Porn-O-Rama!" author Al Franken may end up in the U.S. Senate, swept in mostly by an anti-Republican wave that threatens Sen. Norm Coleman.

Franken, the "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer whose own party saw no humor in the X-rated essay and initially shunned him, and Coleman are in a Senate race — the most expensive in the country — that is now considered a tossup.

The Democratic establishment is now firmly behind Franken, in no small part because he could help the party reach or at least approach a 60-vote Senate majority required to block Republican filibusters.

10 days to go...

... Minnesota's sticking to it's roots. The state will go blue once again, and might be getting bluer. Norm Coleman is slipping in the polls and might lose his seat to Al Franken.

The convention was a good boost for McCain, but this is Obama territory.

Coleman bearing the brunt of McCain's mistakes

Republicans need to start remembering there is more to lose than the White House in November. Norm Coleman is suffering in his Senate race against Al Franken despite his incumbency and lead up until last month. Here's an ad being played in the state that hits home the elitist image Palin's wardrobe has perhaps created in the minds of undecided on-the-fence voters.

St. Kate's backs out of the political ring

St. Catherines college, a Catholic women's college in St. Paul, MN, has turned down speaking engagements with Senator Hillary Clinton, conservative political commentator Bay Buchanan and Minnesota's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken. In an interview with the Star Tribune that the decision was about fairness.

"In a perfect world, at the outset, we could say we could have three Republicans, three Democrats and three Independents," Hegranes said. "We could say we are perfectly balanced. We would like to do that. But in this semester we didn't have that advance opportunity to do that."

She also said that the guests will are welcome to speak on the campus any time after November 4th, but students are worried that their chance of meeting and listening to such substantial political figures would have then passed.

One student at St. Catherine says she's frustrated with the decision. "I understand they want to be fair, but what's fair about depriving all of us of such a great opportunity," said the student in an e-mail interview. She asked her identity remain confidential.

House race goes up in "Anti-American" flames

The House race in Minnesota went from certain to uncertain in a 7 minutes interview with Rep. Michelle Bachman (R, MN) on MSNBC. Her comments on Obama's "anti-American" views have been cited by Colin Powell as an example of the "divisive" tactics that Republicans are engaging in this election cycle, and a reason that he has endorsed Obama. Check out the interview below.

Dems see opportunities in the Senate

Democrats are not only hoping to take the white house, but also the senate in two weeks. Hillary Clinton was in Minnesota yesterday to cheer on Al Franken's race against incumbent senator Norm Coleman which has become increasingly tight in the last week with independent candidate Barkley's introduction into the race.


Clinton praised Franken's fight against the "right-wing conspiracy"at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. She encouraged Minnesotans to elect Franken and make him the "60th [Democratic] vote," and an essential piece of a Democratic run, filibuster-proof, Senate.

McCain corrects supporter

McCain wasn't stretching the truth tonight when he said he had corrected supporters that derogatorily referred to Obama as an Arab. If this wasn't an actual, voting citizen asking the question in this video it might almost be comical. McCain's response was poised, respectable and commendable.

Obama's grassroots efforts

Obama supporters "get down" at St. Paul rally

Bailout hurting more of "main street"

The bailout is hurting Republicans on every level, and in Minnesota it could mean loosing a Senate seat that has been relied on for years. After voting for the bailout plan, Senate incumbent Norm Coleman dropped dramatically in the polls and forfeited his lead to challenger Al Franken.

Michelle visits Minnesota

Michelle Obama made a pair of stops in Minnesota this week, one of which was held at the liberal bastion of Macalaster College in St. Paul. She kept her speeches positive. She hardly even referenced her husbands' opponents, and briefly discussed his stances on key issues. She repeatedly put the campaign in personal terms, saying "For me, this is not just politics. It's personal. It's personal for me, it's personal for all of us now."

ACORN in MN

Could ACORN be responsible for voter fraud in Minnesota? Hennepin County officials are reviewing the registrations brought in by the recently controversial group, though they say that it does appear all rules and regulations have been followed.

ACORN boasts 75 percent of the state's new registered voters since January 2008, according the Star Tribune.

Dem voters registering 2:1 in MN

Voter registration has been boosted all over Minnesota in the past couple of months, but the wealth isn't being spread around. In fact, voter registration is up 2:1 in Democratic strongholds which the Star Tribune says could dramatically change the political landscape for this election.

Negative doesnt't work with 'Minnesota nice'

Norm Coleman is declaring a peace-time with opponent Al Franken for the next two weeks, which has MSNBC's FirstRead.com wondering if Coleman's hand has been forced because of the extensive negative ads being run in the state at the presidential level. Coleman's involvement in Minnesota politics has been almost unquestioned for decades, and now is running an increasingly tight race against Franken. Could the presidential race be hurting Coleman's campaign? Watch his numbers in the next couple of weeks to see if his new strategy helps.

Negative doesn

A true Maverick?

Sarah Palin has been getting blasted by the media for her inexperience and stand-offish relationship with the press as the McCain camp boosts her as a "maverick." However, Minnesotans might remember not too long ago when one of their own seemed like he would be McCain's main man, and if McCain was really looking for a maverick, Norm Coleman might have been the way to go.

Coleman is almost an institution in Minnesotan politics. As a former Democrat he really is supported by a unique (some might say, um, mavericky) record; he's only voted with his party about 75 percent of the time, an unheard of percentage for most Republican representatives. In addition McCain would have gained two main things: an running mate with national experience and Minnesota, which could have resulted in a softening of other midewestern states that are falling one-by-one to Obama today.

Hindsight is 20/20, but this Minnesotan can tell ya, I saw this one coming.

Michelle in Minnesota

Michelle Obama will be in Minnesota on Monday to speak with supporters on her husband's behalf. Details on the event have not yet been released, but will be tracked on this blog as they are released.

Could one of the hottest state house races in the country affect partisanship for presidential election?

Minnesota's Third District a battle rages on over a vacant seat that was occupied for 9 terms by a Republican. The Third isn't used to any kind of controversial campaigning, and is known for its moderate politics and laid back races. However, now, a Republican, a Democrat and an independent are duking it over issues like creationism education policies, negative campaigning and even race.

Typically, its likely that voters wouldn't even be able to name their House rep, not to mention their opponents, or be able to articulate the issues between them. Now the race is neck and neck, and the local politics are hot. Whether or not the campaigns will have an influence on turnout overall remains to be seen, but interesting will be the local race's influence on how voters view party politics as a whole.

In an interview with the Star Tribune the independent candidate in the race said of the conservtaive candidate "the plain fact of the matter is that Erik has come out of the right wing of the Republican Party and it's part of why I'm not a Republican anymore."

These local races do have an impact on how national candidates are seen, and if the Republican candidate runs a very negative campaign, the way he comes across could be transfered to the Senate and presidential candidates. In a state like Minnesota this effect might not be minute. Keep a look-out for the Third.

Education

It's common for Minnesotans to see education referendums on their ballots, but this election looks like it will be the exception. The volatile political scene and state of the economy seems to be scaring Minnesotans away from asking for money or including referendums on ballots this November, except in cases where districts are "desperate" for money.

Rural farming communities are struggling to keep schools open, but strong opinions on both sides of the issue make the passing of levies uncertain. The addition of these issue to the ballot could very possibly mean higher turnout among rural voters who typically support the Minnesota DFL party, which supports endorses Obama.

New Polls

While Pollster has had Minnesota as a yellow, "undecided" state since the RNC in early September, the poll site now has Obama with a 5 point lead over McCain and officially looking baby blue. Things aren't looking good for other Republicans in the state, either, as senate incumbent Coleman's substantial lead over Franken continues to dwindle.

The Senate race

Norm Coleman and Al Franken are duking it out in Minnesota, and seem to think and appeal to "the average Joe" is the way to go. Here are two ads running in the state.

Back in Minnesota

Despite rumors of unofficially pulling the campaign out of Minnesota, McCain has announced another visit to the state coming up soon. He will hold a rally closer to St. Paul this time, in the city of Lakeville. Details will be announced soon, says the campaign.

According to the local Star Tribune McCain is keeping Minnesota competitive, so the visit should be interesting.

The student vote

Minnesota already has one of the highest voting rates in the nation, but literally thousands more Minnesotans are registering to vote everyday. A major group leading the voting registration numbers? Students.

Through political and voting awareness events on campuses throughout the state Minnesota students are getting registered and getting ready for November. The additional influx of voters is something organizers are concerned about. Election organizers are concerned that an increased number of voters could mean increased line lengths, something that might seriously turnoff younger voters. Plans to alleviate the potential congestion are already in progress.

Spending time in heartland

While he's been spending more time in Southeastern states in the last month Obama has promised that he will spend more time getting personal with Minnesotans in October.

"It is probably true that in September we've been spending more time in those states," said Obama. "In October, we'll make sure to get to Minnesota. We'll make sure that we're campaigning actively because I think the people of Minnesota want change as desperately as everywhere else."

CNN polls

CNN's new poll shows Obama up two points from where he was just after the RNC. However, the CNN poll was one of the most extreme in terms of gaps compared to other reputable polls. Pollster's average still has McCain within 3.5 points of Obama in Minnesota, though the senior senator's upward trend has slowed in recent weeks.