Mason-Dixon is now out with a poll showing Al Franken down 42-36. Is this another GOP-leaning M-D poll, or is Al really tanking? M-D does seem to suggest that Dean Barkley is hurting Franken a lot more than Coleman. I am definitely beginning to worry about this one.
From Political Wire:
Though Sen. Barack Obama holds a decent lead in Minnesota’s presidential race, his party’s U.S. Senate candidate is lagging behind.
A new NBC News/Mason-Dixon survey finds Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) leading challenger Al Franken (D) by six points, 42% to 36%, with 12% favoring Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley.
Analysis: “If Coleman puts daylight between Franken’s numbers and his own on Election Day, he may have Barkley to thank. While he has shored up 89% of voters who identify as Republicans, with only 4% defecting to Barkley’s camp, only about three out of four Democrats say that they support their party nominee, with 17% of Democratic voters favoring the Independence Party candidate over Franken.”
To campaign for Franken and carry him in on his coattails. If we dont have those 60 seats, we will get nothing done.
I’m going to blame Franken, not Obama. There must have been a better candidate we could have run for this seat. It makes me sick to think Coleman could skate.
If there were ever a race where an Obama ad would help, this is it. I am guessing this has not happened yet because Obama’s handlers don’t want him directly tied to a controversial figure, but it would be very helpful at this stage.
I still believe if Obama wins MN by double digits, Franken will come too. If Obama wins by 10+ and Franken loses, it speaks to his liabilities as a candidate. It’s that simple.
This is definitely annoying because Norm Coleman should never have won in 2002..
….like I said, the fact that the Star Tribune refused to endorse Franken was not a good omen. I know most people worship at the shrine of Mason-Dixon polls, but I’ve never been particularly impressed with them. A six-point spread seems suspicious (Franken is almost as far behind as Obama is ahead????), but I don’t believe Franken will win.