MN Senate POLL: Franken 41 (+10), Coleman 37 (-3)

[jefferson_dem]

Poll: Economy costs Coleman lead in Senate race
by Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio
October 8, 2008

Two new MPR/Humphrey Institute polls show Democrat Al Franken went from 9 points behind to 4 points ahead of Coleman following congressional approval of the Wall Street bailout plan. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley's support held steady at 14 percent, before and after the plan was approved.

St. Paul, Minn. — Pollsters will tell you timing is everything in their business. They say, while their surveys can indicate trends, individual polls are nothing more than snapshots of voter sentiment at the time the questions are asked.

Minnesota Public Radio News and the Humphrey Institute timed their latest polling with the presidential race in mind, in hopes of gauging the impact of the vice presidential debate on Minnesota voters.



Researchers contacted 346 likely voters three days before that debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden. They conducted a second survey of 418 likely voters three days after last Thursday's debate.

The margin of error for both polls was about 5 percent.

Poll director Lawrence Jacobs said the two polls also happened to come before and after congressional approval of the Wall Street bailout.

Jacobs said it's in that context the U.S. Senate race numbers are striking. DFLer Al Franken said he would have voted against the bailout. Republican Sen. Norm Coleman supported it. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley says he would have voted for it too.

A nearly double digit pre-bailout lead for Coleman in the first poll transformed into 4 point lead for Franken in the second poll.

"Norm Coleman's 9-point lead over Al Franken essentially disappears in the wake of the financial bailout that Congress passed," Jacobs said. "He is really suffering the consequences."

While the poll shows Franken has overtaken Coleman, Franken's lead is within the margin of error -- leaving Coleman and Franken in a statistical dead heat.

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http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/07/senatepoll/

[stray cat]

1. Plus 10? Impressive!

[YDogg]

2. coleman is a weasel-faced ass

or is it an ass-faced weasel?

[progressiveforever]

12. It makes me sick that he was Wellstone's replacement

But there will never be a replacement for Paul Wellstone

[crossroads]

13. Wellstone was a hero!

[Eric J in MN]

3. We can help Al Franken at his website.

http://www.alfranken.com

[saltpoint]

4. It will be an improved Senate with Al Franken taking that seat back,

but NOT having Norm Coleman in the upper chamber is an added bonus.

[MichDem10]

5. Oct 5th was the first debate - poll was from Oct 3-5 - could numbers be better now?

:beer:

[Seen the light]

6. Besides having to hear them say President Obama, nothing will be funnier than hearing the Fox goons

like Hannity and O'Reilly have to say "Senator Al Franken".

:rofl:

[dflprincess]

7. O'Reilly will probably start a movement to get Minnesota thrown out of the union

:rofl:

[StreetKnowledge]

9. And we should......

And we should probably retaliate by starting a movement to get O'Reilly's citizenship revoked for being a waste of flesh and air.

[riverwalker]

8. latest on Coleman "suitgate"

(It's a big deal on local radio)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa1KL6Xtm_0&feature=user

http://campaigndiaries.com/2008/10/08/senate-dscc-expands-to-kentucky-colemans-suits-create-stir/

"Coleman’s suits: Harper’s Magazine’s Ken Silverstein story on Norm Coleman’s suits has the potential of putting the Minnesota Senator on the defensive in the final weeks of the election and derail his attempt to put the spotlight solely on Al Franken and his temper. Coleman had already been hit by stories that he was under-paying (if paying at all) his D.C. apartment owned by a GOP operative, which raised obvious ethical questions. The controversy was used by Al Franken in a summer ad. Now, Silverstein reports that businessman and GOP Donor Nasser Kazeminy might have paid for some of Coleman’s expensive clothing - potentially raising more red flags."

[Mnpaul]

14. His campaign doesn't want to answer the questions

either
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VySnpLoaUrI

[TheDonkey]

10. very impressive!

[optimisticin08]

11. who is dean barkley?

[Awsi Dooger]

16. He was briefly a senator after Wellstone died in the plane crash

Ventura appointed him to fill the final months of Wellstone's term, before Coleman took office.

[Awsi Dooger]

15. CSPAN2 is currently replaying the debate from October 5

I just noticed it. It appears to be fairly early in the debate.

[Thegonagle]

17. Crap. CoNcast recently moved CSPAN2 up to digital-only where I live.

Bastards. No CSPAN2 for me anymore.

[Bonn1997]

18. I'm surprised it's this close

Minn is a blue state and these are terrible times for a Republican to be running for re-election.

[fujiyama]

19. Taking down Macaca was the big prize last time

If Coleman goes down it will be just as great.

I'm hopeful, but less optimistic about GA. Chambliss HAS TO GO DOWN!