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Pelican Rapids, Minn. Political polls are an interesting item of which we voters should take lightly. I, as a campaign volunteer, recall Election Day of 2004. At approximately 5 p.m., reports from exiting polls on the East Coast told of Sen. John Kerry almost assured of victory and thus becoming our next president. When the voting was closed a few hours later and the votes were all cast and counted, we then heard the news that President George W. Bush was re-elected to a second term of office. How could the polling be so inaccurate then? And how can the...

Over the years, the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Minnesota Poll has been a reliable indicator of...virtually nothing. Every two years it confidently predicts sweeping victories for the Democrats. Every now and then, as in 2006, that turns out to be right. Over the years, Scott has repeatedly dissected the Minnesota Poll's methods and findings and has had notable exchanges with the individual who runs (or ran--I'm not sure whether he has survived the paper's layoffs) the poll. In 2006 we couldn't tell whether the poll's methods improved or whether its biennial prediction was coincidentally right. Today, though, we may get a...

After months of showing the U.S. Senate race as a statistical dead heat, the latest SurveyUSA poll finds Norm Coleman with a solid 10-point lead. The incumbent draws support from 43 percent of respondents, with Democrat Al Franken trailing at 33 percent. Perhaps most notable, however, is the strong showing of Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. Despite his late entry into the race and raising almost no money, Barkley garners support from 19 percent of those polled. Assessments of the IP candidate’s strength have varied widely in recent weeks. A pair of polls last month showed him in double digits,...

Norm Coleman continues to lead Al Franken,

The Senate race in Minnesota has gotten close, and that has apparently led to frustration on the part of Al Franken's supporters. I can think of no other reason that they would resort to such a despicable advertisement as the one they're starting to run:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl5hwE8ffgg

Norm Coleman's campaign has produced a new ad, "Angry Al." It highlights Al Franken's frequently hotheaded, profane and inappropriate conduct:

With easy primary victories behind them, Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, wasted no time Wednesday working to firm up the messages that will carry them through the general election. Franken criticized Coleman as beholden to special interests, while the senator's spokesman, Mark Drake, contrasted Coleman's service with Franken's "lack of any record to run on." ... Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" star who put a talk radio career on hold to try his hand at politics, sealed the Democratic nomination in a seven-way primary. Coleman, the incumbent, trounced his only Republican opponent. At a rally...

Comedian Al Franken grabbed the Democratic nomination Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, setting up a showdown with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman that had been years in the making. Franken, who gained fame as a "Saturday Night Live" cast member, easily beat six other candidates chasing the Democratic nod.

In the ad, "Excuses," eight-year-old Allison tells the camera that, like Al Franken, she doesn't pay taxes, but unlike Al Franken, she knows that Al's excuse for not paying taxes doesn't work -- not even in third grade.

Summer is entering its final weeks, but the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota is hotter than ever. A poll released today by Minnesota Public Radio and the Humphrey Institute has Democrat Al Franken and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in a statistical dead heat. Respondents gave 41 percent support to Franken and 40 percent for Coleman. Another 8 percent said they are backing Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. Eleven percent said they are undecided.

Minnesota Democrats are offering a big cash prize to anyone who snaps a picture of Norm Coleman and President Bush together at the upcoming Republican National Convention...... ...SNIP... Republicans aren't content to let Democrats corner the market on gimmicky contests. In response, they're dangling a $25 gift card for gas to anyone who can get Al Franken's accountant to explain errors in Franken's tax filings prior to 2003.....

What if a politician held a campaign event and nobody came? That’s what almost happened to comedian-turned-Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken last week. In what sounds like a sketch he might have written for Saturday Night Live, only one voter showed up for Franken’s roundtable on veterans issues in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It marked a particular low point in Franken’s quixotic, controversial 18-month campaign to unseat unpopular Republican Senator Norm Coleman. The race should have been the Democrats’ to lose, but a recent poll gives Colman a 15-point lead. Some party members are now questioning the wisdom of choosing Al...

In fact, it took Franken, the DFL-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate, roughly 15 seconds before he was taking his first verbal roundhouse at Coleman, the Republican incumbent. In response to a question from an ag journalist about energy independence, Franken said, "Norm Coleman is in the pocket of Big Oil. He's received more contributions from Big Oil than any politician in the history of Minnesota.'' There was a hush in the massive tent at the annual Farmfest, which is being held near Morgan, about 100 miles west of the Twin Cities. One minute, people had been strolling through the...

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) announced Monday night that he would not launch a third-party bid for Senate. The former professional wrestler, who served one term as governor beginning a decade ago, said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that he “isn’t going to run, at this moment,” and that it would take an act of God to get him to file by Tuesday’s filing deadline. He said God has never spoken to him before. “If between now and five o’clock, maybe God comes and speaks to me like he did the president, and tells me I should run like...

Warning: The following contains extreme vulgarity by a candidate for the United States Senate. In the nationally important Senate race in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is presented with a unique political problem. Should he raise in his ads the issue of comedian Al Franken's offensive vulgarity? Or would this risk a backlash against Coleman for coarsening the public conversation? Remember that when Ken Starr detailed Bill Clinton's most repulsive antics -- stained dresses and such -- it was Starr who was accused of sexual obsessiveness. Franken's defenders explain that his edginess is the result of being a "satirist" --...

<p>Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found.</p>

Noting that there were only 148 days left until the election, newly endorsed DFL Senate candidate Al Franken led a kickoff rally Monday on the steps of the State Capitol with a bluntly worded assessment of his rival, Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. Coleman, he said, "hasn't brought people together to get things done. He's sold people out to get ahead." Minnesotans, he said, "need a senator who has their back. Norm Coleman isn't even on their side." In what is expected to be a common refrain, Franken, who received his party's endorsement over the weekend, linked Coleman to President...

Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken opened the next phase of his campaign to unseat Republican Norm Coleman by hammering the senator on his past allegiance to President Bush. Franken appeared at a state Capitol rally Monday with several top Democrats and congressional candidates, exchanging handshakes and pleasantries with some who hadn't been behind him until after he won his party's endorsement last weekend. Franken is staging a week-long tour of Minnesota. The humorist who made it big on "Saturday Night Live" said he expects Republicans to use his past off-color material against him. But Franken said he'll be reminding voters...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Vice President Al Gore thinks Al Franken would be “a fantastic senator,” according to a letter sent to Democratic delegates. Gore’s endorsement of Franken's bid for the U.S. Senate comes days before Franken squares off against opponent Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for the DFL endorsement at the state party convention in Rochester, Minn. One reason Gore endorses Franken is their shared goals of an effort to slow global warming.

Minnesota Republicans unleashed one of their harshest piece of opposition research yet on Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken, pointing out a 2000 column, including graphic sexual descriptions, written by Franken for Playboy magazine. The Minnesota Republican Party on Thursday circulated a letter from GOP women calling on Franken to apologize for the piece. The public airing of the column coincided with Republican objections to Playboy CEO Christie Hefner throwing a fundraiser for Franken. In the column, titled “Porn-O-Rama!” and clearly intended to be humorous, Franken describes visiting a fictional sex institute where he participates in sex acts with machines and...

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman holds a seven-point lead over his DFL challenger Al Franken, who appears to have been weakened by his recent tax problems. A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll also shows that Mike Ciresi, the DFL trial lawyer who dropped out of the race in March for lack of support from his party's delegates, runs just about as strong against Coleman as Franken does. Coleman enjoys a commanding 15-point lead over lesser-known Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who is facing Franken in next month's DFL endorsing convention. The telephone survey conducted last week shows Coleman attracting the support of 51 percent...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman — who quit the Democratic Party 12 years ago to become a Republican — has accused likely Democratic opponent Al Franken of changing positions, demeanor and rhetoric in his attempt to win a Senate seat. Coleman makes the charge in a fundraising e-mail sent out this week with the subject line, "It's Hard to Deny this Kind of Evolution." "After decades of carrying the flag for radical left-wing causes, his extremely liberal viewpoints are couched in softer, more acceptable terms," Coleman writes of the former "Saturday Night Live" star. "And for the most...

Senate candidate Al Franken wants to talk about jobs, health care and global warming. Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb wants to talk about Franken's failure to pay all his income taxes on time. Guess what everyone is talking about? From the kitchen table in his tranquil suburban neighborhood, Brodkorb for the last year has used his blog "Minnesota Democrats Exposed" to launch a furious political assault on Franken. He's labeled the former comedian and liberal commentator a "mean-spirited and un-Minnesotan" candidate who's running a "desperate and ridiculous" campaign. That's routine stuff in the world of political blogging, but in the last...

First came the revealation of his failure to pay workers' compensation insurance in New York. Then came the revelation of his failure to file corporate tax returns in California. This week it was revealed that Franken owes $70,000 in back taxes in 17 states.

Senate candidate Al Franken wants to talk about jobs, health care and global warming. Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb wants to talk about Franken's failure to pay all his income taxes on time. Guess what everyone is talking about? From the kitchen table in his tranquil suburban neighborhood, Brodkorb for the last year has used his blog "Minnesota Democrats Exposed" to launch a furious political assault on Franken. He's labeled the former comedian and liberal commentator a "mean-spirited and un-Minnesotan" candidate who's running a "desperate and ridiculous" campaign. That's routine stuff in the world of political blogging, but in the last...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has opened a seven-percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken in his bid for re-election. Coleman, widely considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents of Election 2008, attracts 50% of the vote for the first time this year while Franken earns support from 43%.

Minnesota's Senate race already has a comedian and a politician. Maybe what it needs is: Jesse Ventura. In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, the former Reform Party governor said there's nothing that could get him back into politics. But then he kept talking: "I've learned after 56 years you never say never. I have no intention at this point in time, but who knows, that could change." He said he's watching the Senate race with interest, and "I'm not very pleased with either candidate." That would be Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, who suffered his only electoral defeat...

After recent trouble w/ a relativly new standby generator, while awaiting parts, the dealer informed me that Coleman Powermate is shut down, not taking calls, & probably bankrupt. According to this company, their people at another branch stopped at the Powermate headquarters, & found everything locked up. Coleman Powermate is located in Aurora, IL, & manufactures generators, pressure washers, & compressors. The links on their website http://www.powermate.com/ are dead, too.

Franken faulters after Ciresi drops out View the full results A new poll shows Norm Coleman expanding his lead over leading DFL challenger, Al Franken, in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ exclusive Survey USA Poll of 644 registered voters was conducted after Mike Ciresi dropped out of the race last week. It’s too early to say what impact Ciresi’s decision to drop out will have on the U.S. Senate race in the long term. But now, the results of the Survey USA Poll seem to show fellow DFL member, Franken, has work to do if he wants to...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found Al Franken slightly ahead of incumbent Senator Norm Coleman in what is likely to be a closely contested campaign. Franken, a former comedian and political commentator, leads Coleman 49% to 46%. If the Democrats nominate trial attorney Mike Ciresi, the poll shows Coleman attracting 47% of the vote while Ciresi earns 45%. These results show a significant improvement for Franken since an early November poll found him trailing by seven-points. That same survey found Coleman with a three point lead over Ciresi.

In the 1980s, Al Franken was cracking jokes on "Saturday Night Live." Mike Ciresi, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination for the Senate this year, was serving as general counsel to the government of India in a landmark lawsuit over a catastrophic industrial accident. A decade later, while Franken was writing books like "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot," Ciresi was leading the state of Minnesota's lawsuit against Big Tobacco, winning a $6 billion settlement. Despite his impressive resume, Ciresi finds himself trailing Franken in the Democratic contest. The comedian-turned-candidate has raised millions more, lined up the most...

WARNING: Due to the offensive nature of these remarks, citations supporting Al Franken’s comments in the video are available by request only.

Even as Al Franken stretches out his big doughy hand to another potential voter inside Nina’s Coffee Cafe on a recent morning, it is easy to forget that Mr. Franken, the former “Saturday Night Live” star, the satirist and author, the liberal radio host, is trying to be elected to the United States Senate. “They should be allowing more dogs in places,” Mr. Franken deadpans to the voter, “dogs in grocery stores, dogs in hardware stores.” Would-be senators do not usually meander into such lines of conversation. Nor do they make up silly songs incorporating the names on their list...

Democrat Al Franken has netted a big endorsement in his bid to challenge Republican Sen. Norm Coleman next year. The political arm of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 voted Saturday to back Franken, a comedian turned candidate. The politically potent union also screened Franken's main rival for the Democratic nomination, Minneapolis attorney Mike Ciresi. The union represents 43,000 public and nonprofit employees in the state. Its leaders said in a news release that Franken's membership in four entertainment unions and his proven ability to raise money for the campaign put him in a stronger...

Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday he's backing Rudy Giuliani for president, throwing his support behind a fellow moderate Republican and former mayor. "The shared vision as mayor of getting things done, tied in with his strong stance on security, Rudy gets that," Coleman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. "So you tie those two together and it's a pretty powerful combination." Coleman also called Giuliani "ultimately electable," a pitch that Giuliani has made throughout the campaign. The two men got to know each other when Coleman was mayor of St. Paul, Minn., and Giuliani was mayor...

WASHINGTON - Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday he's backing Rudy Giuliani for president, throwing his support behind a fellow moderate Republican and former mayor. "The shared vision as mayor of getting things done, tied in with his strong stance on security, Rudy gets that,'' Coleman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. "So you tie those two together and it's a pretty powerful combination.''

Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken raised $1.89 million over the past three months, edging out Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, who reported $1.7 million in campaign fundraising over the same period, including an August fundraiser for Coleman featuring President Bush. Democratic hopefuls Mike Ciresi and Jim Cohen have yet to announce their latest campaign fundraising figures. The new numbers, posted on the Internet Thursday, still show Coleman with the overall money lead, posting nearly $5 million in cash on hand, compared to $2.45 million for Franken. But Franken, a comedian chasing money as well as political credibility, appears to be...

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll reveals big obstacles for U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman in his reelection race, but his opponents look to be on shaky ground, too. The poll shows that only 45 percent of Minnesota adults approve of the job that Coleman is doing, although 52 percent have a favorable impression of him overall. But Minnesotans are not that impressed with Coleman's challengers, either. Comedian Al Franken, who has been working double time to establish his bona fides among the DFL faithful, is viewed favorably by only 27 percent of Minnesotans. Fewer than half of DFLers view the...

I'm a satirist by trade. And as a satirist, my job was to point out the absurd, the hypocritical, the ridiculous in life. It's been a banner week for ridiculous. Case in point: On Tuesday, Sen. Norm Coleman took out an ad in this paper criticizing me for criticizing a Senate resolution that criticized MoveOn.org for taking out an ad in the New York Times criticizing Gen. David Petraeus. It is, of course, ridiculous that the United States Senate spent a day debating and voting on a resolution condemning an advertisement while our troops remained in Iraq, fighting a war...

US SENATE - MINNESOTA Norm Coleman (R) 49% Al Franken (D) 42% Norm Coleman (R) 48% Mike Ciresi (D) 42% Norm Coleman (R) 49% Jim Cohen (D) 37%

Hundreds of immigration policy protesters came to Sen. Norm Coleman's house, hoping he will relate to their pain. A few hundred protesters crowded together briefly Sunday afternoon on the sidewalk and in the street in front of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's St. Paul home, shouting for an end to immigration policies and enforcement practices that the demonstrators say unfairly divide families. The rally -- during which participants first gathered at Summit Avenue and North Lexington Parkway and then marched about a mile to Coleman's house on Osceola Avenue -- came a day before today's burial of Coleman's father, Norman Coleman...

A remarkable thing happened in the United States Senate earlier this evening, and it occurred over a rather unremarkable piece of legislation that was being debated. Conservatives, frustrated at the lack of a genuine leader of their party, may have finally found one in Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. After Democratic leader Harry Reid’s MoveOn.org all-night session Tuesday night, a move that resulted only in helping unify the weak-kneed Republicans who were peeling away from continued support of the Petraeus surge in Iraq, McConnell, the Republican leader, served notice to anyone watching C-SPAN that he now runs the Senate. The Senate...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Lieberman, McCain, Kyl, Graham, and Coleman today introduced a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, confronting the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran over its proxy attacks on American soldiers in Iraq. The amendment details the publicly available evidence put forward over the past year by General David Petraeus, commanding general of Multi-National Force Iraq, and others about Iran’s violent and destabilizing activities in Iraq. The amendment states that “the murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable act of hostility against the...

Coleman Parent Company Chairman Runs For Wounded Veterans Witchita, Kansas - With two weeks remaining before Death Valley hosts the Badwater Ultramarathon on July 23, Martin E. Franklin's fundraising effort to support returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is hitting its stride. Franklin, 42, Board Chairman of Jarden Corporation, parent of The Coleman Company, Inc., the 2007 Badwater official cooler sponsor, has received pledges of more than $300,000. For the pledges to be paid, he must finish all 135 miles of what is called the toughest footrace on the planet. Franklin approached all CEOs listed in the Fortune 1000 to...

DFL candidate Al Franken announced today he had raised $1.9 million in the latest reporting period, more than Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Mike Ciresi. Franken's take in the period, covering April to June, exceeded Coleman's $1.6 million and Ciresi's $750,000. Ciresi didn't begin raising money until May. Despite the big period, Franken trailed Coleman in cash on hand, reporting just under $2 million compared to Coleman's $3.8 million. Ciresi ended the period with $625,000 in the bank. Franken's campaign provided his latest numbers to the Associated Press today. The other candidates released their figures last week.

An open letter by a marijuana activist sparked a flurry of attention Wednesday about which candidates for Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat experimented with illegal substances in the past. Norm Kent, a former classmate of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman at Hofstra University, posted a letter on a marijuana Web site about Coleman's marijuana use in the 1960s. Kent, whom Coleman defeated in a student government race at the university, recalled an instance when the New York-born Coleman stood atop a building during a protest and smoked marijuana. But Coleman is not the only politician with illicit substances in his past. Al...

Anyone listening to Laura. Hysterical. She's on hold with "ormer"Senator Norm Coleman's office. Great show today !!

A new Minnesota Public Radio poll shows Republican Sen. Norm Coleman would handily defeat DFLers Mike Ciresi or Al Franken if the election were held today. That may sound like good news for Coleman, but the election is a year and a half away and the poll also shows some troubling signs for the incumbent. Coleman's approval rating among Minnesota voters has slipped below 50 percent and some analysts say that's politically risky for him.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last fall, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., came to Connecticut to help Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont in his bid to unseat veteran Sen. Joe Lieberman. Lamont is now returning the favor. He and the Massachusetts Democrat are teaming up to target Republican senators they say are blocking efforts to end the Iraq war. Lamont, a political novice whose anti-war views fueled his summer primary win over Lieberman, sent out a fundraising pitch on Friday to about 3 million people on Kerry’s national e-mail list. "Last year, Connecticut Democrats heard my call for an end to the war...

Mike Ciresi formally announced his campaign Wednesday saying the toughness he showed as a trial lawyer in major cases will make him a strong U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Ciresi joins former comedian Al Franken in seeking the DFL endorsement to face incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008. During a news conference, Ciresi talked about growing up in a working class St. Paul family and going on to secure a $6 billion settlement from tobacco companies for the state of Minnesota. He said those values will help him fight for the middle class, which he said is getting squeezed. Republican...