MN-Sen: Franken Trails by a Single Point

[ccharles000]

http://swingstateproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3118

Rasmussen (9/18, likely voters, 8/13 in parens):

Al Franken (D): 47 (46)
Norm Coleman (R-inc): 48 (49)
Dean Barkley (I): 3 (-)
(MoE: ±4%)
Coleman leads by a single point, which is not out of line with other recent polls showing Franken getting his groove back. What is out of line is Rasmussen pegging Dean Barkley at 3% of the vote. The last three polls of this race had Barkley gobbling up anywhere between 8-14% of the vote. While I don't think that he's going to take an exceptionally large share of the vote, I have to believe that in an exceptionally nasty race, he's going to attract more than 3% in November.

Still, it's good news for Franken, who has been on the receiving end of a series of attack ads recently that portray him as a mentally unhinged rageaholic. Perhaps the voters of Minnesota aren't entirely turned off by someone who is steamed with the last eight years.

Bonus finding: Obama leads McCain by 52-44 in the state

[dflprincess]

1. Conventional wisdom is that Barkely will do more damage to Franken than to Coleman

so in a race this tight, any votes he gets may hurt.

[Frosty1]

2. Gore is coming to Minnesota to stump for Franken

:applause: :applause: :woohoo: :woohoo: :applause:

[jrockford]

3. They came and put a sign in my yard on Sunday!

...now if only they'd stop running out of Obama signs so I could actually go and buy one!

[EFerrari]

4. Go, Al! I wish I could go out there and work for him!

:applause: