MN-US Senate; Up For Grabs

If there is one race where polling has been all over the place, it is the contest between Sen Norm Coleman and Democratic Candidate Al-lan Franken.

For all the troubles Franken has had to explain, and the tumult in Norm's own personal and political world, the latest entry is the MPR/UMN-HHHInstitute numbers:

Forty-one percent of those answering the poll said they support Franken, the DFL endorsee, while 40 percent support Coleman.

The telephone survey of 763 likely voters was conducted Aug. 7-17. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

It's no lead at all, really, when you consider the margin of error. But one must also look at the blatant deception being thrown at the electorate regarding Franken. The false Check Cards ads, the over paying of taxes, his professional writings, all which are explainable when the truth is injected into the debate.

On the other side, Coleman has legitimate, demonstrable ethics lapses. These are not isolated instances, but patterns of behavior that is really starting to cause concern amongst the voters. Concern that is so great, that those voters not only are considering Franken but have moved into his camp.

Polls are nothing more than a picture of a moment in time. But at this point, an incumbent that can barely muster 40% of the vote after being in office almost 6 years is in far greater trouble than a political neophyte who has the issues on his side.

I'll let the ScafeNet spin doctors try to defend Norm's weak and waning support, for if they tried to debate actual issue, Norm would just drop a few more points. And come on, I want a little excitement this election season, not a bunch of runaways that turn into yawners.

Flash