MPR poll: Franken, Coleman nose to nose

By Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio

Last update: February 1, 2008 - 8:45 AM

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Minnesota Voters - Be Sure To Know Your Candidates

Al Franken has done his political homework for years and is extremely well versed on the subject of how America got where it is today. If … read more Franken becomes the DFL candidate, I hope Minnesotans do their homework before the election and find out exactly what kind of candidate he is. Some will be thoroughly surprised. Franken gave up being a comedian years ago. This is a man who clearly has some serious goals and isn't afraid to shake things up.

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The Minnesota Public Radio News/Humphrey Institute Poll indicates DFL Senate candidate Al Franken poses more of a re-election threat to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman than any of the other DFL candidates.

The poll indicates that if the election were today Coleman and Franken would be in a statistical dead heat.

The poll took the pulse of 917 Minnesota residents over a one- week period that ended Sunday. It shows Coleman 5 points ahead of DFLer Mike Ciresi, and gives Coleman double-digit leads over Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Jim Cohen who dropped out of the race Friday.

University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Professor Lawrence Jacobs, who directed the poll, said "We were very surprised by how far ahead Al Franken is of Mike Ciresi and the rest of the campaign."

Jacobs said more than one-third of those polled rated the economy and jobs as the two most important campaign issues, followed distantly by Iraq and health care. Among those polled, Franken beat Coleman on all three issues.

"He's doing very well on a number of different fronts," Jacobs said. "When Democrats in Minnesota think about the economy and jobs and they think about Iraq, they're tending to move towards Franken. When they think about the state and the direction the country is moving in they're concerned that it's off on the wrong track. They're thinking that Franken is the guy who can address that and by significant margins."

Nearly three quarters of the respondents believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. And a majority who feel that way support Franken.

On the web at http://minnesota.publicradio.org/