coleman052908
On the homepage
Health care
Out There
Music awards
Gift guides
Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | U.S. Senate
DFL renews attack on Coleman links to lobby firms
Polls suggest the race is narrowing. Meanwhile, the DFL chair questioned Coleman's ties to a telemarketing firm.
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
The most recent Rasmussen Reports poll on the Minnesota U.S. Senate race shows Republican Sen. Norm Coleman with a two-point lead on DFL candidate Al Franken.
In the survey of 500 likely voters, taken last Thursday, 47 percent said they favored Coleman while 45 percent backed Franken, considered the DFL front-runner. Those results were within the margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
A Star Tribune Minnesota Poll taken earlier this month showed Coleman with a 51-44 lead over Franken, similar to a 50-43 edge the incumbent held in a Rasmussen poll last month. Coleman led Franken by two points in a March Rasmussen poll, while Franken was up by three in February.
The Minnesota Poll also gave Coleman a 53-38 advantage over Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, the college professor who is vying with Franken for the DFL Party endorsement, and a 51-43 edge over attorney Mike Ciresi, who dropped out of the DFL race in March. Darryl Stanton and Dick Franson also are DFL candidates.
New DFL volley at Coleman
In another development, DFL Party chair Brian Melendez said Wednesday that Coleman's campaign and political action committee have paid nearly $1.5 million for consulting and other services from a political telemarketing firm that shares ties with the company that lobbied for the Myanmar military junta and contributed to Coleman's campaign.
At a state Capitol news conference, Melendez said Coleman's ties with sister firms FLS Connect and the DCI Group run deep and raise questions about the influence the companies' corporate clients might have on the senator and his votes.
Melendez said Coleman received $50,000 from nine companies and organizations that were getting DCI services. During the period Coleman was receiving contributions, he cast votes in the Senate that benefited several of the clients, Melendez said.
He scolded Coleman for declining to give to charity nearly $10,000 that his campaign and leadership PAC have received from the political- action committee and employees of DCI, which lobbied for Myanmar. The Coleman campaign says the money was a legal donation and that the company's activities also were legal, and a Coleman Senate aide has said the senator never had a discussion with DCI about Myanmar's junta.
Melendez acknowledged that the DFL doesn't have evidence that DCI lobbied Coleman on behalf of the Myanmar regime, which has reportedly blocked humanitarian aid following the devastating cyclone this month that killed 80,000 people.
The Coleman campaign didn't respond directly to the DFL comments. But it defended St. Paul businessman Jeff Larson, one of FLS' founders and a longtime Coleman associate.
Said campaign spokesman Tom Erickson: "Maybe instead of attacking a person [Larson] who has been a job creator in Minnesota, who pays his taxes in Minnesota and who has helped attract a national convention that will generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity in Minnesota ... the DFL should applaud him."
Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455
Recent U.S. Senate stories
Ventura tells Coleman: Quit, you hypocrite - May 28, 2008
Ventura tells Coleman: Quit, you hypocrite - Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura told the nation that Norm Coleman is a hypocrite who has lost the election for U.S. senator and should give up his fight against Al Franken for a second term. More
The Whistleblower blog has moved
The Star Tribune is still blowing the whistle, but our look and location have changed. Click here to get to the new blog. If you want the actual URL, it’s www.startribune.com/blogs/whistleblower.html. Our blog posts will now be easier to search on the web site, but you’ll need to register to post a comment. In the [...]
Recent posts
 Open House ShowcaseThousands of homes open this weekend!View all open houses >> View all homes for sale >> |
Win tickets to see The Hidden Cameras with Gentlemen Reg at 7th Street Entry.Vita.mn presents The Hidden Cameras with Gentlemen Reg at 7th Street Entry on Dec. 2. |
Comment on this story | Read all 23 comments | Hide reader comments