Sen. Norm Coleman has proposed a series of four debates this fall in the U.S. Senate race, including himself and the DFL and Independence Party candidates.
In a statement released Friday by his campaign, Coleman said that some of the debates should be held outside the metro area and that all of them should end before Nov. 1, which is the Saturday before Election Day, Nov. 4.
"I'm a firm believer in the quality of the debates, and I believe the format and structure needs to emphasize an adequate opportunity to discuss and share views on the issues, and be able to challenge one another before Minnesotans," Coleman said.
The winners of Tuesday's primary would participate in the debates.
Front-runners are Al Franken on the DFL side and, in the Independence Party, Dean Barkley, Jack Uldrich and party-endorsed candidate Stephen Williams. Coleman, Franken, Barkley and Williams participated in a candidate forum last month at FarmFest.
In each of the past two Senate races, at least six debates were held with the final debate within two days of the election.
Spokeswoman Colleen Murray, who said the Franken campaign initiated conversation about the debates this week, said four "sounds about right."
Murray said that Franken already has accepted a Minnesota Public Radio invitation to debate Nov. 2 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul and hopes that Coleman will participate in that debate as well.
KEVIN DUCHSCHERE