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Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is trying to hold off political newcomer and satirist Democrat Al Franken and independent Dean Barkley, who was appointed to Coleman’s seat for two months after the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone in October 2002.
Coleman and Franken have exchanged jabs for months, and Barkley has criticized both for turning the race ugly.
“This is the nastiest, dirtiest, most disgusting political campaign I have ever witnessed in my life,” he said. “Both have sunk to new lows … They should be ashamed of themselves.”
For the past year or so, Coleman and Franken have aired ads painting each other in not-so-appealing lights. Both commented on the voracity of the race and promised to turn the tide and focus on the issues.
Coleman decided Oct. 10 to pull all of his negative advertisements, shortly after a poll showed nearly twice as many people believed he was airing more negative ads than Franken.
“I won’t have cleaned up the garbage,” he said of ads outside of his control, “but I’ve cleaned up my little piece.”
Franken called the move a “cynical ploy” and said he never took the ads against him personally because they were simply a distraction from the issues concerning Minnesotans.
“I think they backfired on Senator Coleman,” he said. “When you’ve been a senator for six years, you should run on your accomplishments.”
Meanwhile, the race has mirrored other high-profile contests that have focused on the economy in recent weeks, especially since Coleman voted in favor of the controversial $700 billion economic bailout.
He said that decision “could cost (him) the election” but it had to be done to make sure banks could stay open. To help solve the financial crisis, Coleman said he would set spending caps and encourage stability and job creation.
Franken criticized the bailout plan, saying it didn’t address its causes: deregulation of the markets and the housing crisis. He proposed new regulations and a moratorium on home foreclosures as immediate fixes.
Franken said he has also worked with U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., on a labor package that would create 150,000 jobs rebuilding roads, bridges and water treatment facilities to “put people back to work” and shore up the economy.
Barkley pinned the blame for the economic crisis on Coleman for being “asleep at the wheel” when the sub-prime mortgage bubble burst. He proposes regulations to prevent that from happening again and wants stiff penalties for executives who lie on investment forms and cheat investors.
He said the economy won’t be able to recover until Americans can trust Wall Street and Congress again, and that involves ending partisan “gridlock.”
Recent polls have shown both Coleman and Franken leading the race. Barkley has consistently polled third, but he’s not counting himself out, saying he’s in an even better position than Jesse Ventura was when he won the governor’s office in 1998.
NAME: Norm Coleman
AGE: 59
PARTY: Republican
PROFESSION: Senator
PLATFORM: To bring people together to make a difference on the economy, energy and health care.
NAME: Al Franken
AGE: 57
PARTY: Democratic Farmer-Labor
PROFESSION: Comedian and author
PLATFORM: To change Washington, fight special interests and fight for the working families in Minnesota.
NAME: Dean Barkley
AGE: 58
PARTY: Independence
PROFESSION: Entrepreneur and lawyer
PLATFORM: To get people to feel good about government again and turn the country around and get headed in the right direction.
Kevin Behr may be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
Tokajoka wrote on Oct 22, 2008 5:17 PM: