Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Strib poll, granuals of salt, and the Senate race

The latest Strib poll shows a tight race amongst Norm Coleman, Al Franken, and Dean Barkley. Franken is still up 3, but it's tighter than the last poll, in which Franken had an eight-point lead. Now, keeping in mind the historical inaccuracy of the poll, I think this means that things between Coleman and Franken are probably tied.

A part of me knew this would happen because of the distinct advantage the Democrats should have this year, plus Al Franken does have name recognition. But, I have to say that Al hasn't really done or said anything that makes me want to vote for him. Actually, I don't really know what he stands for. From what I can tell, his only reason for running is because Norm Coleman is a Bush-bot and his belief that we have to get out of Iraq now (wow, haven't heard much about Iraq lately).

As for Norm, he has not been perfect as a Senator, but he has been more than adequate. If this was most other years, Coleman would win easily, even in Minnesota. I am also a fan of divided government, so the prospect of a filibuster-proof Senate compels me to vote for Coleman. I like divided government because it serves to check the worst impulses of the party in power. And, there are a lot of things the Dems want to do that I think are ill-advised, including card-check, the incremental nationalization of health care, and the possible reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. Knowing the House and Presidency are going to be in Democratic hands, having at least one drag on the Democratic agenda is needed.

No comments: