Candidate Al Franken, incumbant Senator Norm Coleman, and that other guy had their first (and only?) debate today, and from what I hear, Franken mopped the floor with Coleman (and that other guy).
I don't have any video of the debate, so here's an Al Franken ad instead:
More like this
In any event, more people seem to like Al Franken than who voted for him ... if we compare the 42% of the vote he got with the 49% approval rating he now has.
The word on the street is that Colleman recount watchers have shifted strategy in order to increase an apparent lead over Al Franken.
Really low. Here's an anti-Al Franken brochure that's being mailed around here in Minnesota—that's aimed at kids, with childish illustrations, while accusing Franken of some contemptible acts.
I have a little more information and some exact numbers for you.
First, some of the numbers.
The number of votes per candidate not counting Minneapolis 3-1, which has a packet of missing votes currently being searched for:
Franken: 1,210,285
Coleman: 1,210,995
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. The scoring on debates is heavily influenced by confirmation bias. I listened to the last portion, and was not surprised at the way that Coleman defended his attack ads. He never once admitted they were distortions and lies, but called them Franken's "record."
Guess which one of them has the key to the city of Manchester and which one doesn't?
The "other guy" is Dean Barkley, one of the members of Ventura's administration responsible for the education funding problem in Minnesota. I like how he says he won't make any promises, he'll just roll up his sleeves to get things done. Of course, when he closed he took the opportunity to brag about bringing money back to Minnesota, shortly after he had said that we "can't spend money we don't have." The Independents are perpatetic, metaphorically speaking.