Franken weathers bad month like freight train full of rocks

… er, smart rocks. Something clever. I have to work on my blog headlines.

There was a time there a few weeks ago when my favorite candidates, Barack Obama for president and Al Franken for Senate, were going through their respective former preacher and faux tax controversies at the same time. And, boy howdy, I was a sad panda. Moody, averse to television, I was no treat to be around. Today things are looking up in MinnesotaBrown land. Obama’s posting 15 point leads in Minnesota and Franken has pulled back within two of Sen. Norm Coleman. When people start to associate candidates with actual issues like Iraq and the economy instead of the tripe that’s dominated coverage of these big races, it stands to reason that both these candidates will pick up at least a few more points. That means that Obama could win Minnesota by Klobucharian proportions and Franken could win it by Wellstonian proportions.

This outcome is certainly not a done deal; this is a very volatile, competitive year. (and Hillary, McCain, Coleman and JNP fans among you, I know that you like your people, too, I’m just analyzin’ here, friends). The headline for me, however, is that Franken weathered the worst month of his campaign so far and has nearly recovered his earlier numbers. Coleman and Franken both suffer from high negatives and low loyalty, according to the Rasmussen poll I cited earlier. So any race between them will be closer than the DFL/GOP index. But Franken has proven his bounce-back ability, just as Obama did a few weeks earlier. When he is endorsed next week, Franken will unroll his general election strategy and Apollo Creed will turn to his manager and say, “He doesn’t know it’s a damn show; he thinks it’s a damn fight” and blah, blah, blah, something with Mr. T or the Russians and the good guys win eventually. That’s the plan, anyway.

We must not forget, however, that there are pockets of trouble to watch out for. Bill Hanna and the Mesabi Daily News, the Range’s largest daily paper, has taken a not-so-subtle editorial position (“How Heavy is the Baggage?” May 24) that anyone who doesn’t A) have eerily shiny teeth and vote for coal gas tax breaks; or, B) ride an ATV from his bed to the breakfast table, is unfit for the United States Senate. With hit pieces like this raining down in a DFL stronghold, Franken must work on holding the line up here and winning new voters elsewhere to replace those who might be flecked off in areas like mine. (And kudos to my friend Tom Anzelc for sticking with Franken so forcefully).

It appears my dream of an all-writer top-of-the-DFL-ticket is coming true. For anyone who cares about this stuff, now is the time to get to work.

Oh, and postscript, the New York Times ran a story last weekend showing the importance of blogs in this Minnesota Senate race. I must admit, both camps have strong presences in the blogosphere. This could be a study case in the sophisticated new tactics of online campaigning.