Oct 31, 2008 3:46 pm US/Central
Coleman Allegations Upend Minn. Senate Race
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
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The bitter back-and-forth was a culmination of months of harsh attacks between the two campaigns.
Dean Barkley, Norm Coleman, Al Franken
As if Minnesota's U.S. Senate contest weren't volatile enough, the candidates headed into the final weekend of campaigning amid allegations about one candidate that have the potential to alter the outcome of the race.
Republican Sen. Norm Coleman on Friday found himself responding to sworn charges in a Texas civil lawsuit that a friend and political donor, Nasser Kazeminy, funnelled $75,000 through an insurance company that employs Coleman's wife to help the senator financially.
Coleman called the allegations "sleazy politics," and suggested his Democratic opponent Al Franken was trying to turn them to his own advantage. Franken's campaign quickly responded that Coleman was trying to deflect attention and avoid questions raised by the lawsuit.
The bitter back-and-forth was a culmination of months of harsh attacks between the two campaigns. Just a day earlier, the Coleman campaign sued the Franken campaign alleging untrue advertising.
Neither candidate has been able to build a strong advantage in polls, but University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs said the allegations are an undeniable blow to Coleman.
"This story could not come at a worse time for Norm Coleman in terms of the voters that are still up for grabs," Jacobs said.
A Minnesota Public Radio/University of Minnesota poll released Friday had the race a tossup, with 18 percent of respondents either undecided or still willing to change their mind.
Jacobs said the lawsuit allegations are in line with a negative portrait the Franken campaign has painted of Coleman: that he's in the pocket of special interests.
"The Coleman campaign was holding its own against a very difficult environment for Republicans, and then they had this kind of bombshell land in their lap," Jacobs said.
In the MPR poll, the Independence Party's Dean Barkley drew 17 percent. That was some 20 points behind the leaders, but spokesman Chris Truscott said he hoped the latest turn in the campaign would remind voters why a third-party candidate would be a good choice.
"At the end of the day, Minnesotans don't really care about this," Truscott said. "They care more about what's happening in their own lives rather than what happens when politics gets dragged into the courtroom."
After addressing the lawsuit at a morning appearance in Moorhead, Coleman continued to several more campaign stops in Buffalo and Hutchinson, and a spokesman said he'd hold to a full day of campaign stops on Saturday around the Twin Cities area. Franken was campaigning Friday in northern Minnesota and on Saturday closer to the Twin Cities, and Barkley had numerous appearances both days as well.
The three candidates are scheduled to meet for their final debate Sunday night at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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