Election

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― The feeling between U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic opponent, Al Franken, was always raw. In the past few weeks, it's turned positively toxic in a multimillion dollar ad brawl.

Consider:

--A Coleman ad questions Franken's temperament by running several old clips showing Franken gesturing angrily and swearing -- complete with bleeps and a black bar superimposed on Franken's mouth.

--Franken ads use a talking fish to link Coleman to indicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and to campaign donations from an oil company executive.

--An ad from national Republicans cites an old magazine article in which Franken is quoted brainstorming for a possible "Saturday Night Live" sketch with a joking reference to rape. "Franken writes about committing rape," the ad blares.

--An ad from national Democrats shows an elderly Minnesota couple blaming Coleman in part for the death of their son in Iraq.

Recent polls have shown the race tightening as the candidates meet in Rochester this weekend for their first general election debate, meaning the tone is unlikely to change in the race's final month.

"You've got to campaign on what the polls tell you," said former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger, who's supporting fellow Republican Coleman but said he's discouraged by the tone of the race.

"I hated it when I was doing it, but people would look you in the eye who knew better than you and say, 'Do you want to stay in office or not?"'

Evidence that the negative ads work might be found in a recent Star Tribune poll that found a noticeable drop in Coleman's support -- but without much of a corresponding spike for Franken.

The mid-September poll showed Coleman at 41 percent and Franken at 37 percent, with Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley at a surprisingly robust 13 percent.

Franken and Coleman have collectively raised nearly $30 million and spent $22 million -- both the highest figures of any U.S. Senate race this year, according to Opensecrets.org, which tracks campaign spending.

The pair have aired more than 40 different TV ads, most in the Twin Cities and smaller markets around the state. (Barkley has aired only radio ads featuring his longtime ally, former Gov. Jesse Ventura.)

Not all of the ads have been negative. Some have been positive, focusing on policy, achievement, or personal stories of the candidates.

One Coleman ad showed the senator with a boy named Wyatt who survived cancer, reminding viewers of Coleman's support for cancer research. Franken aired an intensely personal ad in which his wife, Franni, said he stood by her while she battled alcoholism.

But the negative spots have worked hard to bolster the images that each campaign would like to pin on the other: Franken as angry, vulgar and dishonest, Coleman as a politically corrupt Bush administration flunky.

Franken's allies say they've focused on Coleman's time in the Senate, while Republicans have aimed at Franken's personal character.

That's fair game, the Coleman campaign says.

"We think his temperament, his character are very legitimate issues," said Coleman campaign spokesman Mark Drake.

Interviews with a handful of voters in Wayzata, a prosperous and traditionally conservative Minneapolis suburb that has become more competitive in recent years, found mostly tepid feelings about both men.

Ben Miles, a 28-year-old real estate agent, said he is a Democrat who won't vote for Coleman. But he's not sold on Franken, either.

"I think he's a real emotional guy and sometimes that's not what I'm looking for in a person in that kind of position," Miles said.

Retired engineer Bob Larson, who called himself a "former moderate Republican," said he'll vote for Franken with reservations. "I think he has trouble connecting to the average person," said Larson, 64.

Johnn Schroeder, 61, a writer, said he voted for Coleman in 2002 but is undecided this year.

"Let me put it to you this way," Schroeder said. "If you're given two choices and both are bad, it's real hard to pick one."

 

 

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