Oct 1, 2008 5:47 pm US/Central
Bailout Vote No-Win For Coleman In Senate Race
(WCCO)
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At one point last week, Sen. Norm Coleman had received 11,000 phone calls against the federal bailout and 100 in favor. (File)
AP
With just four and a half weeks left until the election, Sen. Norm Coleman faces the biggest votes of his life on the proposed bailout. The senator said on Wednesday he will vote in favor of it.
It's a vote that could affect the outcome of the election. At one point last week, Coleman had received 11,000 phone calls against the federal bailout and 100 in favor.
Political analyst Larry Jacobs said Coleman is in a no-win situation.
"The blowback of Minnesotans who are frustrated and angry that Congress has to come in and bail out Wall Street could well end up hurting the incumbent Coleman as he struggles to explain how he can vote for this," Jacobs said.
In a statement Coleman said, "The domino effect of not acting could topple the finances of every Minnesotan ... Addressing this financial crisis may not be politically popular in the short-term, but for our long-term economic security and stability it is the right thing to do."
The question remains how unpopular this vote will be. Recent polls show that Coleman's double digit lead over Democrat challenger Al Franken two months ago has disappeared. The race is now statistically even and the one candidate that is gaining ground is Independent Dean Barkley.
Jacobs said it appears that Barkley is pulling more support away from Coleman as opposed to Franken.
Barkley said he too would reluctantly voted for the bailout. However, according to Barkely, Coleman and other incumbents should be blamed for the crisis.
"Why do we keep on electing these people? I mean, we put people in Enron in jail for their malfeasance. And here they want to be re-elected. So my message is why don't we fire Congress and start over with some new people?" Barkley said.
Franken issued a statement also blaming incumbents saying the "problem is the failure, the refusal, of this administration and those who support it's economic agenda to hold Wall Street accountable for its reckless behavior and enforce real oversight over our financial system."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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