Politics

ST. PAUL (AP) ― Months before Minnesota's U.S. Senate race really started to heat up, just about anyone with more than a passing interest predicted it would be one of the most negative contests in the state's history.

They were right. While the campaigns and allies of Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken have been battering the other guy for quite some time, the last week has seen a virtual blizzard of attack ads and angry allegations back and forth.

"Vulgar and profane," Coleman described Franken in a statement released this week by his campaign. "Personally vicious," is how the Franken campaign described one Coleman ad this week.

The Minnesota Democratic Party fired the latest salvo Thursday, filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission asking the agency to investigate whether Sen. Norm Coleman is guilty of illegal coordination with independent groups advertising for his re-election.

State Party Chairman Brian Melendez acknowledged any evidence is circumstantial, but said the specter of coordination was raised by the fact that Coleman lives in a Washington D.C. building owned by Jeff Larson, who also owns FLS Connect and houses some of its operations in the building where Coleman rents a bedroom.

FLS Connect is a political consulting firm employed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, two groups that have run recent ads praising Coleman and criticizing his Democratic opponent, Al Franken.

"Senator Coleman literally sleeps under the same roof of a consultant for groups running ads to help his re-election," Melendez said.

There has been no coordination, said Mark Drake, spokesman for the Coleman campaign. A U.S. Chamber spokesman called the allegation "laughable"; representatives of the NFIB and FLS Connect didn't immediately return calls seeking a response.

Drake called Melendez's allegation a "preposterous attack" that's meant to distract voters from other issues in the race -- which, the Coleman campaign argues, is a long list of reasons why Franken is not honest enough or temperamentally suited to be a U.S. senator.

"His character, his history of reckless angry personal attacks are an issue in the campaign," Drake said.

To that end, the Coleman campaign earlier this week debuted "Angry Al," a TV commercial that unspools several clips of Franken cursing and gesturing angrily, complete with bleeps and black bars over his mouth when he swears.

Within two days, Franken was on the air with his own ad responding to "Angry Al." Addressing the camera, he explains that he sometimes gets passionate about issues he cares about. "Look, I'm not a politician -- I guess I get outraged," Franken says in the ad.

The tussle has extended beyond the airwaves, with allies of both campaigns raising allegations about the opponent. Democrats have repeatedly raised the issue of Coleman's living arrangement in a variety of ways, suggesting that Coleman has personally benefited from his relationship with Larson and tying that to a larger argument that Coleman is too beholden to special interests.

"I think it's fair to discuss the records and plans of the candidates," said Colleen Murray, a spokeswoman for the Franken campaign. "These are things Minnesotans need and deserve to know to make the best choice in November."

Earlier this week, the Minnesota Republican Party and the Coleman campaign raised an allegation that traced back to financial problems at the Air America Radio network when Franken was an on-air personality and involved in financial decisions.

In 2003 and 2004, a Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx loaned Air America $875,000 as it was getting started; In 2005, authorities in New York investigated improper financial dealings of the Boys and Girls Club, including the Air America loan.

Air America repaid the loan in 2005.

The Coleman campaign and Republicans insist that Franken still has questions to answer about his involvement with the acquisition of the loan. Democrats have a similar complaint about Coleman: That he has left many unanswered questions about his living situation.

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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.

 

  

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