Fillmore County Journal on US Senate Race

And they are not impressed.

Unfortunate

It is unfortunate that the Democrats chose Al Franken to be their candidate for senator. While Franken certainly has the celebrity and name recognition to attract voters, his "record" as a comedian has given the Norm Coleman camp plenty of fodder to go on the attack with ads profiling Franken as irresponsible. Consequently, this campaign for the Minnesota senate is built around personalities and not issues, with both candidates picking the lowest common denominator - the attack ad.

Had the DFL nominated Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a St. Thomas professor more in the style of Paul Wellstone, we would have seen a different campaign, one based more on the issues - energy policy, the economy, the war in Iraq.

I am not sure the public has been served in the Coleman - Franken senate race. Which is why Independent Party candidate Dean Barkley's poll numbers keep rising - disatisfaction with the Coleman and Franken campaigns. Barkley served as Senator briefly when he filled out Paul Wellstone's term of office following his death.

While Barkley is not a front runner in the polls, his numbers are significant enough to play spoiler on November 4.

Right now voters are choosing whether they like Coleman's character better than Franken's. If the election comes down to that, Minnesota loses in the end.