National poll numbers suggest Franken won’t follow in Obama’s footsteps
Thursday, July 02, 2009 at 1:13 pm
- 6 Comments
Photo: MnIndy
A new poll suggests Sen.-elect Al Franken would have trouble following President Barack Obama’s vault from a single Senate-election victory to the White House. Beyond that, it’s not clear why it matters that 44 percent of voters across the country have an unfavorable view of the Democrat or that 34 percent like him at least “somewhat.” According to the pollster, Rasmussen Reports, “It is fairly typical for individual legislators to have negative favorability ratings on a national basis.”
The 22 percent who aren’t sure what they think of Franken and the 40 percent who followed his election saga not very closely or not at all will get a chance to form an opinion in less than two weeks, when the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate leaders saved Franken a seat on the committee, where he’s sure to be under the national media microscope.
Rasmussen’s polls within Minnesota have provided interesting peeks at the progress of the battle between Franken and former Sen. Norm Coleman, both before and after Election Day. In late October, Rasmussen reported Coleman leading Franken by a four-point spread that was within the poll’s margin of error. Between two polls taken in December and March, the proportion of Minnesotans who thought Franken won increased by 16 points to a level reaching nearly half the voting population.
By mid-May, Rasmussen put the percentage who wanted Coleman to concede at 54 percent (other polls pegged it at 10 percentage point higher).
Whatever the number, this week they got their wish.
6 Comments
Comment posted July 2, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
Doesn’t the fact that there will be a Democratic party incumbent in 2012 suggest *even more strongly* that Franken won’t run for president then?
Comment posted July 2, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
Sure, but now he’s got an excellent excuse not to challenge Obama.
Comment posted July 2, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
That’s a relief – he’d probably wear a bow-tie and we would re-live all those Sen. Paul Simon sketches from the ’88 campaign.
Comment posted July 2, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Who cares if the national polls don’t favor our Senator-Elect. Have you seen some of the rubes repesenting other states? Either members of the KKK, or closeted homosexuals who hate themselves {Eric Cantor, I’m looking at you}. Or John Boehner making ads with bloodhounds? Yeah, there’s no history depicting white men with blood hounds I guess.
Plus, I doubt Al will be trawling for blowjobs in MSP.
Comment posted July 2, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
Maybe the polling business is low right now. In 2016 however, we’re ready for our first Jewish president.
And I have a mental picture of Franken shooting me a dirty look.
Comment posted July 3, 2009 @ 11:55 am
A lot will have changed by the time we’ll face an election for the seat Mr. Franken is about to occupy. Or for that matter, who will occupy the White House.
The guy hasn’t served a day yet – of what possible value is a poll about his re-electability at this moment?
Maybe it’s time all us election junkies took a little time off to read books to little children, or drive elderly neighbors to their grocers and physicians. An endless election process is not healthy.
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