Replies to post #41710 on Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Lane Hall-Witt]

coolwire--

I listened to most of the debate over Minnesota Public Radio: Coleman sounded more polished, as we might expect given that Mondale was just getting back into the game, but both had their lines down and pretty much stuck to the script. Most people will only see the snippets shown on the evening news, since a 10 a.m. debate isn't exactly prime time, so voters will probably see both candidates through their best soundbites. I have MN doped out as a Democratic hold, although it's really hard to tell since the circumstances are so unusual and emotional. Most polls have shown Mondale up by 5-8 points, although there's one stray poll out there giving Coleman a six-point lead.

Ventura's choice to fill Wellstone's seat is interesting. Alan Barkley -- he's a former Democrat who switched to the Reform Party, lost in a run for Congress in '94, lost in a run for Senate in '96 (against Wellstone), chaired Ventura's run for governor and now serves in Ventura's administration. Ideologically, he's more like the Dems than the Republicans, so one would expect him to help the Dems maintain their edge in the Senate until the elected winner takes office. But the Minnesota Democratic Party was really upset with Barkley for helping Ventura get elected, and a few Dems came out in pretty high-profile ways to stick it to him. So Barkley may just vote with the GOP and hand the Senate back over to the Republicans -- as revenge.

Actually, one thing that's not getting much chatter -- because it's so complicated -- is that the Republicans have a decent shot at controlling the Senate during most of November and December 2002. On my sheet, I have Jean Carnahan (Dem) losing her seat in Missouri; in that case, Talent (Rep) would step in to serve right away because Carnahan was a replacement (serving in place of her husband, who died in a 2000 plane crash) and would give way to Talent immediately if he wins this year's election. Then you throw in Barkley being a wild card--. It really is a bizarre election season.