Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race is being watched closely by many outside Minnesota. Here’s a look at what bloggers beyond our borders are saying.

Al Franken

Al Franken

The Texas Liberal blog reports from inside Franken’s fundraiser in Houston recently. Besides recounting what Franken had to say — he described himself as the likely DFL nominee; he’ll fight aggressively against negative attacks; and he likes meeting people — Texas Liberal tells how to get into a $500 fundraiser for a mere $50.

Brendan Nyhan takes Franken to task for suggesting that the government levy fines for lying on the airwaves, arguing that Franken’s position would silence speech and target political minorities.

This link on Propeller.com — to a recent story in The Nation – led to a lively exchange, with views on Franken ranging from he’ll lose because he projects an air of intellectual superiority to he’ll have so much hilarious material to work with as a senator that he’ll make C-SPAN worth watching.

Norm Coleman
Coleman’s vote in committee Wednesday against the Law of the Sea treaty landed him in some blogs yesterday. The Citizens for Global Solutions pointed out in a blog posting that of the four “no” votes, “the biggest surprise was Coleman, who voted in favor of the treaty in 2004.” It goes on to say that “substance means little to Coleman, who was John Bolton’s strongest supporter in confirmation hearings during the last Congress.” The treaty is opposed by some who argue that it cedes U.S. sovereignty to the United Nations and an international commission.

Sen. Norm Coleman

THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS reports on Coleman’s recent speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington and includes this tribute to him: “Whether it is the War on Terror or a collapsing bridge, Norm Coleman gets the big picture. His toughness is mixed with a significant amount of warmth. He is a genuinely kind man, and he was truly beloved in the room.” The blogger also offers Coleman a line he can use that equates Democrats with Minnesota Vikings on a party boat. Coleman laughs (but I don’t think you’ll be hearing Coleman use the line himself).

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
Nelson-Pallmeyer got a plug in the Citizens for Global Solutions blog posting about the Law of the Sea Treaty (see above). It added an update to the item about Coleman, noting that Nelson-Pallmeyer “is the first of Coleman’s challengers out of the gate to point out this massive and as-yet-unexplained flip flop.”

Nelson-Pallmeyer also earned a mention in the Lonely Candidate, which tracks instances in which candidates who claim to be the only one who (fill-in-the-blank). It cited this quote from Nelson-Pallmeyer: “I’m the only candidate in this race who has a hyphenated last name.”

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer

Mike Ciresi
Ciresi received a passing plug in a Rhode Island’s Future blog item about Franken appearing at the Blue State Coffee shop in Providence. Matt Jerzyk says, “I actually like the other Democrat in the race - Mike Ciresi - as much as Franken.” That’s as far as the praise goes, but there you have it.

Mike Ciresi

On Daily Kos, The Big E writes about how the Iraq war is playing in the race. Ciresi has been jabbing at Franken for supporting the war at the outset. The Big E shoot back that while Ciresi opposed the war at the outset, he didn’t do much to act on his opposition. He adds: “Which leads me to one critical point about Mike Ciresi in comparison to Al Franken. Ciresi hasn’t done much in the last five years.”

Jim Cohen
Cohen is another Democratic challenger, but when he shows up in non-Minnesota blogs, the posting is not about him. He’s just mentioned as another candidate. If anyone knows of non-Minnesota posts about him, please add them.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 8:40 am and is filed under Al Franken, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Jim Cohen, Main, Norm Coleman, Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.