Dean Barkley: Changing The Dynamics Of The Minnesota Senate Race



(image via extremeortman)

The idea of Al Franken becoming a United States Senator is enough to make The Corsair want to toss his cookies. The again, aggressive United Nations-hater Norm Coleman, the present Senator, is probably even worse philosophically. Argh! Still, Franken is now, however slightly, in the lead. And Senator Barack Obama's coattails might just bring Franken into the most aristocratic body on the planet -- by a whisker. The little-known Dean Barkley, a political neophyte, may be the X-Factor that brings about the peculiar electoral reality of a "Senator Al Franken." From Bloomberg:

"Ten years ago, a gregarious professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura, won the race for governor by tapping into voter anger and running as a third-party candidate.

"This year, Dean Barkley, Ventura's former campaign manager, is trying to produce a sequel by vying for a U.S. Senate seat. While one of the major-party candidates is favored to win the race, high economic anxiety and Congress' record-low approval ratings have given Barkley a lift in state polls.

"...Barkley, 58, has changed the dynamic by turning the race into a dead heat. In a survey conducted by Quinnipiac University Oct. 8-12, Franken was ahead of Coleman by 2 percentage points, within the poll's 3-point margin of error. Barkley, running this year on the Independence Party of Minnesota ticket, polled 18 percent, drawing almost equally from Democrats and Republicans.

"'The impact of Barkley on the race is very unpredictable,' said Lawrence Jacobs, the director of the center for the study of politics and governance at the University of Minnesota."