Back in 2008, there was no closer election than the Minnesota senate race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and his Democratic opponent All Franken. It was finally won by Al Franken -- but only by a few hundred votes out of several million votes cast. It took a recount and a court case, but Franken was finally declared the winner. This made the Republicans think that Franken could be targeted and unseated in 2014.But it hasn't worked out that way. Franken has turned out to be a very good senator -- a progressive who has puts the best interests and the rights of ordinary citizens above the profits of Wall Street. And that seems to have played well in Minnesota. A new survey by Public Policy Polling (conducted between May 17th and 19th of 712 Minnesota voters -- with a 3.7 point margin of error) is showing it is going to be very difficult for the GOP to unseat Senator Franken.
The poll shows that 51% of voters approve of Franken's job performance, while only 42% disapprove. Compare that to his most well-known possible opponent, Michele Bachmann. Bachmann has an approval rating of only 34%, and her disapproval has reached a whopping 60%. Here are the poll numbers pitting Franken against his possible opponents:
Al Franken...............55%
Michele Bachmann...............38%
Al Franken...............54%
Jason Lewis...............37%
Al Franken...............51%
Mike McFadden...............36%
Al Franken...............52%
Julianne Ortman...............35%
Al Franken...............52%
Julie Rosen...............36%
Al Franken...............51%
Rich Stanek...............36%
Those are some great numbers, which I'm sure any politician would love to have. There's still more than a year until the 2014 election takes place, and a lot could happen between now and then, but it looks like the Republicans have a very difficult task ahead if they plan to defeat Senator Franken.
