Coleman’s Feeling the Heat

02/19/2008

Despite Sub-Zero Temperatures, DFLers Heat up U.S. Senate Race, Gaining Ground While Coleman Loses


St. Paul, MN (February 19, 2008) A new poll by Rasmussen Reports showed today that DFL Senate candidates Al Franken and Mike Ciresi are running neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman. Today’s poll is the third in recent weeks to confirm that DFL candidates for Senate are poised for victory in 2008.

“Yet another poll today confirms that DFL candidates for the Senate are ready to win in 2008,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez. “After five years of Senator Coleman’s consistently putting corporate special interests and the Republican Party line ahead of regular people, Minnesotans are ready to make a change — starting with making Amy Klobuchar Minnesota’s senior senator.”

DFLers Running Neck-and Neck with Norm Coleman:

Third Poll Confirms: Franken, Ciresi in Dead Heat with Coleman. A Rasmussen Reports poll shows that DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken leads Coleman 49–46 in a head-to-head match-up. In addition, Coleman and DFL U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi are in a statistical dead heat with 47–45, respectively. [Rasmussen Report, 2/19/08]

Democrats Poised to Run Strongly Against Coleman in Head-to-Head Match-Ups. In a head-to-head match-up, the MPR/Humphrey Institute poll showed DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken beating Norm Coleman 43.2 percent to 40 percent, while DFL U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi comes in with 38 percent to Coleman’s 43. In addition, a recent KSTP/Survey USA poll showed DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken in a 46–47 statistical dead heat with Norm Coleman. [MPR, 2/1/08; KSTP, 2/13/08]

Economy Continues to be Most Important Issue. “When it comes to the upcoming election, the economy is the most important voting issue for 38% of voters in the North Star state.” According to the MPR/Humphrey Institute poll, 36 percent of Minnesotans reported that the economy was their most important issue; 73 percent said that the country was headed in the wrong direction. [Rasmussen Report, 2/19/08; MPR, 2/1/08]

Coleman Supports Making Bush’s Tax Cuts Permanent. Coleman supports making Bush’s tax cuts permanent. According to his campaign website, “As your U.S. Senator, Norm Coleman will fight to make permanent these tax cuts that have been so successful in helping our families and growing our economy.” Coleman’s campaign website also touted how Bush’s economic policies “have had an incredible effect, producing 44 straight months of job growth, more than 7.8 million new jobs since August, 2003 and today’s historically low unemployment rate of 4.5%,” despite predictions of slower economic growth in 2008, including from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Peter Orszag. [Colemanforsenate.com, accessed 2/19/08; CBO, 1/22/08]

MINNESOTA FACT: Wealthiest 1% of Minnesotans Will Receive 31% of the Bush Tax Cuts. According to Citizens for Tax Justice, from 2001-2010, the wealthiest 1% of Minnesotans, who had an average income of $1.16 million in 2006, will receive 31.1% of the Bush tax cuts. Meanwhile, the poorest 60% will get only 19.7% of the tax cuts. Their annual tax cut over the 10 years will average only $459, while the average tax cut for the wealthy is more than $42,000 a year. [Citizens for Tax Justice, 10/10/06]

National Debt Nearly Doubled Under Bush, Now Growing at $1 Million Per Minute. “The national debt — the total accumulation of annual budget deficits — is up from $5.7 trillion when President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009.” [MSNBC.com (AP), 12/3/07]

Norm Coleman Consistently Voted for Budget Bills That Increased Deficits and National Debt. Coleman voted for budgets that increased the federal budget deficit, in 2003 by $2.4 trillion and in 2005 by $168 billion. [Vote #134, 4/11/03; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/17/03; Vote #114, 4/28/05; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/28/05]