Al Franken Likely to Win Senate Seat (From GDP):

[Dinger]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7885092

Thought you'd like this:)

[CatholicEdHead]

1. Time will tell

Let's wait for the recount to finish before celebrating.

[Dinger]

2. Oh, I'm Not Celebrating, But I Am Cautiously Optimistic nt

[Eric J in MN]

3. It will probably come down to what happens with rejected absentee ballots.

Some absentee ballots may have been rejected because of

a) no signature on the outer envelope
b) a signature on the outer envelope which looked different than the one on file
c) the witness who signed wasn't verified as a registed voter in MN
d) an election official mailed the voter a ballot for the wrong precinct


Ideally, the county election office would have reviewed these things as soon as they received the ballot, and immediately phoned the voter if there was an issue.

But what seems to have happened is that the county election offices held all absentee ballots until Election Day without reviewing them, and then delivered them to the precincts on Election Day, and the precincts just set aside unopened the absentee ballot envelopes with issue and didn't contact the voters.

I hope that after this election is over, we get a new statewide law for counties to immediately review the outer envelopes of absentee ballots and phone voters if they find an issue.

[wellstone dem]

4. I'm nervous

as I doorknocked the only candidate people expressed doubt about (unless they hated all dems) was Franken. I think a number of people did not vote on purpose. On the other hand 207 votes is not a lot given the total number.

[DFLforever]

5. That was my experience doorknocking in St Paul.

The Obama Republican voters were all voting for Coleman and among other voters Franken's support was often weak or uncertain.

[mascarax]

6. What do you think Franken should have done differently?

Because I know what you're saying -- and I had a hard time getting people to come up with reasons why they were hesitant/wary/whatever.

I did get a few people who turned after watching at least one debate. They were surprised Al was "logical".

[DFLforever]

8. I don't really have an answer to your question

Although, personally, I felt that Al never did make a convincing case as to why he should be the next US senator from Minnesota. So maybe his campaign was not positive enough.

A few miscellaneous comments from voters in SD64:

One man said he thought Al was a 'clown' and not a 'serious person'.

Another said he wanted to sit down with Al and tell him to get his 'shit' together before running for office.

Others expressed doubts about Al's 'ethics' - the effect of Norm's vicious and corrosive smear campaign.

Several people told me they were going to to skip the Senate vote altogether.

Finally, both campaigns were perceived as extremely negative and turned many new or independent voters to Barkley.

I did notice an improvement over the last several weeks. At first those canvassed were breaking about 95% Obama and 35% Franken. That later progressed to about 99% Obama and 75% Franken.

The point I would emphasize with voters was the importance of a Democratic senator from MN to support the programs and policies of a President Obama.

[dflprincess]

7. I'm not surprised that Republicans who were voting Obama would still vote for the weasel

but on the bright side, Normie did not win St. Paul - not even his own precinct (he never has in a statewide race).

I think the sad thing is, that Norman's negative campaign worked and there really wasn't much Franken could do to counter it.

[DFLforever]

9. I'm pleased St Paul doesn't vote for its ex-mayor.

And you're absolutely right on both counts about Norm's negative campaign.