From Faribault to Duluth Saturday, the question confronting DFL Senate candidates Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer remained the same as it has been for months: Which man has the best chance of unseating GOP incumbent Norm Coleman?
With a month to go before the state party convention, DFLers are closely scrutinizing the electability factor for Nelson-Pallmeyer, the lanky college professor whose popularity exceeds his resources, and Franken, the comedian/author who has the money and name power but has been nicked by stories about insurance and tax mistakes involving his business interests.
"I just want to get rid of Coleman," said Gary LePage, a delegate from Woodbury attending the Second District convention in Faribault. "All of us take our taxes to tax preparers and expect them to do it right. He wasn't trying to avoid paying his taxes."
Many delegates to the Eighth District convention in Duluth had similar reactions to last week's disclosure that Franken had paid income taxes to the wrong states from 2003 to 2006, requiring him to send $70,000 to 17 states that had been shorted.
"It gave me pause when it first happened, but I took a keen interest in how he handled it and I appreciated how he stepped up," said Joe Hobot of Lakeville, a Franken delegate at the Faribault convention and teacher at an alternative high school in Minneapolis.
Bill Miller of Duluth, who chairs the state Senate District 6 DFL, said the tax problem hadn't shaken his faith in Franken.
"People involved in multi-state organizations typically encounter these convoluted mixes of tax laws, and when you compare the amount he's paid with the amount his accountant had trouble with, it doesn't strike me as that big an issue," he said.
In an interview on the road to Faribault early Saturday, Franken said he was focusing on the issues of concern to Minnesotans -- health care, the economy, Iraq -- and that he was confident that he will win the endorsement next month, despite the potential problems stemming from the tax flap.
"It's a little hard to assess, especially right now," he said. "But I do know that it was probably one of the most inspiring days, after I talked to the press, when my daughter came in and said, 'You've got to see what's going on out there.'" Campaign staffers, he said, were calling delegates and finding out that "they didn't care."
Neither, it seems, does Nelson-Pallmeyer. He won't comment on Franken's situation, preferring instead to concentrate on the reasons why he's convinced DFL delegates will ultimately turn to him -- his deep knowledge of the issues and his message of hope.
"I really believe we have the best campaign and the best candidate," Nelson-Pallmeyer said on his way to Duluth for the convention, "so anything that distracts from that message, everyone loses."
Whatever happens next month in Rochester, both candidates pledged in Duluth that they will abide by the endorsement. If he loses, Franken said he would host a fundraiser the very next day for Nelson-Pallmeyer "with all my Hollywood friends." Nelson-Pallmeyer said he would do the same for Franken, even though he has only one Hollywood friend.
On Saturday, Nelson-Pallmeyer also dismissed the notion of trying to block Franken's endorsement if it looked like he couldn't win it himself.
"I'm pretty confident we're going to win," he said. "But there's not going to be no endorsement -- not going to happen. We need to unite."
Dick Franson and Darryl Stanton also remain in the race, although they have done little beyond distributing campaign literature. Soren Sorensen, who says he's also running for the endorsement, addressed the Duluth convention.
Handicapping the race
Franken is widely considered the front runner. He's worked hard for party candidates since moving back to his native Minnesota in 2006 and has become a top-flight fundraiser with nearly $2.2 million in the first quarter this year alone. Nelson-Pallmeyer raised $260,500 over the same period.
Nelson-Pallmeyer officials, however, say that he's got more than enough money to pass his first test: winning 60 percent of the 1,400 party delegates who will vote at the June 6-8 state DFL convention in Rochester.
A recent survey of a quarter of the DFL's Senate district and county chairpersons by the Star Tribune found that about 60 percent of the delegates were committed to Franken, about 20 percent were for Nelson-Pallmeyer, and the balance were either uncommitted or holdovers from former candidate Mike Ciresi.
Franken's campaign manager, Andy Barr, declined to comment on those numbers, although he said that Franken already has more than half of the 200 superdelegates expected to vote in Rochester.
Chris McNellis, campaign manager for Nelson-Pallmeyer, said the numbers are changing daily as their volunteers flood phone lines seeking delegate support. She pointed out that Nelson-Pallmeyer beats Franken and Coleman in an unscientific poll conducted by Minnesota Public Radio that matches issues with candidates.
Still, some are less certain. Heather Heyer of Victoria, a first-time delegate, said that she caucused for Franken but that she's a little worried about the tax issues. On the other hand, she said, Nelson-Pallmeyer is "an amazing person" but doesn't have Franken's name recognition.
How to decide? "It's an electability issue," she said.
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