Dayton, Coleman less popular

Minnesota Senators Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman are losing their popularity in this state. Generally, people's opinions of both of them mirror the stereotypes: people see Coleman as a spineless tool of Bush, and they think Dayton is off in outer space many times with his words and actions.

Of the two, these numbers are more depressing for Dayton, since he is up for re-election next year and it is no surprise that he is one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the nation. Fortunately for him (and Coleman, depending on your point of view), many people still haven't formed an opinion of either of them, so there is still ample opportunity to improve those favorable ratings.

Dayton turned a lot of people off by closing his senate offices for what appeared to be pretty poor reasons. But despite what some people may think, doing things like coming out forcefully against Rice's nomination is going to help, not hurt. I think people generally respect people who take a strong, consistent stand on the issues, even if they don't personally agree with them. That is the main reason why Paul Wellstone won two elections and was on his way to winning a third. Dayton has a lot of beliefs that put him with the majority of Minnesotans, such as creating a workable Medicare prescription drug benefit and making sure this administration does the right thing in Iraq and around the world. If Dayton works on getting his message out, he can position himself much better for the election. It will still be a very tight race no matter what happens, however.