MN-Sen: Franken Closes the Gap in New SUSA Poll

[ccharles000]

http://swingstateproject.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=6C9B00EC02D1FC0BF47A3A5FFCA67D70?diaryId=3036

SurveyUSA (dates unknown, likely voters, 8/13-14 in parens):

Al Franken (D): 40 (39)
Norm Coleman (R-inc): 41 (46)
Dean Barkley (I): 14 (-)
Undecided: 5 (5)
(MoE: ±3.8%)
SurveyUSA has generally given more favorable margins for Coleman than Rasmussen (the only two outfits that regularly release polls of this contest), in part perhaps based on a sample of younger voters that are more pro-GOP than you might expect. So while it might be tempting to say that Franken is performing well in the face of a funky cross-sample, I'd prefer to wait for SUSA to release the poll's crosstabs to pick this one apart.

Note: In the August poll, Dean Barkley's name wasn't explicitly mentioned, but "Other" gobbled up 11% of the vote.

Bonus finding: Obama leads McCain by a 49-47 in the poll, the same margin that SUSA showed here in August.

[grantcart]

1. great news CCharles

[earthlover]

2. Obama only up by 2 points in MN? Not good news there

[grantcart]

3. Other polls show Obama way ahead - CNN/Time, the latest, is Obama +12

[TlalocW]

4. For an incumbent to be so far from 50% at this stage

Is good news for us.

TlalocW

[FLAprogressive]

5. C'mon Al! n/t