When In Doubt, Create The News

Here's an interesting article on a voter poll as "reported" by Minnesota Public Radio. Check out this lead:

Fewer than half of the people interviewed in the MPR polls last week -- 48 percent -- said they think Norm Coleman is doing a "good" or "excellent" job as Minnesota's U.S. senator. Additionally just 43 percent of the respondents had a favorable opinion of Coleman a quarter of have an unfavorable opinion.

Moorhead State University political science professor Barbara Headrick says the numbers confirm what Democrats and political analysts have been claiming: Coleman is vunerable going into his campaign for a second term in the Senate.

"Any incumbent who's below 50 percent should see himself or herself as in trouble," according to Headrick.

While it is true that any incumbent -- or for that matter any candidate -- who finds himself below 50 percent in anything would be considered in trouble. "Obvious for 500, please, Alex."

If not for the lead-in synopsis, you wouldn't find out until the 12th paragraph that Coleman is comfortably ahead of both Democrats who are vying to replace him: "comedian" Al Franken and trial lawyer Mike Ciresi.

According to the poll, Coleman would beat either by a comfortable margin.

Matched up again Franken, Coleman would win 54 to 32 percent. Against Ciresi, he would win 52 to 29 percent.

While Coleman is struggling with popularity, his negative ratings are well below those of Al Franken. According to the poll, nearly 8 of 10 Minnesotans know who Franken is and, of them, nearly a third have an unfavorable opinion of him.

Considering this is very liberal Minnesota, Franken is well-known and Ciresi spent millions of dollars in a losing effort for the Democratic nomination in the 2000 Senate race, only bias can explain the decision to lead with questionable assumptions about the power of incumbency in a situation where it is of less importance.

Coleman may lose. Who knows at this point. But all this poll actually shows is that Coleman is doing better than nonbiased conventional wisdom would declare.