Coleman pummeled in MN-SEN debate #2 in Rochester (updated)

[Updated: transcript of Al's closing statement]

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), Al Franken (the DFL candidate) and Dean Barkley met in Rochester for the second Minnesota Senate (MN-SEN) debate. It was a tag-team pummeling. Franken and Barkley pointed out time and time again how all of the bad things that have happened have been under Norm's watch. Furthermore, they both spent time pointing out all of the specific things that Norm hasn't done and all of the bad things he has done. Franken specifically pointed out vote after vote where Norm voted against the best interests of Minnesota. Al's closing statement was brilliant ... he got the last word and really summed up what the race is all about.

Norm played defense all night using Norm-speak^TM. He tried to insinuate that Al has no practical experience, the wrong temperament and claimed that "it's not enough to talk." He talked incessantly about how much he's worked across the aisle. He defended his and his buddies' personalized attack ads against Al -- he complained that Al has no voting record, so he's justified. He talked about how he's kept taxes down and name-dropped as often as he could.

And finally, he lied. He accused his opponents of wanting to cut off funding to our troops. He talked about how much he's done to make college affordable and to increase Pell grants when in reality he voted for the largest cuts in history and voted to cut off low-income kids from the Pell grant program. He claimed he was opposed to the first Wall Street bail-out package that failed in the House, when the truth is he indicated he was for it.

Franken and Barkley hit Norm on the bail-out -- they called him out for cheerleading while Bush drove the economy into the ditch. They whacked him on his support for the Iraq War. Al called it a "tragic blunder of epic proportions" while Barkley called it one of two of Norm's trillion dollar mistakes (Norm's support of Bush economic policy was the other). They slapped him around for his lack of support for renewable energy ... Al in particular for his reelection year conversion. They hit him foreign policy: Al accused him of dropping the ball on Afghanistan. They hit him on healthcare. In particular Al pointed out that Norm voted against Medicare negotiating drug prices and giving a huge freebie to Big Pharma. They clobbered him with how wrong his support of Bush Doctrine of preemptive war is especially since it was all based upon lies.

Norm's opening statement was interesting mainly because it was bizarre. He talked about how angry he is with how Congress is working, but insinuated how Al is the wrong kind of angry. This is a desperate and bizarre tactic. He's angry about the last 8 years, but only now that he's 9% behind in the polls. He used his favorite "working together to get things done" theme as often as he could. Other than bringing hockey to St. Paul, he hasn't done much in the Senate. What's that? He was mayor then? Oops.

Dean's opening statement was interesting. He talked about his few days as a Senator. In the cafeteria under the Senate building, he wasn't a Democrat so he wasn't going to sit with them. He wasn't going to sit across the hall with the Republicans, so he dragged a table and chairs from each dining hall into the hallway in between. Senators from both sides joined him. He suggested he has the bi-partisan mentality needed. Then he ripped on Norm a little.

For his opening, Al told the story of why he's running. He talked about his middle-class background and how lucky he was to grow up in Minnesota. He got a world-class education and was lucky enough to go to Harvard. He explained that he's running because middle-class families no longer have these same advantages, are having trouble affording healthcare and paying for gas.

Al's close was particularly brilliant. Norm had gone first arguing that he thinks he's done a good enough job (despite a tanking economy, crippling debt and healthcare crisis) that he deserves another 6 years. Dean had argued that he wants to be the bridge between the two parties because he has a track record of actually accomplishing things. Al got the last word. Here's the transcript of it:

Elections are a chance for the people to hold their elected officials accountable.

If you like the way things have been going in Washington for the last six years, and you believe George Bush has been right 90% of the time, then I'm not your guy.

But, if you want change in Washington. If you believe that the middle class is the engine of our prosperity, and they're the ones who should get the tax cuts and not the rich and the oil companies, then I ask for your vote.

If you want someone who is going to fight to make sure that every American has quality, affordable health care, then I ask for your vote.

If you want to make sure that all our kids have a world class education so they can compete in a 21st century economy, then I ask for your vote.

If you want to put an end to this war and make sure that when our veterans come home they are honored with the proper health care and benefits, then I ask for your vote.

And finally, if you want a Senator who wakes up everyday, asking Œwhat can I do for working families in Minnesota? And what can I do to stand up to the special interests? Well, then I ask for your vote. Thank you.