Here's a weird bit of trivia. If Al Franken winds up beating Norm Coleman (and he's now got a small lead in most polls), he'll be the fourth consecutive Jewish person elected to that Senate seat, after Rudy Boschwitz, Paul Wellstone, and Coleman. Indeed, the last time the major parties in Minnesota even nominated a gentile to run for that seat was 1984, with Joan Growe. When you consider that Jews make up only 0.9 percent of Minnesota's population, that's pretty interesting. Maybe these Minnesota Jewish pols are just riding native son Robert Zimmerman's coattails. (Thanks to reader E.C. for pointing this out.)
--Jason Zengerle