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Ron Brownstein: 'We're living in a 50/50 country.'Razor-thin margins in state after state
WASHINGTON -- Minnesota is one of a handful of tight races that could determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate. CNN's political analyst Ron Brownstein talked with CNN anchor Carol Costello about Minnesota and other key races for the Senate. The following is an edited transcript: COSTELLO: Ron, has there ever been a more exciting mid-term election? BROWNSTEIN: Well there have been very few that have been this close. We're really living in a 50/50 country. We saw it in the 2002 presidential election, we saw it in the Senate races in 2000 that left the Senate originally divided 50/50 and we see it again this year. Not only do we have the balance of power in the Senate hanging by a thread with Democrats with a one-seat advantage, but we have half a dozen races that are too close to call. You have a razor thin margin built on razor thin margins in state after state. COSTELLO: Let's go down the list. Let's start with Minnesota since we were just talking about that. If former Vice President Walter Mondale replaces the late Sen. Paul Wellstone on the ballot, will he win? BROWNSTEIN: Well, advantage Democrats, but not a sure thing. Mondale, as an elder statesman, has enormous stature in Minnesota. There's a sentimental attachment, a desire to do something to memorialize Paul Wellstone. But Norm Coleman, the Republican, is a strong candidate, and Walter Mondale has not been on any ballot in 18 years. That's a long time. A lot of voters really don't recognize the name. He may be something only from a history book to them. COSTELLO: Yes, but he's never lost in Minnesota, has he? BROWNSTEIN: No. And he is a large figure. And what the Democrats are also able to do here is shorten this race. Republicans were out yesterday talking about wanting debates, wanting it to be about issues. I suspect that the Democrats will try to depersonalize it and make it more about fulfilling the Wellstone legacy or honoring the Wellstone legacy than a personal choice between Mondale and Coleman. South Dakota is one of those three Midwestern states -- Missouri, Minnesota and South Dakota -- where the races have been too close to call with Democratic incumbents. It's a heavily Republican state, Carol. It moved very sharply toward Bush in 2000. And this has been the 15-round title fight of this election between Tim Johnson, the Democratic incumbent, and John Thune, the Republican challenger. They have been going at each other hammer and tong with negative ads and sharp attacks, and this one has stayed within the margin of error all the way. It will be a turnout battle on Election Day. Someone said the other day that you're down the undecided being you can almost name them all in South Dakota because it is simply so close. COSTELLO: New Jersey. What an interesting race with Frank Lautenberg getting in late in the game. BROWNSTEIN: The other half of "That '70s Show" for the Democrats with Lautenberg and Mondale riding to the rescue. This one really has turned in the Democratic favor and given them an advantage in this overall struggle for control. When Bob Torricelli, the incumbent, was in the race, Republican Doug Forrester was right there neck and neck. But when Torricelli and his ethic problems left, Lautenberg was able to harvest the basic Democratic trend in the state, especially on social issues like gun control and abortion over the last two decades; and he now leads pretty comfortably against Forrester. This one is one that the Republicans seem to feel has slipped away from them.
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