Update on Tight Minnesota Senate Contest
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In just about three hours, the two leading candidates in one of the country's closest Senate races will face off for the first time. Covering the contest in Minnesota is our own Bob Franken. He joins us live from St. Paul this morning -- good morning, Bob.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Nothing typical about this race. Of course, in the aftermath of the death of Paul Wellstone, the Democratic candidate, the incumbent, Walter Mondale, has come out of political retirement and has shown that he still knows how to do this after 18 years. It'll be his first debate in 18 years when he and his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, come to the Fitzgerald Theater, outside of which we are standing in St. Paul, for a debate that's going to last an hour. It's at 11:00 Eastern, 10:00 here. It's a format that includes questions from moderators, questions from reporters and the audience, and, we're told, even e-mail questions. Walter Mondale, of course, is somebody who was last in office before we really had e-mail and the Internet and that type of thing, something his Republican opponent has tried to at least imply over and over again. Norm Coleman is 53 years old, which is what they call up here a young whippersnapper compared to the 74-year-old Mondale -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: What do you think will end up being the major issue that's of concern to Minnesota voters?</s>FRANKEN: Well, whether it's of concern to voters or not, the two of them are kind of stuck on the question of, what word shall I use? Shall we use the future, as Norm Coleman likes to talk about it at 53 years old, or as the 74-year-old Mondale, former vice president, likes to say, experience? Nobody else is using the word, but sort of the implied word here is age. It's also, by the way, a race that is too close to call. So this debate is probably vital.</s>ZAHN: We're looking at that balance of power map right now to give people a better idea of just how critical this race is. Bob Franken, we will, of course, be coming back to you live before that 11:00 news conference, not news conference, but debate, gets under way. Thanks, Bob.</s>COMMERCIAL BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our election coverage now. President Bush traveling to several key states today to boost Republican candidates in close races again considered too close to call, quite pivotal, too, in the fight for Congress. He will stop in Missouri, where the Senate race is a true tossup. Carol Lin now joins us live in St. Louis with more on that critical race -- Carol, good morning to you. How are things shaping up?</s>CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, things are shaping up here, and it's shaping up to be an extremely tight race. As you mentioned, President Bush is expected to be campaigning here for the Republican Senatorial candidate, Jim Talent. And I want to give you an idea of the character of the state here, which may explain why it is such a tight race. It is a bellwether state. Missouri has voted for the winners of the last 24 of the last 25 presidential races. It's an indicator of what may happen in some six to eight other hotly contested Senatorial races around the country. And as we all know, the Senate is up for grabs now between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democrats needing to hang onto their seats. In the meantime, I want to share with you the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, which came out just last night, to show you how tight this race is. In taking a look at likely voters, these are people who are expected to cast their ballots tomorrow, Jean Carnahan, the Democrat, standing now at 44 percent. Jim Talent, the Republican, at 48 percent. But, the margin of error in this poll is plus or minus four percent, which leaves it literally at a dead heat. Political analysts here are pointing to yet another poll by Zogby International that has the two candidates within two tenths of one percent. That is how tight this race is. In the meantime, let's take a look at these candidates and show how different and distinct they really are. Jim Talent, a young 46 years old. He served in the House for eight others. He's running this 96 hour campaign for the last four days, nonstop campaigning across the state. And he's closing the gap with Jean Carnahan by utilizing the star power of President Bush, who's already been campaigning here for Jim Talent the last three times, coming again today, the day before election day. The vice president, Dick Cheney, has been here. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been here. You're seeing Jim Talent here at an event in Kansas City where really the key to his winning this election is going to be getting the vote out among men, suburbanites as well as the Republican rural population, which, according to one political analyst here, is a little suspicious of Jim Talent because he's a city slicker. He's from the St. Louis suburbs. Then you have got Jean Carnahan, 68 years old. She's a grandmother. She has never held office. She is the accidental senator, a woman who was swept into office, swept into power after her husband, Governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash, but still won the Senatorial election against John Ashcroft. This is a special election to see whether the voters want Jean Carnahan to finish out her six year term. She is focusing on her base of labor. Here she was at an event, a labor event in Kansas City, as well, over the weekend. She's got to get the vote out amongst women and minorities, the classic Democratic base here in the State of Missouri. She has been campaigning like a madwoman, 15 events over the last 48 hours. And, Bill, what's really interesting about this year's election, not only is it so tight, but for the first time Missouri is actually going to allow provisional ballots. What that means is you may be a registered voter, you go to your polling site, they don't have you on the docket to vote there. But if you can show proof that you're a registered voter, they're going to allow you to vote anyway. Now, they're expecting some 40,000 provisional ballots to be cast and those ballots have to be hand checked, Bill. And what that means is we may not know the winner of this race on election night. And some people are predicting here that it's going to be election month before the election here is certified for the Senate.</s>HEMMER: I hope you packed a little more than you thought you would then, Carol. I can tell you from experience, oftentimes you will find yourself in that situation.</s>LIN: Yes.</s>HEMMER: Enjoy. Thanks, Carol. Carol Lin live in St. Louis watching the battle for the Senate there -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: Jeff Greenfield made a very astute prediction last night.</s>HEMMER: Yes? Which was?</s>ZAHN: He said maybe we'll know by the time the NBA finals are on.</s>HEMMER: Which is June, by the way.</s>ZAHN: Yes, he was being a little cynical with that, a little tongue in cheek.</s>HEMMER: Yes, he was.