Amy Klobuchar (D-inc): 54 (53)
Tim Pawlenty (R): 41 (43)
Undecided: 5 (4)Amy Klobuchar (D-inc): 57 (56)
Michele Bachmann (R): 37 (39)
Undecided: 5 (4)Amy Klobuchar (D-inc): 57
Chris Barden (R): 30
Undecided: 13Amy Klobuchar (D-inc): 56
Dan Severson (R): 28
Undecided: 16Amy Klobuchar (D-inc): 55
Dave Thompson (R): 28
Undecided: 17
(MoE: �2.9%)
She isn't the flashiest member of the Senate, but Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar has quietly turned into one of its most popular members with the folks back home. PPP's newest look at Minnesota finds her with 61/28 approval ratings, putting her in the Senate's top 5 overall for approvals in PPP polls. A lot of that seems to have to do with her unusually strong crossover appeal, which in turn has a lot to do with her workhorse status and her at-ease version of "Minnesota nice": she has 62% approval among independents, and even 28% among Republicans.
She doesn't carry all 28% of those Republicans with her into the 2012 election, but she's got enough of them to push her way past the 50% mark against all comers. As expected, that includes the nobodies who are either currently running (former state Rep. and losing 2010 SoS candidate Dan Severson) or are considering it (state Sen. Dave Thompson and Chris Barden, an attorney who lost the 2010 Attorney General race). But it also includes the state's two highest-profile Republicans: ex-Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann, both of whom are focused on the presidential race right now and haven't expressed any interest in downgrading their quixotic presidential bids into quixotic Senate bids. (In case you're wondering, statewide faves for T-Paw and Bachmann clock in at 40/53 and 33/59 respectively.)
Speaking of the Presidency, PPP's Tom Jensen has some thoughts about that, too:
You want to look for a Minnesota politician who could have serious Presidential potential somewhere down the line? It's probably Klobuchar. There are few Democratic Senators who have as much appeal across party lines as her and she manages that popularity with independents and Republicans without antagonizing voters within her own party. That's a good formula if she can take it national.
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