Poll: Coleman has strong lead with or without Ventura candidacy

One moderate but reasonable legislator trumps two clowns.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found.

The poll of 700 Minnesota adults, taken last week, showed Coleman winning a three-way match over Franken and Ventura. Forty-one percent of poll respondents said they would support Coleman, compared with 31 percent for Franken and 23 percent for Ventura. The margin of error on that question was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

If Ventura doesn't enter the race, 52 percent said they support Coleman and 40 percent said they were for Franken. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.