Democrat Al Franken’s lead – 45 percent to 40 percent over Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) in the latest Public Policy Polling survey of Minnesota – is a function of Barack Obama’s popularity in the state, which is poised to go blue, writes Scan. A Fox News poll that shows Obama leading John McCain by just 4 percentage points nationally is based on a voter sample that has too many Republicans and not enough independents, writes Jonathan Singer.