Norm Coleman is a top endangered Republican. He represents a Blue state in a severe anti-Republican environment. He is a freshman senator who won his seat under fluke conditions.
As such, he's recently moderated his solidly conservative views in order to try and bamboozle his way into a second term. But he is, after all, a member of the GOP.
An Iraq war veteran and former adviser to Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) yesterday said he is considering a primary challenge against the lawmaker in 2008.
Retired Lt. Col. Joe Repya (R) lost a race for the state Republican Party chairmanship last week, after which speculation began to percolate that he would challenge Coleman.
Yesterday, in a statement, Repya confirmed that he is mulling a run. He said he will travel around the state and talk to people about the viability of a bid during the next two months.
“I’ve received numerous calls and have been approached by a number of people who have asked me to consider running against Norm Coleman for U.S. Senate,” Repya said. “I am making no decisions at this time. I am going take 30 to 60 days to decide what my political future is going to be.”
Repya is a "pro-Iraq War activist" and will likely get mileage with GOP voters on Coleman's flopping about on Iraq. Coleman was also one of the GOP against cloture in the Gonzales censure effort, further angering the Bush bots.
Some schlub interviewed in the piece (a political scientist) claims the primary would be a "good thing" for Coleman, since it would allow him to "burnish his centrist credentials". Primaries don't burnish "centrist credentials". They pull candidates to the poles.