Almanac: At the Capitol

The demonstrations of support are over. The candidates have wrapped up their pitches. Now the voting begins. I'll update this blog post as the ballot counts come in.

Unlike the Q & A this morning, the controversy came up. In his speech, Al Franken told the crowd he's had a tough week and "it kills me, the things I said and wrote" and he went on to say "I'm sorry for that." He said some of his jokes were not funny and some "downright offensive."

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer said "we choose hope" and he concluded with a nod to Wellstone asking "When do we send another professor to Washington?"

Both Franken and Pallmeyer took on Norm Coleman. Both showed passion and emotion. Both got the crowd roaring. The applause, t-shirts, signs all seem pretty even here in the hall.