You may have to hold your nose again and vote for Coleman for Governor next year . . . I don’t think that you’ll see a Michelle Bachmann or some such 100% conservative running in the primary, and Coleman may be as good as it gets for the GOP. And the DFL is sure to nominate some whackjob, with the Independence Party candidate (if any) not that much better.
BTW, the 2010 elections will be crucial in MN, since the party that wins the governorship and legislature will control redistricting after the 2010 Census. Congressional redistricting in MN will be a huge deal in 2011, since MN is slated to lose a U.S. House seat.
The Democrats could draw a plan that leaves just one GOP district in the Twin City exurbs, one Republican-leaning district for conservative Democrat Collin Peterson, and 5 comfortably Democrat districts; the Republicans could draw one über-Democrat district in the Twin Cities core, one strongly Democrat district going from the Iron Range to the Catholic parts of Ramsey County (which would probably elect a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat like Oberstar) and 5 GOP-leaning districts in the rest of the state. Yes, the U.S. House delegation could be 5-2 Republican or 6-1 Democrat depending on the results of the 2010 state elections.
The only silver lining if the Democrats control redistricting and draw a map that hurts the GOP is that it may convince Michelle Bachmann or John Kline to run for the Senate against Klobuchar in 2012.