Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is in a perilous political position. The one-term lawmaker is in a close race for a second term against Democrat and comedian Al Franken. Coleman, like other Republicans in tough races, has been distancing himself from President Bush, yet he took to the stage at the GOP convention Tuesday night just hours before Bush addressed the crowd. It would have been hard for Coleman to turn down a speaking role in St. Paul, where he was mayor for eight years.
