Minnesota voters give Senator Amy Klobuchar higher marks for job performance than her fellow senator Al Franken and Michele Bachmann, the congresswoman who has become a conservative lightning rod in the national health care debate.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows that 58% of likely voters at least somewhat approve of the job Klobuchar is doing while 38% disapprove. But 36% strongly approve of her Senate performance, compared to 21% who strongly disapprove.

Fifty percent (50%) of the state’s voters approve of the job performance of Franken who took office in July after months of legal wrangling over the election results with his Republican predecessor Norm Coleman. Twenty-four percent (24%) strongly approve of the job he is doing.

Forty-five percent (45%) disapprove of how Franken is doing, with 29% who strongly disapprove.

Minnesota voters give similar marks to Bachmann, who represents the 6th congressional district in the southeastern section of the state.

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Fifty-one percent (51%) say they at least somewhat approve of the work Bachmann is doing, while 45% disapprove. But 33% strongly disapprove of Bachmann’s job performance, while 28% strongly approve.

In mid-September, 56% of Minnesota voters said Klobuchar was doing a good or excellent job, and just 19% rated her performance as poor. Franken was seen as doing a good or excellent job by 41% of Minnesota voters, while 31% said he was performing poorly.

Since Klobuchar and Franken are Democrats and Bachmann is a Republican, the partisan divide among Minnesota voters is predictable.

It is interesting to note the intensity of support for the three politicians. While 69% of Democrats in the state Strongly Approve of the job Klobuchar is doing, just 51% say the same of Franken.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of Republicans statewide Strongly Approve of Bachmann’s job performance.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 31% Strongly Approve of Klobuchar’s handling of her job, while 14% Strongly Disapprove.

For Franken and Bachmann, the numbers are reversed. Seventeen percent (17%) of unaffiliateds Strongly Approve of Franken’s job performance, but 26% Strongly Disapprove. Bachmann’s performance is Strongly Approved by 21% but Strongly Disapproved by 37%.

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