"Obama leads Senate with 72% approval"
• Popular senators: Barack Obama, a first-term Democrat from Illinois, ranked No. 1, while Minnesota's Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman landed in the bottom third of a SurveyUSA poll ranking senators' approval ratings.
• Minnesota senators: Dayton, a Democrat, ranked No. 92, while Coleman, a Republican, was 71st. They had approval ratings of 46 and 52 percent, respectively.
"These are difficult times, among the most divisive the Senate has seen, and to do reasonably well in an environment where the issues can be so polarizing is encouraging," Coleman said.
Dayton, ranked higher than only one other Democrat, could not be reached for comment. His approval rating was a jump from 41 percent in May; Coleman's held steady. Forty-one percent disapproved of Dayton; 39 percent disapproved of Coleman.