Franken and McFadden agree to three debates

DFL Sen. Al Franken's campaign says Franken will take part in three debates before the November election.

Here's the list of what Franken has agreed to:

Oct. 1: Duluth News Tribune/Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce

Oct. 26: WCCO TV

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Nov. 2: Minnesota Public Radio News

Republican Mike McFadden campaign says he will take part in those three debates but that he will also continue calling for more debates.

The McFadden campaign notes that when Franken was first running for Senate in 2008,  incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman agreed to meet him five times on the debate stage.

The McFadden campaign says Minnesotans deserve to hear more debates  from the two Senate candidates.

The Franken campaign insists a Farm Fest forum at which McFadden, Franken and some other Senate candidates who will not be on the November ballot shared the stage in early August should be considered  a debate.

The McFadden campaign disagrees and today launched the first in what a spokesperson said will be a series of ads "calling out Al Franken for being an invisible senator.”

A Franken campaign spokesperson called the ad "absurd" and accused McFadden of "playing political games."

Here's the ad: