As if Michele Bachmann’s 2010 re-election battle wasn’t already going to be a doozy, it’s begun shaping up as a proxy war between the forces of U.S. Sen. Al Franken and the man he bested in Minnesota’s recount, former Sen. Norm Coleman. “The eyes of the nation — and Michele Bachmann’s right-wing allies — will be on this race,” Franken wrote in an email today on behalf of Bachmann rival Tarryl Clark. ”I have no doubt [Bachmann] is going to get re-elected by her constituents,” Coleman told an audience at Harvard University Tuesday night.

Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure we can all agree on one thing — please don’t let this race drag on into 2011.