The Tribune endorses investment banker Mike McFadden, a Republican from Sunfish Lake, in the race for U.S. senator.

We were disappointed that Minneapolis Democrat Al Franken didn’t feel Albert Lea was important enough in his statewide campaign to stop here even once in the timeframe between the primary election and today. He did stop by several times six years ago. We were there.

What’s more, Franken lived here on Dunham Street when he was 6. Has his cherished childhood city dropped in campaign value?

McFadden came to Albert Lea multiple times and, in fact, was in nearby Austin on Friday. And this is in addition to being in all 87 counties of Minnesota. It’s best to take an 87-county approach to Minnesota statewide elections, like how President Barack Obama took a 50-state approach to his runs for the presidency.

Too many candidates try to win over the populous places, then not spend campaign dollars on places they deem low priorities. Does Albert Lea have such little clout they don’t even get to meet their junior senator?

Put the debate about voting in alignment with the president aside. That’s a distraction. After all, didn’t Franken accuse Norm Coleman of doing the same thing with George W. Bush?

McFadden cares about the agricultural issues facing local farmers and strongly wants a pipeline across northern Minnesota to free up railroad access to move grain. We agree with his energy policy for more domestic production of fuel to bolster the national economy and weaken Russia’s power.

We agree more with Franken when it comes to stances on education. However, Congress still has not produced a replacement for No Child Left Behind, and we are disappointed to hear state Democrats pushing for more testing. Fortunately, Franken isn’t among them.

Franken, it should be noted, has proved to be a serious candidate and no comedian when it comes to serving the middle class. Still, it appears McFadden has a greater interest the middle class out here in rural America, not just the ones in metro and suburban America.

Let’s see what McFadden can do. He’s approachable. Minnesota’s delegation to Washington would benefit from having representation on both sides of the aisle, much like what Iowa has had with Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin for nearly 30 years.