The time was 12:57 p.m. and U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken was scheduled to appear in minutes.

But unbeknownst to the crowd of dozens that packed Christy’s Café in North Mankato on Saturday, a little boy and his mother were playing with an orange peel. As the young man modeled his new citrus smile, mom clapped with delight.

To a nervous crowd, that clapping signaled arrival — and 100 eyes strained toward the door.

And while Franken was still minutes away from his actual arrival, the false alarm served as a clear indication of just how anxious, and energetic, Minnesota’s Senate race has become.

“We’re only 17 days away,” said Franken, who was welcomed with a second, but much heartier, applause. “And people have a choice to make.”

Polls show the Democratic candidate has gained ground and perhaps surpassed Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in one of the country’s most expensive political races. To boot, Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley is garnering about 20 percent of the vote.

Only a month after Coleman’s campaign stop at Christy’s, Franken stood atop a chair in the middle of the café’s dining area to remind supporters the country is in the middle of its “worst crisis since the Great Depression.”

Championing himself as a defender of the middle class, Franken outlined his approach to the economic crisis, including support for middle-income tax credits and a freeze on home foreclosures.

“We need to get money to the middle class,” Franken said. “Every time our economy works, it works that way.”

Franken said 440,000 Minnesotans are without health insurance, 20,000 people will have their homes foreclosed this year and the state’s unemployment rate has hit a 22-year peak.

The longtime Minnesotan and St. Louis Park native said he wants to create jobs by expanding existing loan programs to small businesses and said he supports a $5,000 student tax credit to help families pay for college.

Coleman, however, has criticized Franken for proposing new spending and new programs that a Coleman press secretary said will “only add to the middle-class tax burden.”

“(Coleman) has a demonstrated record of fighting for energy independence, health care for all Americans and growing jobs,” said Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich.

As another move to help the middle class, Franken also said he favors DFL presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to freeze foreclosures, a plan that Coleman and Barkley have both questioned in debates. In addition, Franken called for more federal oversight of the banking industry — specifically mentioning the $60 trillion market in credit default swaps — and iterated his pledge to “never, ever” privatize Social Security.

But before leaving for his next stops in Owatonna and Dodge County, the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian couldn’t resist a bit of political humor while encouraging the efforts of his supporters: