As during the election, daily newspaper readers in the Twin Cities will have to look statewide (or on a college campus) for opinion-page diversity.

Thursday, the Pioneer Press joined the Star Tribune in urging Norm Coleman to continue his appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Once upon a time (2007), you might’ve expected the major dailies to part company on whether a U.S. Senate seat should remain vacant for another several weeks. However, Chris Harte’s ascension as publisher shifted the Strib’s worldview in a less DFL-friendly direction.

(Both papers, you may remember, endorsed Coleman in the general — but so did every other daily in the state, save two that picked Dean Barkley, and the Winona Daily News, which stood alone for Franken.)

Despite the metro groupthink, “Quit now, Norm” has lengthened its statewide lead (to 7-5) over “Stay the course, Norm.” The Gannettoids at the St. Cloud Times say Coleman should give up the ghost, and those plucky college kids at the Minnesota Daily finally weighed in for Norm to fold.

The updated tote board:

Quit now, Norm (7)
♦ St. Cloud Times
♦ Worthington Daily Globe
♦ Albert Lea Tribune
♦ Winona Daily News
♦ Faribault Daily News
♦ Owatonna People’s Press
♦ Minnesota Daily

Stay the course for now, Norm (5)
♦ Star Tribune
♦ Pioneer Press
♦ Mankato Free Press
♦ Crookston Daily Times (with plenty of snark)
♦ New Ulm Journal

Lamely wishy-washy (2)
♦ Fargo-Moorhead Forum
♦ Grand Forks Herald

Unheard-from or unfound (8)
♦ Duluth News-Tribune
♦ Rochester Post-Bulletin
♦ Fairmont Sentinel
♦ Marshall Independent
♦ Mesabi Daily News
♦ Bemidji Pioneer
♦ Red Wing Republican-Eagle
♦ Morris Sun-Tribune