Merry Magdalene, It is interesting that the Qur’an used by the gentleman from Minnesota belonged to Thomas Jefferson. I can understand why any pol would want to capitalize on Jefferson's fame. But does Mr. Ellison have any idea of what Jefferson's thoughts on Islam were?
Scholar Hugh Fitzgerald writes of the particular translation Jefferson possessed:
And that version of the Qur’an that Jefferson possessed, and that Ellison presumes to appropriate for his own religio-political purposes? Its author, George Sales, translated the Qur'an in 1734 so that his Protestant readership, in learning more about its contents, could "attack the Koran with success" and Sales maintained that it would be Protestants to whom, within Christianity, would fall the task of checking Islam: "for them [the Protestants]...Providence has reserved the glory of its overthrow."
Oh, and among the books in Jefferson’s library was another -- Humphrey Prideaux's 1697 work on Muhammad, "The True Nature of the Imposture Displayed."
Jefferson had a stake in understanding Islam; while US Ambassador to Britain it was his job to negotiate release of a captured ship and crew held hostage by Morocco. The Moslem countries on the North Coast of Africa were sponsors of rampant piracy in the Mediterranean, and were seizing ships and demanding tribute of the US for safe passage. Through his study of Islam, Jefferson realized that negotiation was useless, and during his presidency was unwilling to pay the demanded tribute. This lead to the Barbary Wars of 1801-1805 (and gives the Marine Corps. Hymn the reference 'to the shores of Tripoli').
For more on the Barbary War: http://illustratedpig.blogspot.com/2007/01/america-where-are-you-now.html
Besides being a devout cultist wanting to advertise, I doubt Ellison could have any use for Jefferson's personal copy of the Qur'an other than to confer what he feels is an air of legitimacy upon the doctrine of Islamic hegemony contained therein.