Al Franken ups his lead as conservatives begin to abandon Norm Coleman
By John Amato Wednesday Apr 08, 2009 9:00amThings are looking very bleak for Norm Coleman and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Norm Coleman has just made his appeal more difficult.
Al Franken extended his lead in the Minnesota Senate race to 312 votes Tuesday, after about 350 improperly rejected absentee ballots were added to the ballot pool. The total is 87 more votes than Franken led by at the beginning of the day and all but assures that Coleman’s current court challenge will fail.
Coleman’s lawyers have indicated they had little chance, given the small number of absentee ballots added to the count, and have signaled they will appeal to the state Supreme Court and possibly federal court.
But further appeals were actually made more difficult by the Coleman campaign’s challenge, which sought to add thousands of rejected absentee ballots to the count but wound up with fewer than 400 ballots, which wound up breaking sharply for Franken.
And now the NRO's Ramesh Ponnuru just issued a few words that Coleman does not want to hear from his conservative brethren.
I think it's time for him to give up this fight.
Gov. Pawlenty was on MSNBC a few days ago and he refused to say much about what he will do, but did say that the case is probably going to the state Supreme court. He tried to say that Al Franken might be the one to take it there.
Ginsberg also projected optimism that the state Supreme Court would be a more amenable venue for Coleman to press his case. Franken attorney Marc Elias suggested it is time for Coleman to give up litigating his loss and allow the state to have two senators.
“The question is not whether he has the right to appeal, but whether filing an appeal is the right thing for Minnesota,” Elias said.
It's very likely that the ruling will go Al Franken's way and he would be the winner so at that point Pawlenty will be called upon to issue the certificate to Al Franken. That's when Harry Reid must seat him as the Senator from Minnesota. Pawlenty's state is getting very frustrated by this and it's disgusting that Republicans are so openly suggesting that this seat should be tied up for years in court and want to use Gore V Bush as precendent.
Moreover, Raju says, the Republicans advancing this idea are looking to an infamous precedent -- Bush v. Gore, the case that ended the recount in Florida following the 2000 presidential election. Raju quotes Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as saying, "The Supreme Court in 2000 said in Bush v. Gore that there is an equal protection element of making sure there is a uniform standard by which votes are counted or not counted, and I think that’s a very serious concern in this instance." Other prominent GOP senators have also made similar arguments.
Have they no decency?
Login or Register to post comments.
What makes it worse is that the republicans are holding the same Senate seat hostage that was once held by Paul Wellstone, who would be appalled by this, were he still with us.
Demand Coleman's campaign contributors to get Coleman to concede the senate race !!
I found these company names on opensecrets.org as contributors to Norm Coleman's campaign.
I hope you will call these companies and tell the person who answers, "Your company has given money to former Senator Coleman who has refused to accept that he has lost the Minnesota Senate race and that I will not buy anything from you or do business with you until Norm Coleman drops his lawsuits and acknowledges that Al Franken has won and concedes the race." Pass this note around to your friends and fellow Democrats. Flood these companies with phone calls. Act polite but firm. Do not accept the argument that their pacs gave money and not the corporation. The company made it easy for their employees to give money to Coleman.
Target Corp Stores $174,855 Phone 800 591 3869
3M Co Scotch tape and supplies $62,254 Phone 888 364 3577
Marriott International Hotels $43,400 Phone 888 236 2427
Best Buy Electronics Computers Stores $41,350 Phone 888-237-8289
General Mills Cereals $34,650 Phone 800-248-7310
Also go to http://write-congress.democratz.org to help enact progressive legislation.
Thank you!
was miles ahead of Franken both in intellect and vision. I'm sure he would be appalled.
It's all about keeping Franken from being seated. Coleman and the Reps know he can't win. They just want to keep that one extra Dem vote out as long as possible.
their right to representation.
Typical reichwing thuggery.
they have NO decency and apparently no sense of shame whatsoever... absolute a$$hat$... anything to keep Dems from having the power they won fair and square in the election. Pitiful!! I hope WE THE PEOPLE show the republican(t)s again at the 2010 and 2012 elections that this sort of behavior is NOT to be tolerated. I'd like to see each and every republican(t) voted out of office for this treachery. I know... I know... won't happen, but it's still a wish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anU_JUmACa8&fe...
is there a downside for gop'ers? seeing none, this behavior likely continues.
inaction to provide countering measures (longer term structural solution) to this "strategy" seems a guarantee this will continue to be a useful tool (for useful tools).
I mean, they should have made it so toxic for Coleman et al to bitch about Franken, after all the shenaningans the GOP pulled with the 2000 election. Gore/soreloserman anyone?
You can't deal with the GOP as being part of the normal decent faction of the human race, period. You have to show a beast your teeth or they will continue pissing all over the carpet. It is their nature, assuming there is some sort of reason and decency hidden deep somewhere is a major mistake.
Both my brother and sister, lifelong republicans, have mentioned that they are thoroughly embarrassed by Norm Coleman's actions.
I'm sure the GOP has lost a lot of support in Minnesota due to Coleman's embarrassing behavior, especially after Coleman told Franken to put the voters first and concede early on in the recount process.
but MN folks are mostly really decent people, lacking the hard-edged attitudes one finds on both coasts (aggressive on the E. Coast, passive-aggressive on the W. Coast). Them's words o' experience, 18 years in MN, 6-8 on each coast.
Coleman's a carpetbagger from New York and everything about him screams that, send him back there for good!
I think during the race Franken cracked something like "this is a race between two New York Jews but only one of us is from Minnesota."
He *may* not have Wellstone's intellect (that's debatable) and Wellstone was a fabulous guy, which is why he was, likely, murdered, but Franken's awesome and he'll be one of the most progressive Senators (though he's got little competition). Go Al!!!
I really hated that line:
I think during the race Franken cracked something like "this is a race between two New York Jews but only one of us is from Minnesota."
Franken went to yuppie, suburban prep school before ducking out of Minnesota for Harvard, California and New York at 18 for the rest of his life until he decided he was a Minnesotan and came back to establish residency and run. Coleman may not have been born in Minnesota but he got his law degree in Iowa and worked in Minnesota from the 70s. So who's the "real" Minnesotan? Oddly, political links to tribal blood is a foundational fascist theme and I thought it was a quip beneath Franken.
...discussing Franken's impending victory. He kept repeating "not this guy. Do you people want this guy?"
I mean, if they can call Obama... a half black man raised by a liberal single mother a fascist. I doubt the right will pause more than two seconds framing a liberal educated Jew as the second coming of Hitler...
And Coleman will take his bullshit to a Supreme Court that has Bush v Gore around it's neck.
Actually, what the Supreme Court said in Bush v. Gore was "In a close election, the Republican wins." That's why they want to head back there.
its easier to post this then to explain..
Bush sued Gore citing three points:
1 The Florida supreme court's decision to allow the counties to continue counting votes after Secretary of State Kathleen Harris had "certified" the Florida election count on November 26th, was, in effect, creating "a new law" after the election was held thus violating the US Code (3 USC § 5). The Court did not uphold this claim.
2 The Florida supreme court's decision to allow the counties to continue counting votes after Secretary of State Kathleen Harris had "certified" the Florida election count on November 26th would violate Article 2 of the Constitution which says that the states' legislatures would determine the manner in which electors were chosen. In effect, Bush was arguing that the Constitution's delegating the authority to create laws to the legislature eliminated the state court's power to interpret those laws. The Court did not uphold this claim.
3 Because of various standards of determining the voter's intent in the Florida counties, voters were treated unequally, since a vote disqualified in one county (the so-called undervotes, which the voting machines did not pick up) may have been counted in another county, and vice versa. This would violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.
The equal protection issue is the only issue which the Court upheld in reversing the order of the Florida supreme court, ruling in favor of Bush. The Court gave no merit to points 1 and 2. When Bush originally asked the US Supreme Court to overturn the Florida court's order for a recount (Bush v. Palm Beach Canvassing Board), he cited these exact three issues. Astonishingly, the Court agreed to hear the case based on points 1 and 2 and completely ignored point 3, the equal protection issue upon which they based their final decision that ended the election.
http://home.pacbell.net/jmax7/BushvGore2000.htm
[Tags edited. Don't bold the majority of your post-Sitemonitor]
". . . [o]ur consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."
Funny how that line is lost on Coleman's camp.
When you say that Minenesotans are getting frustrated Id like to see some polling numbers.
There was a new poll every few hours during Bush v Gore and its clearly gotten to a point where the GOP is less interested in winning the seat (because its just not going to happen) than simply keeping another Democrat out of it. So show us some polling numbers, because if its really that bad (and id be surprised if it wasnt) it wont just irritate C&L readers, it should outrage Minnesotan C&L readers, possibly to the point where they make enough noise to get the media's attention.
Didn't the Supremes in 2000 specifically say in Bush v. Gore that the case couldn't be used as precedent? I seem to remember that.
.
Coleman just wants this to go on and on until he's somehow declared a winner. Continue counting or not, this is a fillibuster for Coleman. The SC can't help Norm.
Correct - and NOW the repigs think it's OK to prolong the matter, when they were screaming from the rafters in 2000 to end the recount (which is exactly what happened?)
Just goes to show: repukes have absolutely no shame.
All hail Senator Franken!!
Apparently he's up to his nuts in debt.
He's mortgaged his house and is not getting much help any longer with all the high priced attorneys. He's already "officially" not a Senator anymore.
I've read opinions that feel he's taking this as far as it will go to gain favor from the highest Republican poo-bahs so he can land a cushy multi-million dollar lobbying job after all the dust settles.
Norm Coleman is a disgusting opportunist. He's only looking out for himself now, certainly not the citizens of Minnesota.
... even Scalia et al knew perfectly well how full of shit they were. And they did not want to leave the door open for a Dem to pull the same stunt. Even if that meant they were closing the door for future GOPers.
Because it seems that close elections via manipulation is the only resource left for the GOP... They may have managed to shot themselves in the foot. Alas, Bush wasn't particularly interested in a substainable future for anyone but him, and that includes the GOP.
But as they say, live by the sword...
Pawlenty has played innocent in all of this but that is not the case. He is not about to oust a fellow Republican. Once more, the party of NO is more interested in their own power positions than the wishes of the voters.
Apply pressure on Pawlenty, after all he is the governor.
when the GOP told him to cut it out, let Coleman run and run for Governor instead. Hard to believe he will listen to anybody but the GOP leadership. And, no, Minnesotans weren't smart enough to recognize that before re-electing him.
that there was no precedent set with the SCOTUS decision of Bush v. Gore...so it was done...by the Bush family golf buddies and heinie lickers on the Court.
the gift that keeps on giving.
http://yalelawjournal.org/2006/11/07/flanders...
Yes boys and girls, there really isn't any part of our government that the Bush cabal has not totally fucked up.
So what? It'll be a conservative RNC republican or a conservative DLC democrat. You'd be amazed at how many Minnesotans don't give a shit which one wins. Next time, vote Dean Barkley and to hell with the corporate-owned warmongers.
I don't understand your first sentence. I'm from Minnesota and I do give a shit and if Dean "I can't win" Barkley wouldn't have run Franken would be our Senator, and a liberal one at that. Al Franken is no DLC Democrat.
I think MediaGhost is one of those "I hate the government at all costs" Libertarians.
...soo...
I've remarked on numerous blogs for years that Franken would lose and I still believe he would have soundly if the bottom hadn't dropped out of the economy in mid-September. Remember that? Gave Franken _way_ more than 300 votes in my opinion.
First, I've never gotten the meme that Barkley stole Franken's votes. The Independence Party is trickle-down, "No New Taxes!" fiscally conservative "greed is good" libertarians who want to party. Not exactly Democrats.
Second, I guess we can be thankful that Franken is a "boy from a split level north of Knollwood Mall," and he is probably better informed than 99% of the politicians we've seen in decades. But, (1) I don't think he has the personality of a politician. Could be good and bad but I don't know whether it will be effective, and (2) he's apparently had a very yuppie and happy-go-lucky life. I don't really think he has much feeling for working class America out in the red counties because he's never personally experienced it. That's too bad because it is something the D.C. beltway really needs right now.
Maybe George Galloway (Member of the British Parliment,at the time) needs to come back an hand Coleman his arse again! Like he did in May of '05 with Coleman chairing a committee about the "Food for Oil" Project.
I'm real new on the computer, and not real sure of how to send the video of Galloway handing Coleman his arse! Youtube has it though.
If they got to federal court RNC donors will be effectively paying millions to fund Coleman's case AND (this is the downside) if Coleman loses, he will have to pay millions for Franken's court costs as well, which means that RNC donors could end up effectively paying Franken. Which I think would piss them off mightily.
-- but momentum on Senate votes offsets?
But the position the RNC is in, can they afford to piss off donors and the general public just to keep the dems margin of victory slightly smaller temporarily?
that the GOP has never exibited. At least not in public...
I'm just saying that the downsides of pursing the fight, outweigh the upsides.
As I recall, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 stated that Bush v Gore was not to be used as a precedent, that it was a one-time-only decision. If the GOP intends to use it as such, I don't think that argument will carry any weight. The Franken attorneys will make sure of that.
seems to me the weakest part (ie the part most likely to be overturned) of the 2000 decision was the attempt to say that it was a one time only deal. How can you make an idea disappear? Regardless of what they said, IF they were being honest and just how can it not apply to other circumstances? So given the choice between admitting they weren't being honest and just, or overturning the 'one time only' clause of their decision, which do you think would happen first?
..looks like the retards have joined the Judean Peoples Front ... the same intelligence, the same effectiveness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_12E1EN6fs
...The Judean People Front was slightly MORE intelligent and effective than the GOP.
.
have expended more energy in refusing to concede than the 2000,2004 Democratic Presidential candidates combined...and then some.
Jeez Norm, you sure are a real classy type guy.
Gracious in defeat and all that stuff.
the weakness and lack of fortitude of the Dem candidates in those past elections. A sad tale all around...
That graciousness-in-defeat got us eight years of Bush. Just sayin's all.
you and tyler are both--unfortunately--correct.
In case no one else said it: "Have they no decency?"
Yes.
(kind of like "yes, we have no bananas".
Maybe it's time for a bunch of well-dressed Democratic "rioters" to storm the governor's office?
They known that Rush Limbugh could not win a senatorial seat and it galls them that Franken, a member of the cast of a cultural icon, SNL (which during Franken's tenure was the antithesis of what the Rush Limbaugh Show is), could win. It's a humiliation that the guy who called Rush Limbaugh a big fat idiot could defeat Rush Limbaugh, the cultural icon of the Republican Party for the past 25 years.
They literally cannot believe it.
it's a beautiful thing.
What happened in Bush v. Gore was the wrong guy prevailed and we wound up with eight years of disastrous presidency. Perhaps this is their admission of how much a disaster the Bush administration was.
NO
or YES, I'm all confused now!
And if the case goes to the Supreme Court, Coleman gets in. Remember with SCOTUS, it doesn't matter who gets the most votes, its who was appointed by whom!
are two mutually exclusive words that cannot co-exist.
They should open all the contested ballots and see if there are enough Coleman votes to change the outcome. If there are not the case is moot. If the full count does change the outcome then it is right to argue about which ones to count but if not it's a waste of time and money and deprives the Minnesota of its right to two votes in the Senate pending the judicial resolution.
Well, if the ballots were all counted and Franken was shown to be ahead it would cause irreprable harm to George W. Coleman's ability to serve as ... uh, Senator.
Or, at least, I think that's what Scalia's stay said.
I think Coleman would give up if it weren't for the republican party trying to block Frankens win. The thought of having Franken in the senate upsets the republicans so much. Especially, the creeps at Fox News (O'Reilly). Franken made a chimp out of O'Reilly and he hates the thought of Franken in the senate.
Al Franken once wrote me a rejection letter after I auditioned for SNL. I found his letter to be genuine and gracious. I only hope that the GOP would be as courteous as he clearly is. But then again, that type of behaviour from Republicans? would only be seen in a comedy show.
Republicans?
DECENCY????????
You've gotta be kiddin me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I have to clean my keyboard....
whenever anyone uses those two words in the same sentence I get ready for the "spit take"....
I would love to see Norm Coleman's lawyers try to convince the Federal Supreme Court that the one-time ruling they sited in Bush vs Gore should be overturned. I don't think the court would give them the time of day. It would open up a can of worms that the Supremes would rather keep closed. Instead, it will be left up to the State Supreme Court to decide, and I think after they take a look at this case, (and stop laughing) the court will give it to Franken.
All of this leads to what the Governer of Minnesota is going to do. If the State Supreme gives it to Franken, can Gov. Pawlenty possibly refuse? And if he does, doesn't that give Senator Reid the opening to just place Franken on his seat? If anyone could enlighten me about this I would appreciate it.
Login or Register to post comments.