Gov. Pawlenty must certify Al Franken, and Coleman needs to concede
After the latest court ruling that heavily favors Al Franken in his election contest with Norm Coleman, it will now be up to Governor Pawlenty to issue a certificate to Franken.
Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed the review of no more than 400 absentee ballots in a race he currently leads by 225 votes. Coleman’s camp says an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is coming; once that’s done, the dispute lands in Pawlenty’s lap.
If Franken’s ahead at that point, Pawlenty will have a choice: sign the election certificate that will allow Democrats to seat Franken in the Senate or play to the Republicans whose support he’d need in 2012 by withholding the certificate while Coleman challenges the election in the federal court system.
“The Republican Party nationally and in Minnesota is playing not just with fire, but with dynamite,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, a Democrat and the dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.
Oberstar — like a lot of Democrats — says November’s election should finally be over as soon as the Minnesota Supreme Court rules.
If Pawlenty and the Republicans push it further, he says, “this thing is going to blow up in their face.”
This whole thing makes Minnesota look like fools. Coleman should fold up his tent and let the voters have a representative. Pawlenty should do the honorable thing and issue the certificate so Franken can be seated. If Coleman takes it further so be it, but it could hurt his chances of continuing in Minny politics.
The longer Coleman pushes out the legal fight over the 2008 election, the more he risks alienating Minnesota voters who have already begun to care less about the last race and are ready to move on with their lives.
All the way back in December, Survey USA conducted a poll in which 40 percent of the sample said that the candidate on the losing end of the recount (it hadn't been concluded at that point) should file a legal challenge to the results while 55 percent said the losing candidate should not challenge the results in court.
In mid-January, Research 2000 did a poll for the liberal Daily Kos Web site that showed that 34 percent of Minnesotans supported Coleman going forward with a legal challenge to the results while 47 percent opposed such a move. (Yes, we know that the poll was conducted for a liberal blog but Research 2000 is generally regarded as a reputable firm in the polling community.)
"There's definitely risk," said one senior Republican operative of Coleman's strategy. "Time is definitely a problem."
This is all about the Republicans trying to block Franken from getting to the Senate and adding another vote for the Democratic Party. And they need everyone they can get because it's clear that conservatives will just say "NO" to just about everything.
Once the recount is done and Franken is ahead, C&L will be pushing through an action directed at Gov. Pawlenty. Free Al Franken!
A comedian is preferable to Coleman I suppose. The damage can't be any worse.
Nice smart ass retort. Senator Franken will be a welcome addition to the Senate.
Indeed, a smart ass response. Anyone who has listened to Franken knows that he's got everything it takes to be a great Senator.
He was motivated to run after the Republicans perverted Senator Paul Wellstone's memorial for political advantage.
He has made many USO visits to Iraq and Afghanistan to support the troops.
He knows the issues and he knews Senatorial procedure.
Coleman, on the other hand, changes parties and positions when it suits him, and is nothing more than a tool of the Republican party.
"The Good and Great Must Ever Shun, That Reckless and Abandoned One
Who Stoops to Perpetrate a Pun," Lewis Carroll, 'The Three Voices.'
Coleman could have won. After the last 8 years of republican stewardship, any rational objective evaluation of the two parties would conclude that on the whole republican govt is worse than democratic govt.
If he'd heeded his own election day advice and conceded, he might not have been, but we've come to find out it's all about Norm Coleman, all the time, and NOT the people of Minnesota.
To paraphrase Stuart Smalley, Norm, repeat after me:
I’m (not) good enough (or I would have won outright), I’m (not) smart enough (to see that I'm not making any friends by depriving Minnesotans of full representation in the Senate), and dog-gone it, people (don't) like me (much any more). (In fact, some of them really, really, really don't like me and wish I'd just pack my bags and leave.)
"Trust no one, Mr. Mulder." - Well-Manicured Man
Your not gonna' amount to JACK SQUAT!
Anyone know how long this could go on if Sore Loser Coleman pushes this into the federal court system (assuming Pawlenty doesn't issue Franken a certificate?)
Could be a year in fed court. HOWEVER I believe Franken could counter sue based on the law that says once the court battle in MN is over the gov has to issue a cert. So if Norm decides to go federal, Al will sue Pawlenty to force him to issue the cert. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long.
have we not realized that conservatives love our freedom and democracy more than anyone else? that is until the majority votes against them, in which case those ideas become worthless.
for a while. Get the kids working and on paying for those entitlements.
Have I missed something here or is your comment pretty "out there" and responding to some invisible thread? Last time I looked this topic had to do with the Coleman/Franken election.
i think she was saying if the majority right now likes obama, then they are socialists which will then blow up in their faces. so it's pretty much driving my point home. a democratic representative government is the way to go, until i'm in the minority, then it's just a bunch of idealistic hippie bullshit.
did i get that right evet?
Please the poor repug blogger is out of work. She's on teh pay as you throw plan the repug NRC has instituted.
Check out the pharmacy.
so if you are one of the lucky few who's parents are wealthy then you shouldn't have to work and you are entitled to entitlement.
but if your one of the many who through whatever circumstance grow up working anyway you shouldn't be entitled?
so like a really smart kid (with access to private education and more likely to have a home environment stressing education) should get an academic scholarship.
but then a not quite as smart kid (with whatever encouragement and humble education) shouldn't be offered one because they just didn't test as well.
reward the stable and deny the needy. you like self-fulfilling prophecies don't you.
how will we fill our prisons if we don't have a huge disparity in wealth. all those poor private prison companies will lose their contracts. judges won't be able to be bribed into locking children up. it would just be awful.
The longer Coleman acts like a whining baby when it's clear that this race is over, the greater damage he does to his chances EVER to be involved in politics. People remember these things and right now with the GOP looking like a gang of babies themselves, he will be ranked among them and NEVER win an election.
Of folks don't know it but Coleman has SUED after losing all election in the past weather it was 1 0r more elections! This guy will not concede and he won't go away and if Pawlenty certifies Franken........I''ll believe it when I see it!Pawlenty has already shown the world that he is every bit the republican tool as Coleman is!
Is it my imagination or does Norm Coleman look like a direct descendant of Herman Munster? Ew......I can't stand to even look at that guy.
IMO.
A mask would suffice.
like that kid in mask...maybe that was Norm?
Love child of Mr Ed and Secretariat perhaps ?
or something.
him Evet.
If Pawlenty drags his feet any longer since this appears to be well over and won by Franken, his chances in a general election will be slim to none.
Already Pawlenty's reputation is besmerched by the mere "scandal" involved in this seating of the obvious winner. Pawlenty's political capital hangs in the balance and each day that this drones on, Tim Pawlenty's chances for 2012 look dimmer and dimmer.
Tick, Tock and the Pawlenty 2012 clock is ticking like a timebomb destroying his reputation and eroding any chance he may have in 2012.
I can only conclude that losing power has made all Republican officeholders crazy. Literally, clinically crazy. There is no other explanation for their behavior in the past 3 months.
have had plenty of Pawlenty, if he denies Franken it's over for him
Republicans will take this all the way to the Supreme Court, without a doubt. Don't be surprised if they win there.
If the Supremes put Coleman back into the Senate... it might be time for "judges hangin'"
Maybe we should all start referring to him as "Sore Loser Coleman" everytime we need to mention his name and hope it starts getting some air play.
The media only pulls that crap on the peoples party
The irresponsible and dangerous Republican leadership is HOPING that they WILL NOT lose additional Senate seats in the 2010 elections. IF Gov. Pawlenty obstructs the seating of Senator Franken, he is ensuring that Senate Democrats will ignore Senate Republicans completely when the Democrats inevitably gain a 60 plus majority as a result of the 2010 elections. Republican leaders are masochistically/stupidly continuing to drive their party into an increasingly deeper ditch, and the majority of American voters are continuing to be more thoroughly ashamed, disgusted and angry with the menagerie of clowns, goons and hypocrites leading today's dysfunctional and defective Republican Party. Today's GOP is nothing more than a sad collection of morally and ethically defective mutants, miscreants and kamikaze loyalists who are crashing and burning all things Republican.
You seem to have forgotten that Harry Reid is Senate leader.
should just pull an Al Gore and admit defeat graciously.
Gore actually lost...
:-)
me-oww!
on the trail they left he did. But he didn't go on and on for weeks crying and whining. This is ridiculous. Franken will be seated just in time for re-election.
You have to be certified insane to work in Congress?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Barney_Frank_Re...
Seriously, count the freekin votes and whomever gets the most becomes the Senator.
How hard is that? If they can do it in Zimbabwe, why the hell can't they do it in the U.S.?
By a panel of judges in Minnesota.
2 GOP judges and 1 Dem judge have certified that Franken has won the election.
This is stonewalling and or obstruction.
I think the GOP are trying to wait out Obama's 100 days.
This will turn on them and bite them in the ass.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Being a Minnesotan, I pay more attention to politics than most people do. Believe me, we will NOT FORGET Republicans playing games with our important representation in Washington D.C. Even Pawlenty loses political points in the national arena. He has no sense of decency in allowing our electoral system to function properly. That is a stain on his career. Coleman, trust me, already knows he has no political future in Minnesota. That ship has long sailed. And finally, Michelle Bachmann is a truly reprehensible person for taking a distinguished representation of our state and turning it into a clown show.
All of you, have you no shame, no honor, or decency? You DO NOT represent me or my fellow Minnesotans. I am with C&L and ready to storm the capital.
This, for T Paw, is not about 2012, it's about 2010. He has to run a gubernatorial race and be re-elected to have a decent chance at his party's nomination for president. If he exposes himself as the weasel he is, then his chances in 2010 against a reasonable candidate are slim. Some people are speculating that he may not even run in 2010. In that case he may just decide to go full weasel and pander to the nut-job right (see: world currency). If the Minnesota Supreme Court rules in Franken's favor, and T Paw refuses to sign the election certificate, his political future in the State of Minnesota is bleak at best. So, does he look like a reasonable person or jump in with the know-nothings. By his not signing the election certificate under any conditions, including a US Supreme Court ruling, he could keep Franken out of the Senate for over a year or more. I smell a weasel.
Always has. He wants to be a national player soooo badly. Guess it depends on what they can offer him that he wants.
As for Oberstar, yeah, I'm sure Congress is just quaking at the thought that those savage junkyard dogs Pelosi and Reid might get on their asses.
And they're stinking up his entire home state.
Somebody just turned in 250 votes, all for Coleman, found in the trunk of a '66 Volkswagon.
He was an incumbent and he couldn't win a fricken majority against a candidate people weren't real sure about. I think Frankin is a brilliant man and will make a fine senator but he's an unknown politically. And Norm couldn't beat him. Coleman is the stuff you scape of your shoe after walking in the yard on a spring day. You know what I mean? He's probably going to want to leave town for good after this is all over. Of course he always was an opportunist. I'm assuming he's being paid handsomely by the Republicans to keep that one extra Democrat out of the Senate.
But it's been all worth it if, as Oberstar predicts, the state loses its patients for Republicans. Michelle Bachmann is a joke that keeps on playing. I'd like to find all the people who voted for her and make them put Michelle Bachmann bumper stickers on their cars.
Jeanne
The Republicans aren't pulling this out just because of the extra seat in the Senate. They *HATE* Al Franken. I can't wait until Franken gets seated and shows everyone what a great, smart, motivated Senator can really do.
There is real potential in that guy to become a GREAT STATESMAN... and the Republicans hate his guts.
Kind of reminds me of the way they all feel about Hillary... who now has THE WORLD at her fingertips.
is going to lose the next election, and lose by a wide margin, if he doesn't certify Frankin. Just a hunch.
Pawlenty drink your Pepto!
REPUBLICANS ARE GOING DOWN!
If Pawlenty turns his tele on he may decide to be the Governor of Minnesota instead
of a Limbaugh Lemming.
How great is it to see our POTUS BEING LOVED BY OTHERS WORLDWIDE?
UNBELIEVABLE AND SOOOOOO GOOD!
Sure the RNC and Coleman can drag this out if Pawlenty doesn't certify Franken, but all it does is reinforce the concept that the RNC is staffed with total d!cks, with a base of total d!cks, pushing a pro-total d!ck agenda. Pawlenty's actions here could, in theory, endear him to this d!ck base, and it wind up being enough to get him the nomination in 2012, or at least an offer of being Palin's running mate :D but it will do nothing to endear him to the mods and indies who are continually tilting politically towards Obama. There will be a slew of ads talking about how "Pawlenty wouldn't allow democracy in Minnesota, how will he outlaw democracy in the White House?" It's a cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face d!ck move.
On the flip side, were he to certify Franken, he could actually play that out to his advantage with the mods and indies: a sort of "I disagree with Franken's politics but a clear, albiet, small majority of the state I govern for the people made their choice clear. To refuse their will is to refuse the principles of our government, the rule of law." Will it endear him to the base? No, but it will go miles towards making Republicans look like they have some degree of sane leaders, which would be a very good thing IF Republicans ever want to lead again. As it is, their game plan seems to be to keep acting crazy until enough voters go back to being crazy that they can steal elections again. They might not like Pawlenty for certifying Franken, but if it scores them bona fide political points from timid moderates who are endorsing Obama because the GOP is acting so pigfrickin' crazy, maybe it's worth it. The alternative is to have this carry on for a year, and by the time Franken IS certified, the GOP will have lost even more good will. Voters will understand even more than they did in 2008 thatthe message to the Republican party has to be 100% clear, and not only will more Republicans lose Congressional elections, it will happen by wider margins, and distrcits that should be safe will be squeakers. As I see it, Pawlenty certifying Franken is actually the smartest move he could make, for him AND the GOP.
finally says enough is enough and does certify Franken, does he(Pawlenty)not understand he will be a hero to the good folks of Minn. and if he doesn't certify Franken, he will be committing political SUICIDE?
but the leader of the Republican Party hates Franken and Pawlenty wants to be the GOP figurehead for 2012 so we all should know what Pawlenty will do. He'll do what Great Leader Rush tells him to do.
Congratulations Al.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
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