Tell Gov. Pawlenty to sign the certificate so Al Franken can finally be a Senator
By John Amato Sunday May 03, 2009 12:00pmIt's time for Gov. Pawlenty to certify Al Franken's victory so he can take his rightful seat in Congress. We are waiting for the Minnesota Supreme court to rule which is supposed to come in June. It's highly doubtful that they will overturn the election results so Americans United For Change produced this ad to let him know that we're watching. And the state of Minnesota is watching too.
All the polls show that they want this carnival over and Franken to become their new Senator.
According to the Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, nearly two-thirds of the 1,042 adults surveyed believe Norm Coleman should concede the race. A separate poll by the Alliance for a Better Minnesota shows about two-thirds of the 600 people polled believe the recount process was "fair, impartial, accurate, and carried out according to Minnesota law."
The findings come after Coleman filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, following a 3-judge panel's ruling that Franken won the Senate race by 312 votes. In his appeal, Coleman cites that there are over 4,000 rejected absentee ballots that should have been counted.
Political Analyst Ralph Doty, who himself voted for the Independent candidate, said at this point in the game, Minnesotans are being "deprived." Von Thill of Cloquet said he agrees. "There's more important things to get resolved right now, with the economy, and everything else."
Gov. Pawlenty can't succumb to pressure from the Limbaugh National Committee and keep obstructing him. If Norm Loserman wants to go to the Roberts Court, that shouldn't stop Gov. Pawlenty from signing off.
Call 800-657-3717 and tell him to certify Al Franken.
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Just goes to prove, republicans have piss in their veins
Do we allow all votes or just the ones that we feel may be voting for us?
Most people in Minnesota follow the rule of law(Bachmann is an exception) Pawlenty will be crucified as an anarchist and a cheat if he attempts to finagle out of doing the simple right thing...he has no choice.
If after the Minnesota Supreme Court decides for Franken and Pawlenty keeps obstructing his being seated, Ol' Tim will never win another election in that state. At some point he's going to have to choose between re-election or risking the ire of the national Repugs.
this asshole doesn't certify Franken I gotta believe the citizens of Minn.will run ALL repuklicans out of the state in the next election cycle, so go ahead Gov. stall and beat around the bush and your political career will be over!
this will be an ongoing strategy if there isn't some revising/regulation regarding voting tabulation. no
election is perfect there's going to be margin of error. this really hurts "the people" the system of democracy. not to overlook the monetary cost. i don't know the answer to this but it's going to be an ongoing problem/a political strategy.
We can all call. He won't sign. If the MSSC rules for Franken, Team Coleman will appeal to USSC. This will drag on for at least another 6 - 12 months.
Wrong, Minnesotans have their limits and this is it. I look for Normy to quit (he wants a future).
But if I understand Minnesota law correctly, if the MSSC rules for Franken, I don't think that Pawlenty would have a legal way to avoid certifying Franken.
While I'd personally have no problem with it if Coleman somehow disappeared into a black hole and was never seen again, part of me is curious to see what kind of grounds he could come up with to take this into federal court. It's a state election, conducted under state law - is he going to claim that MN election laws violate the US Constitution? Because, if that's the case, wouldn't that mean that all the elections he won were actually illegal?
Barring a judicial miracle, we're a month away from a resolution to the Minnesota race. At some point, it's likely that Pawlenty will be forced to do what all politicians dread: take a stand and make a decision, knowing some of his current supporters (either on the right or in the center) will walk away in disgust.
Tim Pawlenty is important because the Republicans are looking for a particular winning formula: one that soothes their hard-core base while also reaching out to all those independents and centrists who stampeded to Obama in the 2008 election. So far, Pawlenty is articulating that message best. Pawlenty told other party leaders “Ronald Reagan was president a long time ago. A lot has happened since then. So the challenge for us is how do you take the principles from the late ’70s and ’80s and apply them to the circumstances and issues and opportunities of our time.”
So Pawlenty tiptoes to the left: he wants the GOP to put forward their own ideas on renewable energy, college tuition and so forth. Strategically he wants to attack across the board, in every area where the GOP has been sagging: the northeast, the Pacific states, women, blacks, Hispanics.
But then Pawlenty lurches to the right: he is anti-abortion and appointed an anti-abortion guy to the bench; he wants the Pledge of Allegiance required in schools; he wants to drill in ANWR; he wants to leave health care up to the market; he wants to make Bush’s tax cuts permanent. In other words, he says he wants to reach out to the blue states and the centrists, but he just wants their votes – he’s still out on the right wing, for all his pragmatic rhetoric. We can fantasize about Pawlenty switching parties like Specter, but his actual policies are pretty out there to the right.
Something to watch: in the next year, who joins him on his crusade to win back centrists? If there is a trend in that direction, Pawlenty can afford to be a little more brave.
I think his performance in the Franken situation will be a perfect barometer to measure just how far to the left or right he will go. If he folds and certifies Franken quickly, then he’s apealing to the center. If he stonewalls, then he’s sticking with the rightwing party base.
I think that in the end, he sticks with the conservatives. Pawlenty is only 48 and he’s already governor: either he takes the next step, national office, or he spends the next 30 years as a talking head on Fox. And remember that he has never run for national office before: Romney, Huckabee and Palin have already pitched in The Show -- it does make a difference. Can he establish national credibility before people forget who he is? That issue mitigates in favour of his staying in the governor’s job.To do that, he would need help from the national party: he only won the governor’s job by one percent last time, his approval is at an all-time low, and the Democrats could easily field a strong opponent, particularly if he angers the center and the left with his handling of the Franken issue. Also, right now the GOP is domnated by extremists who are hell-bent on expelling apostate “traitors”, so tacking to the center is dangerous not only for him but for any other Republican who thinks like him (look what they just did to Huntsman!). And again, Pawlenty’s record is pretty far to the right anyway, particularly for Minnesota.
Which takes us back to the original question: how does a Republican satisfy both the center and the right? Pawlenty's dilemma is the GOP's dilemma -- how to satisfy the base and the center both. Reagan figured it out, and so did Obama: can the Republicans break the code?
http://hellodollyllama.blogspot.com/2009/05/p...
Friend just tried the 800 number and it didn't work from her state. So you may need the regular number which is: 1-651-296-3391. Or we could bombard with faxes at 1-651-296-2089 (I will be doing both). He is basically telling the folks of MN that their votes don't count. I think that is not wise for him when it's time for his reelection!
If Pawlenty hems and haws enough, maybe Franken can run against him in 2010 for governor. Wouldn't that be rich?
Whether it's Texas secessionists, Minnesota Coleman boosters or Florida dittoheads, the number of batshit crazy people seems to be about one third nationwide. This number has been remarkably stable. Now if only there was something that could be introduced into the environment that only takes out wingnuts and leaves the rest of us healthy....
If he certifies he'll be ruined in the current, law-ignoring and unreasonable Republican party (Pawlenty had the makings of moderate at one point, but had to sell his soul to the "movement" to get elected). If he doesn't certify and this goes all the way to the SCOTUS, his political career in MN career is probably ruined. Only the most hardened partisan will fail to recognize this for what it is--political shenanigans and it is unlikely that in a blue state like MN, he'd be forgiven. However, given the current configuration of the SCOTUS and their lamentable record with involving themselves inappropriately in the electoral process, it could be a very interesting--if frustrating--development.
Where the heck is the outrage in Minnesota?? Don't they care there that they are under-represented due to pressure from a completely unethical Texas Senator? I guess they're too busy window shopping in the Mall of America.
...its the Christian way to make life difficult for anyone who does not agree with your religion and political views. Thus ANY democrat will get a NO vote from Christian Gov. Pawlenty...as he will force them in to the misery, cost and frustration of the courts...just to make it difficult. YEP...thats the way the Christian Right, Fiscal Conservative Republicans operate. Franken will have to take Pawlenty to court to get his signature...even when the State Supreme Court rule in his favor. ANYHING to delay his being able to vote!
Tom Erickson, Spokesmen for the Coleman Campaign issued the following statement:
"Elections have never been decided by a public opinion poll and neither will this recount. The rights of the 4,400 Minnesota citizens to have their voices heard and their votes counted is not a popularity contest..."
Franken's camp did not return our request for comment.
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Who needs Fox when you have this sort of bias 'reporting.' Gotta be 'fair and balanced' and end with a quote from the loser--and be careful about presenting appropriate facts. Just make it seem like the fascist is a populist...yeah, that's the ticket!
Whatever happened to all of those indignant Dems after 2000 and their plans to fix the election process?
In case you didn't notice, Franken won legitimately. Unlike a certain chimpy smirker.
the blogs start to bring pressure on Pawlenty. He thinks he is being a good little Republican--why, to show he is a contender for president in 2012. More blogs need to start screaming loudly for this, then the main stream will pick it up and the pressure is on. This is the only way to get Pawlenty to do the right, show in public what an obstructionist he is.
Why the hell is this process taking so long? They were able to anoint chimpy the imbecile in six weeks. This is just a Senate race. WTF?
Even if he certified the election tomorrow, it would be too late. When he gets turned out of office in the next election, he'll have pawlenty to think about with all that free time on his hands.
call Pawlenty. Corruption and crime pay handsomely in the u.s.a. in broad daylight on your lunch hour, why would he change a hair for us. Call Elliot Ness why don't we.
is what they do best. What's a measly senate race after hijacking two national elections. It's easy, never a consequence.
STILL we think phone calls & blogs will make a difference after 9 years of failure.
Take the red pill.
After that? Listen, this guy has been my little weasel of a Gov for years now and I'm betting he will do ANYTHING the national GOP tells him to do. Screw the rest of us because he's not listening. He SO wants to be a national player he practically drools in public at the thought of it, so it all depends on what deal the GOP offers him for his resistance.
And, yes, so-called "liberal" Minnesota re-elected this worthless weasel. And, yes, that's one reason I though Franken _wasn't_ a good match for Minnesota and why we are still having this discussion six months after the election.
Watch the snarks, John. Phrases like "Norm Looserman" and "Limbaugh National Committee" are cute but diminish our "high ground" creds. Let the right call US names. We don't have to reciprocate.
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