Norm Coleman is doing everything he can to screw the Minnesota population by not throwing in the towel and giving the good voters of Minnesota a representative in the Senate and that man is Al Franken. But in all this legal rigamarole and hocus pocus they are using, why are the media ignoring this story? It's unfathomable. It's as if there was no election and one is not needed. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that they uninterested because it's a Republican obstructing the issue.
Traditionally, candidates who lost and cried foul had a rather short window to prove their case before the media lost patience and started calling the candidate out as petulant and self-involved. Just ask Al Gore, who was hounded in the press by the specter of the "sore loser" label practically from the moment he withdrew his concession in the early morning hours following Election Day. I doubt a day went by during the Florida recount when there wasn't a "sore loser" reference to Gore in the press. (In Nexis, I found nearly 900 "sore loser" press mentions in Gore articles between November and December 2000.)
For some reason, Coleman has been able to mostly avoid the dreaded "sore loser" label, one that can be a career-killer for any politician. Instead, the press has largely given Coleman and his Republican supporters an open canvas on which to operate. (A Nexis search finds just a handful of "sore loser" media mentions regarding Coleman since November.) As Coleman and his attorneys look over their recount legal options, they in no way have to be concerned about or factor into play the potential "sore loser" meme that could do real damage to his effort. They can play hardball with impunity because they're getting a free pass from the press.
The strange part is that Coleman's getting that press pass even though some members of the Republican Party have been brazenly open in discussing the Minnesota case in terms of a blatant stall campaign specifically designed to thwart Democrats from securing the critical 59th seat in the U.S. Senate. (A quirk in Minnesota election law means Franken, the state's winner to date, cannot be seated in the Senate while Coleman's appeals process plays out in Minnesota courts.)
"The battle in Washington is real. Every day in the Senate without Al Franken is a great day," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently told a Tulsa audience. Politico reported that Republicans back the idea of Coleman appealing his case indefinitely because "a long fight is worth it if it keeps Franken from becoming the 59th Senate Democrat, which would give President Barack Obama a huge advantage over the next two years." Even when Republicans cast the litigation marathon as a way to simply freeze out Franken, the press and its army of commentators remain distant, reluctant to cast aspersions on Coleman's rope-a-dope campaign
Even ABC's Jake Tapper is shocked by Coleman's tactics. Memo to the media: Please wake up and start reporting on this story. Why is it acceptable for Republicans to block this election to the media when the people of Minnesota have spoken? I'm working on an action alert to take effect after the court rules this week in Franken's favor.
UPDATE 1: Norm Coleman was dealt another blow when the court ruled against him today.
Norm Coleman appears to have lost his initial court challenge to Al Franken’s victory in the Minnesota Senate race, after a three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that just 400 absentee ballots would be considered for adding to the current count.
“We are very pleased with the court’s order,” said Franken lawyer Marc Elias, emphasizing that many of the 400 ballots could still be excluded.
Coleman trails the Democrat by 225 votes, which means it is nearly impossible for 400 ballots to swing the race in his favor. Many of the ballots come from Democratic-leaning counties, as well...read on.
