After counting, Franken’s lead increases to 312 votes.
At some point, Norm Coleman is going to have to recognize that he’s falling further and further behind at every stage of the process. He’s going to have to admit defeat. I don’t know when that day will come — maybe, as John Cornyn said, it will be years. But Norm Coleman has lost. All he can do at this point is delay the seating of the duly elected Junior Senator from the Great State of Minnesota. That man is Al Franken.
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I wonder if any of the folks who were in such a hurry for Gov. Blagojevich to appoint a senator for IL — couldn’t even wait for him to be forced out of office (as he was a week after the previous senator was inaugurated as president), because it was SO IMPORTANT for IL to have two senators — are in a similar hurry for Norm Coleman to give up so MN can have two senators as well.
Yeah, seriously, PG. OMG, this is violating the Constitutional Rights of the people!
—Myca
All he can do at this point is delay the seating of the duly elected Junior Senator from the Great State of Minnesota.
What’s the downside for Coleman to doing this? The threshold to pass things in the Senate is still 60, so having an empty seat amounts to the same thing outcome-of-legislation-wise as having Coleman there voting against every Democratic bill.
All he can do at this point is delay the seating of the duly elected Junior Senator from the Great State of Minnesota.
Why do you think he’s doing it? At this point, I’m pretty sure that’s the whole point.
(And how much does anyone want to bet that if Minnesota didn’t have a mandatory-recount law Coleman would’ve denounced any challenge from Franken as obstructionist and sore losing?)
Kyra,
Actually, the initial vote total favored Coleman, and he did call for Franken to concede and for him to ask that no recount be done. The man has no shame.
Via wikipedia: Coleman calls for Franken to concede .
Actually, the initial vote total favored Coleman, and he did call for Franken to concede and for him to ask that no recount be done. The man has no shame.
Indeed, though later, he said he wished he hadn’t said that, and I’m sure he does — after all, it has made it tougher for him to obstruct things.
Norm continues because Norm is an egomaniac. Always has been, always will be. The GOP continues to support his efforts so that MN doesn’t have two democratic senators fighting for their state. MN has, in the past decade, become a battleground for the GOP, trying to win over a traditionally small-l liberal state. With Norm gone all they will have left is their darling Pawlenty, who isn’t faring too well because his policies have decimated our cash reserves.