Right Thinking From The Left Coast
We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time. - Vince Lombardi

Senator Stuart Smalley
by West Virginia Rebel

It’s now official, sort of.

A Minnesota board certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state’s U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that will keep the race in limbo for weeks.

The Canvassing Board’s declaration started a seven-day clock for Sen. Coleman, the incumbent, to file a lawsuit protesting the result. His attorney Tony Trimble said the challenge will be filed within 24 hours.

The challenge will keep Mr. Franken from getting the election certificate he needs to take the seat in Washington. Mr. Trimble said the process “is now just at the beginning.”

So does Coleman have a case? The Republicans seem to think so:

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan announced the following statement tonight.

“Al Franken’s declarations of victory are as inaccurate as they are premature.  This recount has taken some time and we won’t know a winner for weeks to come.  And, when a winner finally does emerge, we are confident it will be Norm Coleman. 

During this process, Minnesotans have shown a great amount of patience and respect; Al Franken and Washington Democrats should follow their lead and do the same.”

I was supportive of Coleman. But, as much as I can’t stand the guy, if Franken won, then he won. The more Coleman objects, the more it looks like he and the GOP are pulling a Sore Loserman act.

Posted by West Virginia Rebel on 01/05/09 at 03:27 PM (Discuss this in the forums)

Comments


Posted by on 01/05/09 at 04:49 PM from United States

if Franken won, then he won.

Understatement of the year, right there.  Thank you WVR for that insightful bit of analysis.

The problem is that, no matter how much Franken et al want to claim victory, it’s still totally unclear who actually did win.  We’ve seen Franken gain votes through wholly inconsistent decision-making from precinct to precinct, allowing some previously uncounted votes while rejecting others.

This is no “Sore Loserman” act by Coleman.  I saw this happen right here in my own state, where victory was snatched away by Democrats by “finding” new ballots, double-counting others and inconsistent counting procedures among precincts and counties.  Coleman better fight this all the way.

Posted by InsipiD on 01/05/09 at 05:01 PM from United States

The problem is that, no matter how much Franken et al want to claim victory, it’s still totally unclear who actually did win.

It’s actually much clearer that Coleman won than Franken.  Franken has gained hundreds of votes from precincts that are returning vote totals that are higher than the number of voters for that day.  With this being the case, I don’t see how anything other than the original vote totals can be certified.  Notice that the Democrats are suddenly in a hurry to certify now that Franken is doubtfully ahead.

Posted by Hal_10000 on 01/05/09 at 06:52 PM from United States

I agree with InsipiD.  The vote-stealing in this race has been ridiculous, like the district where the election night totals were higher than the votes recounted.  But they accepted the election night total anyway.

Coleman should concede simply because we’re just dragging it out at this point.  We all know that Republicans have to blow out their opponent to win.  Any close race is going to get stolen.

Posted by on 01/05/09 at 07:41 PM from United States

I too thought at last count, Coleman had by far, the most solid lead.

Posted by on 01/05/09 at 09:02 PM from United States

So..2.9 million votes cast...Franken wins by 225. This is 0.008% of the votes cast. Anyone want to hazard a guess of the margin of error in an election? I don’t know, but I’m damn sure it’s more than 0.008%.

Imagine a 0.1% margin of error. (And in a hand recount, I’ll bet it’s higher than that.) With 2.9 million ballots, that’s still 2900 votes.

Ultimately, this race was a statistical tie. They should have a runoff...they might as well flip a coin.

Posted by on 01/06/09 at 12:26 AM from United States

I’d love to see Franken get in---and then get impeached.  He’s an ex-comedian with the emphasis on “ex,” turned into the mirror-universe version of Ann Coulter.

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