Monday, January 05, 2009

AL FRANKEN WINS SENATE SEAT


Good news from Minnesota: The recount is over, and it is now clear that Al Franken won the Senate election.

Democrat Al Franken has been certified as the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate election, but the incumbent, Republican Norm Coleman, is determined to start a legal challenge.

The state Canvassing Board certified the recount this afternoon, showing that Franken had won by 225 votes. But no election certificate can be issued for at least a week. All this when we've got serious work to do in DC.

The board's action came hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Coleman's petition to include hundreds of rejected absentee ballots in the recount.Voters had signed their absentee cards, included personal notes and even used crayon on a few.

As we saw in the close Comptroller election here in Ulster County, you cant count absentee and provisional ballots with signatures, notes and double votes regardless of the intent. It seems the Minnesota recount stumbled upon hundreds of such ballots. Thus, Al Franken is certified as State Senator.

Republicans will certainly object to any quick seating of Franken, though, Coleman has already been locked out of his office.

Chuck Schumer said "There is no longer any doubt who will be the next senator from Minnesota. Even if all the ballots Coleman claims were double counted or erroneously added were resolved in his favor, he still wouldn't have enough votes to win."

Schumer also said in the AP: It is "crucial" that Minnesota's second seat in the Senate not go empty, implying that Franken should be seated when the rest of the Senate convenes to be sworn in Tuesday.

Minnesota's other seat is held by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat. With Franken on the Senate, the Democrats remain [what] one seat shy of a filibuster proof house? Amazing.

"This process isn't at the end," said Coleman attorney Tony Trimble. "It is now just at the beginning.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do the Republicans feel since they fought so hard to stop the recount in Florida in 2000. Now they are wild about recounts. Go figure.

Franken uses wit and sarcasm to get a point across to the people. It has always had more impact than some of the dry policy speeches we hear from so many other officials, I just hope his opinions and votes on the Senate floor remain painfully truthful.

Anonymous said...

It is simply astounding how a political party that campaigns on the ideals of open government and bipartisanship can in truth desire to operate in a manner that is the antithesis of those ideals. The Democrats cried out about the need of the voice of the minority in the Senate when they didn't hold the majority, but they are the party that reduced the number of votes needed for cloture from 66 to 60, and are anxiously pushing to reach 60 to be able to lock the Republicans out of the debate in the Senate.

Then after years of Democrat rule in the House, where the Democrats rendered the minority Republicans powerless, the Republicans gain the majority and in 1995 open up committee proceedings and grant the minority party, at that time the Democrats, more of a voice in debates over legislation then the Republicans enjoyed when they were in the minority. Stunning, isn't it, that it was evil Newt Gingrich who provided the Democrats with more of a voice while in the minority. Now I read that Pelosi and the Democrat majority in the house is attempting to undo all of that and again render the minority party, now the Republicans again, powerless and return to pushing legislation through under the cloak of darkness.

I don't know what bothers me most, the utter hypocrisy of it all or their apparent assumption that we are ignorant to their dealings.

Of course, I will be driven even further to the edge when, if the Republicans at some point take back either the House or the Senate, the Democrats begin to complain about the lack of voice they have as a result of their own work.

Anonymous said...

What the Republicans opposed in 2000 was endless recounts with ever changing rules with the hope by the Democrats that they could get one result that had Gore winning and then claim that one result was the legitimate one. As I recall I think there were at least two recounts. Neither party covered themselves in glory in Florida in 2000 with the media calling the election for Gore before the polls closed in the panhandle, the Democrats trying to have votes from military members not count and then the Florida State Supreme Court, according to their own Chief Justice, who happened to be a Democrat, shamelessly ignore the laws of their state in pushing judgements that favored Gore. Had they ruled as they should have there would have been no need for the case to go before the US Supreme Court.

Anonymous said...

Pathetic -

He is no more qualified to be a US Senator than, than, than,grrrrr, the thought of that little snippy turd in the Senate nauseates me.

Sorry to all of you who think sarcasm is intelligence.

R E S P E C T still goes a long way with civilised people.

Anonymous said...

There are a plethora of unqualified officials in charge of our security at any given moment, and yet, these are the times we chose to criticise the glorification of celebrity candidates?
Does Jesse Ventura ring a bell?

Anonymous said...

I like Al Franken's political views more than most conservative republicans, so by default, I would have voted for Al.

How he serves his state and our country remains to be seen, like all of the newly elected across the country.

Your fears may be unfounded.

Anonymous said...

I don't get this.

We think that a writer from Saturday Night Live is qualified to be a Senator, but Caroline Kennedy, a lawyer, is NOT?

What sort of Democratic logic is that?

Anonymous said...

Even though I usually disagree with your positions, I have great respect for this blog because of your willingness to allow comments that are contrary to your views be posted. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Al Frankin is a Harvard graduate...he is not just an snl writer.

Anonymous said...

I was disappointed in his victory press conference. I preferred to have him say something like this:
"I deserve to be a U.S. Senator, because I'm good enough...smart enough...strong enough...and doggone it, I'm Okay just being me!!"