GOP Dead Set Against 59th Democratic Senator, Especially If It's Franken

Having just seen what President Barack Obama can do with 58 Democrats in the Senate, Republicans are more determined than ever to keep him from getting a 59th.

Especially if the 59th is Al Franken.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Skeetshooter]

Thwarting the will of the voters is not in any way going to help the GOP regain their mojo. If they don't respect the democratic process then they are by definition, autocratic and elitist.

Actions speak louder than words. They shall be known by their deeds, and held accountable, to be swept aside by the electorate and by history.

[scubafox]

When Democrats even hint at challenging an election, Republicans cry and whine, "Sore loser!" Somehow the same doesn't apply to them and the media lets them get away with it.

[joshuahmcdonald]

I was dead set against Bush being elected President.­..TWICE!

Sorry guys, sometimes you don't get what you want in a Democracy.

[Skeetshooter]

Oh, but he was not elected in 2000; he was appointed by the courts.

[thevealchop]

I can't wait until he starts calling people out by name. It's going to be beautiful. I wonder if he's hiring...

[JISantiago]

So, this democracy -- GOP-style!

And the nerve of these unprincipled Republicans to call Hugo Chavez a dictator!

Whether you won by one vote or 200 votes, it is the majority decision of the electorate. Their wish is paramount to the narrow, selfish interest of the Republican Party.

It is a shame that the GOP wants to keep on challenging the election of Al Franken in order to delay or deny the Democrats their legitimate right to be the party with a 59-seat majority.

[marecek]

The last I heard, the Republicans in the US Senate don't get a vote in Minnesota's senatorial election. How nice to know that our esteemed Senators would like to block the will of the People. Not a pretty picture.

[Cinnamonape]

Coleman is now doomed. Las6t Friday the Minnesota Supremes not only parted down the number of categories of vote types that Coleman wanted added (like military absentee votes not postmarked, before, but SUBMITTED after the election had already ended). But the Supremes also established a very high bar for any additional votes to be counted.

"The court raised the burden of evidence shouldered by the Coleman campaign in adding additional ballots. Coleman attorneys must now prove that each ballot was actually legally cast, not just improperly rejected. This means any ballot that is added to the count must be shown to be the sole ballot submitted and that the voter did not submit an additional absentee ballot or arrive in person on Election Day to vote."

So Coleman must not only demonstrate a rejected ballot, but also show the voters name was absent from voting rolls on election day, and is not present on accepted absentee ballots. That there was no "double voting" This likely was decided by the court after a Coleman "witness" was shown to have had his absentee vote submitted by his girlfriend, but then went on to vote despite that vote being rejected. Thus the Coleman campaign was attempting to get an illegal second duplicate vote counted. This was the "penalty" for trying this!

[hexham]

great post. thanks for the info.

[omobob]

Why not a comic. We had a clown for 8 years?

[Smokey1424]

One more election and the Republicans will vanish into obscurity!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

[MNmommy]

indypete See Profile I'm a Fan of indypete I'm a fan of this user permalink

With your "close-up" view, do you have any idea how much longer this will take to play out or are the repubs going to be able to make it open-ended? Like a political version of the Iraq war.

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VivaZapata See Profile I'm a Fan of VivaZapata I'm a fan of this user permalink

yeah. i'd like the answer to that as well.

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No I don't. The more time I spend at The Uptake, the more frustrated I get, so I've been avoiding it lately. I think for this step - a few more weeks to maybe another two months? Depends on the rulings. But then if Franken prevails, I expect Coleman will appeal - I think at this point, if Coleman were to prevail - I think Franken might appeal.

I know, I know... UGH!

[treadway123]

The people are fed up with colemans antics, an the Republicans helping him this way has even republicans mad as heck! There cutting off support more!

[taddles]

The Repugs being "dead set against" Al is about as relevant as tit's on a bull moose. Luckily their fund raising has less than no effect on the election, it is in the hands of the capable and honest MN supreme court. They will make their rulings in a timely manner and Al will be seated soon and then we can all laugh at the Repugs while they squirm in their seats. The reason Repugs hate Al is because he is honest and speaks his mind, Repugs hate honesty.

[bronceye]

Obama needs only to say that he wants coleman sworn in as sen. The repubes, kneejerking, will quickly move to install Franken to thwart Obama. Case closed.

[MNTom]

While living in MN, all I have to say WE are sick of it. Frankin won the recount. Both Coleman and Frankin OKed for those absentee to not count. Now Coleman wants to count them. What a baby. The only reason why the GOP don't want Frankin in is that He'll push the Dems to get a backbone. If Coleman want to be be Senator so bad, he can go after Amy Klobersur in 4 years. HE can take some time off and regroup.

[jesthefaxman]

part two from below

The panel's order refuses to consider rejected absentee ballots in 13 of the 19 categories, emphasizing that the test under Minnesota law is whether the ballots were legally cast. If they don't comply with the absentee ballot statute, the panel held, the ballots were not legally cast. It seems to me a well-reasoned order.

After the panel's ruling, how many of the 4,797 rejected absentee ballots remain in issue? Jay Weiner talked to a number of participants and observers to try to reach an assessment. The consensus is that approximately 3,500 rejected absentee ballots remain in play.

The panel's ruling does not expressly address the the remaining six varieties of rejected absentee ballots it asked the parties to address or any others that may be at issue. UCLA Law School Professor Daniel Lowenstein comments: "One of the categories that the judges left open is for mismatches between the signature on the envelope and the registration signature. As one would expect, that is reportedly a large category. And it will be a time-consuming one to adjudicate. The end is not yet in sight.

The Coleman campaign thinks that as long as around 2,000 to 2,500 of the ballots ruled "in play" are eventually counted, Coleman's margin among those ballots will be enough to overtake Franken, assuming that he also wins the duplicate ballot issue. So, while this ruling could have been better for Coleman, I don't think it was fatal.

[MNmommy]

It's courtesy to provide "quotes" and a link when lifting writing of others....

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/02/022854.php

lest you be though of as a plagiarist.
.
P.S. Powerline? Seriously???? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Cinnamonape]

Certainly there may be that many ballots "in play", but the reality is that it's far fewer. And here is why.

The Minnesota Supreme Court raised the burden of proof the Coleman campaign must demonstrate in adding additional ballots. Coleman's attorneys must now establish a ballot was legally cast, not just improperly rejected. What this means is that they must show that a voter did not submit an additional absentee ballot or arrive in person on Election Day to vote. This requires the Coleman campaign to provide proof that the voters name is not found on the voters roll.

I suspect that this proviso was introduced when one of Coleman's witnesses that claimed his vote was inappropriately rejected (because his girlfriend had signed his voters envelope..­.which is actually precisely against MN law to prevent voter fraud)...w­as found to have voted in person on the day of the election. Thus counting his rejected vote would have created the very "double counting" that Coleman has asserted, with far less evidence, bolstered Franken's votes.

What Coleman did was tantamount to encouraging voter fraud. My suspicion is the court placed sanctions on such misbehavior occurring in the future.