Franken's Fate In Hands Of GOP Gov. Pawlenty

Politico:

The legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty -- a no-win predicament for a Minnesota Republican with his eye on a White House run in 2012.

Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed the review of no more than 400 absentee ballots in a race he currently leads by 225 votes. Coleman's camp says an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is coming; once that's done, the dispute lands in Pawlenty's lap.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[salmo]

This needs to become much more expensive for both Coleman and the GOP. Coleman needs to become a symbol for what is wrong with the failed GOP ideology and strategy. The politics of whining and obstruction need to be shown for what it is - a defense of the the indefensible. On the Senate side, our leadership needs to make the minority pay - perhaps by a version of the "nuclear option" the next time a 60 vote supermajority is demanded on the basis that we are one vote short right now. This isn't about Coleman anymore. If the Republicans will not allow an orderly transition after they have lost, and the Democrats do not force the issue, then we have lost an essential element of our democratic tradition.

[doctorwang]

Let's hope Harry Reid has got the baIIs to stand up to the G0P and seat Franken once the MN Supreme Court makes the ruling....­...

[WorkingClass]

Harry Reid? Hahahahahaha!

[stonelaw]

Pawlenty is actually in a GREAT situation. Seat Frankin and tell the wingnuts in his party to kiss his behind.

With all that publicity, he could then announce that he's heading the New Republican Party (call it what you want) and start bringing in even-minded voters from both parties and independents.

Sooner or later some republican is going to figure out that you can't win by playing up to the right wingnuts. Might as well be Pawlenty.

[Mavsreader]

I agree with your assessment completely, stonelaw.

[donbrown]

Good point...I just don't think he has the guts to do it.

I really hope I am wrong.

[doctorwang]

nor do I - no Repug wants to lose that ultrarightwing base.

[marignymitch]

If Coleman can get this case to the Supremes the election is his. This is the GOP strategy.

[marignymitch]

Count me amazed that this election--in Minnesota of all places--was close.

[AndThenOneDay]

Why? There's no recount to stop. What are the supremes going to use as a pretext?

[schicklett3]

Guess we all know how this will end up....

[43P04T34]

It's bitter already.

It's the end already.

Let it go, Norm.

[SurrealPumpkin]

Fortunately the SCOTUS has a precedent for this :)

Don't count the votes.

[TeeLolly]

Of course, the Supreme Court made it clear that its ruling should not be used as precedent, ever ...

[SurrealPumpkin]

They'll have a hard time defending that! It should be fun watching them squirm :)

[marxmarv]

As if the current right wing of SCOTUS ever cared to play by the rules.

[guntotinganglion]

Minnesota is starting to make Florida look good.

[Peaceisnecessary]

Pawlenty will fall in line with the GOP tricks. There is not one Republican that can stand up to Boss Russ Limbaugh. Most are cowards and mean-spirited. To belong to that party says it all. I know Meghan McCain really wishes she was a Democrat.

[AndThenOneDay]

Pawlenty wants to be pres. one day. His best shot is VP. He would be brought in to balance a more conservative pres. on the ticket. As such, he would be important to independents (opposite of Palin's role). That being the case, this little episode would not be forgotten. It will show him to be extremely partisan, wasting tax-payer money, etc. That's the chance he's taking right now. He's killing his chance of getting on a republican ticket if he isn't very careful.

[power1]

Coleman is starting acting like Al Gore.

[bichn]

Unlike Coleman, Al Gore had a legitimate case.

[Alison DeLuca]

Yup, President Gore won a majority of the votes. Like Franken in Minnesota, like Murphy in NY....

[guntotinganglion]

Main difference being, Al Gore actually won the popular election by over half a million votes...an­d had every right to do what he did with that in mind. He only lost because the Bush Crime Syndicate called in all their markers and turned the Supreme Court on a dime (much like turning the Titanic on a dime) in shutting down a state Supreme Court decision that the Feds should have stayed out of. Redumbnicans are all about keeping the federal government out of state issues...u­ntil they have something to gain...whi­ch is to say, they are shameless hypocrites.

Now Coleman on the other hand, lost by what, 250 votes? Also, Al Gore's challenge lasted what, 2 months...w­e're closing on 6 months with this idiotic partisan, and deeply frivolous legal activity. So, there's really no comparison. Using Al Gore like this is a typical cheap shot when you've got little else to offer.

[osage]

WOULD SANE PEOPLE COMMIT POLITICAL SUICIDE?

The irresponsible and dangerous Republican leadership is HOPING that they WILL NOT lose additional Senate seats in the 2010 elections. IF Gov. Pawlenty obstructs the seating of Senator Franken, he is ensuring that Senate Democrats will ignore Senate Republicans completely when the Democrats inevitably gain a 60 plus majority as a result of the 2010 elections. Republican leaders are masochisti­cally/stup­idly continuing to drive their party into an increasingly deeper ditch, and the majority of American voters are continuing to be more thoroughly ashamed, disgusted and angry with the menagerie of clowns, goons and hypocrites leading today's dysfunctional and defective Republican Party. Today's GOP is nothing more than a sad collection of morally and ethically defective mutants, miscreants and kamikaze loyalists who are crashing and burning all things Republican.

[doctorwang]

I absolutely agree.

[doctorwang]

I have to add that I really enjoyed your description of "Today's G0P..."

[Alison DeLuca]

You are so right.

[doctorwang]

If Coleman and/or the G0P are successful in dragging this through the federal court system....­.and manage to stall seating Franken for years (as Cornyn suggests).­..will Franken be entitled to serve a full six year term starting on the day he is seated?
If so, it may not pay for the G0P to delay the inevitable­....

[SurrealPumpkin]

Will he be entitled to back pay?

[doctorwang]

I doubt he'd be paid for it....but who knows. I'm sure the money isn't as much of a issue to the people of MN who voted for Franken as whether or not he will get to serve a full term of 6 years.

[jsgaetano]

If your only hope is to ask a Republican to put his country ahead of his party... you're in for a long wait.

[BarackstarObama]

The GOP governor cannot put Coleman in power, unless he miraculously pulls ahead in the vote count. The most he can do is stall, but Franken will prevail soon, I hope.

[Doofus]

But he can keep Franken out of the Senate for the foreseeable future, while
the matter wanders through the court system.

If Pawlenty 'slips up' & allows Al Franken to exceed his grasp, he will get
no Repo support at all for whatever future political ambitions he has.
So, it'd be up to the good citizens of Minnesota to turn up the heat,
and in the process shut down the good governors career.

[Golfer59]

Pawlenty should "Recalled" if he plays with the system for political gain. The people have spoken and they don't want Coleman.

[donbrown]

What an awful conundrum for Pawlenty, who seems a nice enough guy, and fairly smart.

Unfortunately, I don't think he has the guts to stand up to his goofy party and seat Franken.

I hope I am wrong, but I think his spine is made of jello.

[jsgaetano]

If he seats Franken, there aren't enough apologies to Limbaugh to save his career among the Goopers.

And considering Pawlenty is a Gooper with dreams of being defeated by Obama in 2010... hell will freeze over before Pawlenty would put his country ahead of his party.

[doctorwang]

true- he won't have to just ki$$ ElRushbo's a$$.....he­'ll have to crawl up into it and massage it from the inside....­.

[donbrown]

2012...Don­'t rush it!

[Fathoms]

Will the D.O.J. kindly indict Coleman and get this Theater of the Absurd over with. We need a full complement Seated in the Senate. We don 't need the extended Repugnantcon Bread and Circus Show.