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

[abluevoice]

If it comes down to it you know that Pawlenty and the Republicans will put Coleman in power despite Franken's winning via the vote. And what will even be worse than this really corrupt hijacking of an election is the gutless Democrats will take it up the back door again from the Republicans. And you will hear them saying "We have to move on, there are more important things the American people care about , then a stolen election". Yeah right!!

[petman2001]

Ah, if only Al Gore (D) had shown the cojones of Norm Coleman (R). How history would have been different!

[JuniorBug]

Er, Norm Coleman's gonna lose.

[petman2001]

Er, and Gore woulda won.

[abluevoice]

It's not cojones petman2001, it's the Karl Rove "ends justify the means " political philosophy that winning at any cost over what's best for the country , including manipulating the Constitution to do so, is all that matters. However, I agree with you we would be much much better off had The Domocratic party and Gore got tough on the issue. But they put what they thought was best for the country first, an orderly change of executive power, and the world got screwed and nearly bankrupted by Bush, Cheney, and Rove's, corruption and unprecedented incompetence!

[daveincolorado]

Pawlenty has been on Rachel's show a couple of times. I think she should have him back on to hear what he has to say.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Minnesotans should refuse to pay one third of their federal taxes until their junior Senator is seated. It's a classic case of taxation without representation.

[muttslikeu]

I am going to refuse to pay mine until I'm nominated for an Obama cabinet position.

[Grunty1]

Have fun in prison.

[WorkingClass]

The Republicans should never give up. If they can get their case to the United States Supreme Republican Court they will win.

[oldguru]

Are you insinuating that the US Supreme Court is somewhat biased toward the Rightwing? I suspect that you are correct.

[greatlardini]

Can't. Won't.

[SarcasticFringehead]

Yes. It is the same Supreme Court that gave George W. his presidency. What a disaster that was -- thanks for nothing Supreme Court.

[bannorhill]

It was the Florida voters who elected Bush by EVERY official count.

[desertdweller]

Just a note to Senator Cornyn: Be careful what you wish for. If this election is stolen from Franken, , which is clearly the intent of your party, you will have WWIII on your hands and it won't be pretty.

[hugodrax]

I don't get this. How hard can it be? You hold an election. People cast their votes. You count the votes. The one with the most votes wins. Why are the courts involved?

[nicholasjh1]

That's a good question. The automatic recount showed Franken winning, and nothing the courts have done has shown that another result should have been the case. The initial recount was legal, Franken should have been seated. Yes Coleman can challenge in court, but what does that have to do with holding up the political process? Isn't the the vote count innocent until proven guilty? I don't get... Seems like Republican obstruction.

[Martampa]

Because lame states like Florida, Ohio and now the worst of them all Minnesota, won't do the right thing when it comes to elections.

[janet1003mn]

Did you not READ the article? Pawlenty hasn't NOT seated Franken yet. This isn't even on his desk yet. I didn't vote for the man and I'm not a fan of his, but does simple decency no longer command that we wait for him to take action before deciding he and his actions are to be condemned? Use your heads, people. This is getting very tiresome.

[janet1003mn]

Oh, and calling Minnesota's senatorial race the "worst" -- in other words, worse than two stolen PRESIDENTIAL elections -- speaks volumes about you.

[Grunty1]

Florida and Ohio could not even conduct realistic recounts thanks to "chads" and Diebold audit-free machines.

[serindipity803]

The GOP has already obliterated their chances in 2010 and 2012. Who are they kidding? Themselves! Hanging the state of Minnesota and Franken out to dry because they are incapable of winning fairly speaks volumes of the GOP mentality. No matter where they are placed, they are a menace. Down with Pawlenty now, he isn't going to win anything ever again. He is shameful!

[janet1003mn]

Did you not READ the article? Pawlenty hasn't NOT seated Franken yet. This isn't even on his desk yet. I didn't vote for the man and I'm not a fan of his, but does simple decency no longer command that we wait for him to take action before deciding he and his actions are to be condemned? Use your heads, people. This is getting very tiresome.

[darleneslee]

Go take a nap.

[Taiyo]

If Pawlenty is truly thinking about a 2012 presidential run, it would be a good idea if he put his constituents before his party. If you can't win a primary in your own state, you're not likely to get very far in a national election. The citizens of Minnesota deserve full representation and, as long as Coleman refuses to concede that he lost this election, they only have half of their share of votes in the Senate. Enough!

[StellaRay]

My concern is that the national media has done such a scattershot poor job of covering this that when it gets to Pawlenty to sign or not sign people will be ignorant of what really went on here. The msm coverage of this race has been mostly of the eyerolling, ha ha, isn't this over yet variety, with a few sentences thrown in about how Coleman could take this to the SCOTUS.

Nothing about the painstaking recount, the canvassing board's transparency (broadcast live on the uptake) and fairness, the hijinks Colman's lawyers performed throughout the 7 week trial. Nothing about the fact that Coleman is under suspicion for ethics violations, that his wife has been named as accepting funds she didn't work for in the Marine Technologies lawsuit.

Seems to me we watched the Blago/ Burris debacle for weeks, who to put in Hillary's seat for weeks. Yet mostly hit and run coverage of this contest. So when this certificate hits Pawlenty's desk and the msm finally checks in, people might think this is all about counting the votes. It's not, that's been done, several times over. The story is about the GOP stalling and denying the senate it's 59th democrat. senator.

[Taiyo]

"The story is about the GOP stalling and denying the senate it's 59th democrat. senator."

That and giving the citizens of Minnesota FULL representation in the Senate.

[plzchuteme]

The Politico article's headline reads: "Franken Puts Pawlenty in a Jam." It would seem to me that Coleman and Pawlenty's Republican brothers and sisters are the one who have put him in a jam. If the Minnesota Supreme Court rules in Franken's favor, Al has nothing to do with the decision for Pawlenty to sign the election certificate. Pawlenty would be following Minnesota law. The decision is made more difficult only because of Coleman and the pressures of the Republican Party.

By the way, why haven't we heard from the "states rights," people. Isn't it Minnesota and Minnesota alone who decides who it will send to Washington?

[Taiyo]

That's why I can't understand the senator from Texas having any say in this. Doesn't appear to me to be any of his business.

[Doofus]

Sen John Cornyn is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee,
whose major responsibility is keeping any more Democrats out of the Senate.

[frappe]

If Pawlenty refuses to sign the certificate, the mainstream media and Democrats everywhere, in Congress and throughout the country, should come down like a sledgehammer on Pawlenty AND the Republican party for playing partisan politics with election results, frustrating democracy and the rule of law. Pawlenty and the Republican party should be relentlessly exposed as total frauds and the pressure should be applied until he doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of being elected to any office, anywhere.

[nicholasjh1]

Agreed, Isn't the vote count innocent until proven guilty? The automatic recount showed Franken as winning, that is how it should stand right now until proven otherwise.

[Grunty1]

And Coleman's attempt at "proof" have been laughable, even by the low standards of the Rushpublicans.

[mediamarv]

The essence of the issue summed up thusly (from the article):

." But the aides and senators said that, without a certificate, Democrats are unlikely to try to seat Franken since the GOP would probably attempt to filibuster such a move."

Oh, those poor Dems, scared to inaction that those mean old repugs will (gasp!) threaten a filibuster!!

Well, great ball-less ones, a threat is not the same as a filibuster, and if they do, they have just handed you the biggest PR present you could hope for. Read the polls lately? The public is not buying anything the Reeps are selling, so what the hell are you afraid of???

Mind boggling. Snowe was right; dems need to grow multiple pairs!!!

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Maybe she'll loan them a pair of hers.

[MNValley]

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.

####

This was an automatic "state mandated" election recount because the voter count margin separating Coleman and Franken was so small.

I fail to see it as a legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman.

Norm Coleman filed it against the result of the Minnesota Senate race recount.

A good link below to help with the focus...

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/colemans_lawsuit_this_whole_election_stinks_--_and.php

[TJCole]

Here we go again...!