Minnesota Court: No To Coleman, And Yes/No/Maybe To Franken

[Why Syzygy]

Source: TPM

Minnesota Court: No To Coleman, And Yes/No/Maybe To Franken
By Eric Kleefeld - February 23, 2009, 11:15PM

The Minnesota election court handed down two rulings tonight, one of which should be regarded as an unambiguous defeat for Norm Coleman -- and the other should probably leave Al Franken cautiously optimistic.

First, the court completely denied Coleman's motion to launch a class-action suit on behalf of all 11,000-plus voters whose absentee ballots have still not been counted. The court found that the state's election laws make clear that individuals may apply to have their ballots counted, but that groups cannot be created and represented for this purpose.

The court also handed down a summary judgment on Franken's efforts to get some of his own votes counted, and they've given him a go-ahead on 12 individuals to be accepted and counted at a later time. And to give you an idea of how strict a standard they're using here, there are 38 others on Franken's list they're refusing to count at this time.

That kind of stringency isn't very good news for Coleman, as he's trying to get a lot of his own votes in that the court hasn't ruled on yet. And considering he's the one who's actually behind right now, this question has a lot more urgency for him.
~more

Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/minnesota-co...

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[MADem]

1. Norm really is coming off as a whiny little shitbird, isn't he? nt

[apnu]

23. Yeah, but then he is a whiny little shitbird to begin with, so he's staying true to form (nt)

[Zorra]

27. Really. His new title should be Sniveler Norm Coleman (R) Minnesota. nt

[Hulk]

2. When is it time for coleman to let the winner take his place??

Can he drag this on any longer? What an ass wipe. Too bad they still have bachman the evangelical wicked witch of the north representing "some of them" from MN. But time is up on this loser.

GIVE IT UP NORM, you cry baby!

[JPettus]

3. The Repukes Will keep this up as long as they can

They hate Franken and will do anything they can to keep him from being seated.

Personally, as far as I'm concerned they can pour all the money down that losing shithole they want, since we don't need Franken's votes right now to push through what needs to be done, and it's money they won't have later for other things.

And eventually, they will lose every single attempt and Al will be seated. So they still lose. It just costs them dearly to continue to lose.

[DUlover2909]

4. Good points that you make.

[CreekDog]

5. We need Franken in there

because we'd only need Snowe in worst case scenario.

[4lbs]

6. Franken will be seated sometime in April it appears.

n/t

[fujiyama]

7. I'll keep my fingers crossed

but the way this thing is going, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

[Towlie]

15. If so, that means he'll serve until at least April of 2015.

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution says "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote."

This was amended by the Seventeenth Amendment, which says "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote."

Therefore, Al Franken is guaranteed his six years of service by the U.S. Constitution, no matter how long they delay it.

[No Elephants]

17. Coleman said that Franken was selfish to allow the recount, but Al's

request was not keeping the people of Minnesota from having two Senators.


I hope Minnesota gets this is not about Coleman's trying to win anymore. It's about making sure their duly-elected Senator cannot represent them in Congress because duly elected Democratic Senators are too close to the magic number of 60 to suit the RNC.

[bvar22]

19. The Democratic Party should be playing that video clip ....

...of Coleman stating that Franken should concede for the good of Minnesota on every TV outlet in Minnesota....over and over.

[No Elephants]

21. That takes a lot of money. Donate to Al.

[dragonlady]

28. Unfortunately, I don't think it works that way

The election was to elect someone to serve a term that is to last 6 years. It would be nice to use your scenario, but I doubt they would make Minnesota hold a special election out of step with the rest of the Senate, and then every six years thereafter, they would still be out of step.

[happygoluckytoyou]

8. if norman has half the balls hillary did, he'll stay in the fight.... bye norm!!!

[digidigido]

9. Franken scares the shit out of them, a man of principle who doesn't want to play the game

[comtec]

10. Franken is a charismatic speaker

who when he gets his game on will totally change the congress imho.
His radio show had some hickups but overall it was great, and his speaking passionately on points where amazing.
When he has the facts (and a large fact checking group of interns) he is unstoppable!
When he gets seated, I believe his speeches in the Senate will be used for poly classes for generations.
if we had him in this last round, i don't think it would have been as close, and not nearly as much "compromise" (read anal rape) with the gop would have been needed for two fucking votes.


>plink< my .02 euro cents.

[dmr]

13. Which is why I anticipate a good Sunday morning on 'Meet The Press'

Ahhhhh, that'll be an enjoyable morning indeed!

I'm patiently waiting ...

[onehandle]

11. The GOP is using Coleman to weaken Franken before he is sworn in and to hurt Obama's numbers...

...in Senate votes.

And the media is letting them get away with it.

[bdamomma]

14. the repigs hate the idea of seating Franken cause that is one more

vote for us. I despise the repigs.

[mzmolly]

20. He's a brilliant man who documents every detail

of Republican dishonesty and smear.

He'll be a fantastic Senator once he hits his stride.

[Why Syzygy]

22. We know he will tell us the truth!

He seems incapable of anything else.

[iandhr]

12. Yes/no/maybe to Al

can someone tell me what the heck is going on with this race. I lost track

[Why Syzygy]

16. It's in court.

We're in the cheerleading section.

[Myrina]

18. ... funny how the party that incessantly whines about 'frivolous lawsuits' ...

... is the party that's always taking people to court when they don't get their way?

[No Elephants]

24. EXCELLENT point. They bash lawyers, but they sure use them for themselves.

[KamaAina]

25. A class-action suit?! Who would have handled that?

Probably one of them ee-vull greedy (and often Democratic) trial lawyers.

[KamaAina]

26. "Disregarding Rights Of Minnesotans, Franken Seeks To Have Illegal Votes Counted."

That is the actual headline on this utterly useless blog post.

http://www.colemanforsenate.com/blog-post/567/disregard...

Next time I click on "Coleman for Senate", I hope to get a 404!