07 01 09 How Hard Up Is Norm Coleman?
The never ending saga of the 2008 Minnesota US Senate election spun in a new direction this week. On Monday, election officials for all intents certified comedian Al Franken the winner of the election after a complete recount swung the vote total to his favor. The recount went fairly smoothly as these things go, with only two events raising any question at all. The first was of a precinct which chose to go with the election night rather than the recount totals as the recount was short 133 votes (resulting in a net gain of 46 votes for Franken.) The basis for this decision was that the recount total was 134 votes lower than the sign in register. The second involved 32 ballots supposedly found in the car trunk of an election worker. In fact, the ballots were not in a car trunk, were legitimate and had not been counted. Franken got 16, Coleman 7 and the balance to 3rd parties.The morning after the vote, when it appeared he had 'won' by just over 200 votes, Coleman spoke to reporters:
"Yesterday the voters spoke. We prevailed," Coleman said Wednesday at a news conference. He noted Franken could opt to waive the recount.
"It's up to him whether such a step is worth the tax dollars it will take to conduct," Coleman said, telling reporters he would "step back" if he were in Franken's position. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount would cost 3 cents per ballot, or almost $90,000. Source: kstp.com
A day later, his own blog had this statement, even though Coleman was then aware many absentee ballots had not yet been counted in a race which was well inside the legal limit for an automatic recount:
"The Senator is thrilled and humbled to be given the opportunity to serve the people of Minnesota for another six years. Today is a time for us to come together as a state and a nation. There is much work to be done, and the Senator is ready to roll-up his sleeves and bring people together to get it done."
Yet Norm Coleman filed suit yesterday to challenge the result of the recount, claiming double counting of some ballots and a failure to open some absentee ballots. So much for Coleman's friendly advice for Franken to do the right thing! In fact, the Minnesota Supreme Court already tossed the duplicate ballot claim once, largely because Coleman was unable to offer any clear evidence of double counting. As to the remaining absentee ballots, all counties, per Supreme Court order, identified wrongly rejected absentee ballots and in the subsequent process to determine which would be opened, both camps had lawyers present. Coleman however now claims that there are still substantial wrongly rejected ballots. Again, no firm evidence of this was presented to the canvassing boards prior to the completion of the recount. And given the way those ballots broke, even if he is correct, Coleman is unlikely to net many, if any, votes.
So how desperate is the Coleman campaign? So desperate that they are dialing for dollars into blue states to help pay the anticipated very large legal bill a court challenge will incur. Yes, early this morning, we were on the receiving end of such a call. To say we were shocked is an understatement. Not only that Coleman is apparently unable to raise enough money in Minnesota and nearby states but that his people would reach so far away into territory least likely to support him. The Republican brand that Coleman shares was discredited nationally but suffered even worse losses in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Before they could get too far into their sales pitch, we suggested Mr. Coleman follow his own advice to Franken and drop out now and not drag the Republican party any further through the mud. Give it up, you lost. If Gore could move on, so can you.
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