Thread: Senatorial Elections 2008

as soon as franken is seated the dems will have 59 seats in the senate, one short of a filibuster proof 60.

well obama is currently considering republican senator gregg from NH for commerce secretary. if he takes the job (and apparently he will--he has a tough re-election coming up in 2010), the dem governor of NH will appoint a replacement who will likely be a democrat.

needless to say, obstructionist republicans are doing whatever they can to keep gregg in the senate.

it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

GOP fights to keep Gregg in the Senate - Manu Raju and Jonathan Martin - Politico.com

More news about Coleman.

The Politico tells us what we already know, but which most of the mainstream press won't mention -- namely, that Norm Coleman is pursuing his doomed challenge to Al Franken's being seated as our newest Senator because the national Republican Party has ordered him to do so come hell or high water. NRSC fundraisers are being held constantly to feed the maw of Norm's hundred-lawyer machine; Mitch McConnell's already maxed out at $10,000 to Norm, and other Republican Senators aren't far behind. Even Republican House members like Bawlin' John Boehner are said to be throwing thousands of dollars at Norm's lawyers -- because if President Obama can get a big thing like the stimulus package through with only 58 Democrats, imagine how much easier his job gets when he has 59 of them?

But in the end, all the Republicans are doing is delaying the inevitable -- and their ability to do so just suffered several major blows.

Team Coleman's key argument -- a variation of the Bush v. Gore "equal protection" stance that they're using to say that absentee ballot voting is a right and not privilege (which is the exact opposite of what they'd been arguing at the beginning of the recount process) -- was shot down by the Election Contest Court, which stated that existing state law shows otherwise. Not only that, but all the existing state law in the case has long ago been tested and settled in the Federal courts, including the Warren Supreme Court. So Coleman's appeal options are quite limited: He can (and will) appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but the train stops there: Once they laugh him out of court, and they will, he's done. Furthermore, Coleman's attempt to slow down the process by gumming it up with bogus evidence just got bollixed, as the ECC ruled that the burden of proof is on him for any ballot evidence he brings up from this point forward. Oh, and the ECC just chopped at least 1,200-odd ballots out of Norm Coleman's absentee-ballot wish list.

As I stated the other day, my guess is that this will now take about a month, at most, to play out. Even with all the delaying actions Coleman's team of a hundred lawyers can muster -- and the ECC just took away most of them.

Link: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/02/15/franken-coleman-update-021509-running-out-of-tricks/

Obstructionist, Norm Coleman

Story link: http://www.americablog.com/2009/02/norm-coleman-cant-win-now-hes-just.html

Monday, February 23, 2009Norm Coleman can't win. Now, he's just doing the GOP's dirty work to keep Franken out of the Senate for as long as possible

I always thought Minnesota's Norm Coleman was one of the smarmiest Republicans in Congress. He's proving the extent of it now.

The Minnesota Senate recount has looked bad for former GOP Senator Norm Coleman for awhile, but it keeps getting worse for him. Coleman lost the election, but is continuing his legal suit. And, he's losing ground in court by the day.

It's becoming more and more clear that this is just an effort to keep Democrat Al Franken out of the Senate. Coleman is doing the national GOP's dirty work. He's even got George Bush' election lawyer, Ben Ginsburg, working the case. This is now all about preventing the Democrats from getting their 59th vote in the Senate.

Coleman is putting his partisan interests ahead of the interests of Minnesotans. While the nation is in an economic crisis, Minnesota is missing a vote in the Senate. From the Star-Tribunue:

The Senate election trial is a month old, enough time to ask: Does Norm Coleman have a chance of winning?

A series of court rulings have dealt the Republican long odds for overturning DFLer Al Franken's 225-vote lead. The three judges hearing the case have been only partly receptive to Coleman's bid to expand the field of ballots as he seeks more votes, and they brushed aside his claim of systemic problems with Minnesota elections.

Coleman once wanted to examine up to 11,000 rejected absentee ballots in hope that enough might eventually be opened and counted to help him overtake Franken. Now he's looking at opening perhaps a couple of thousand ballots. And the number could turn out to be even smaller.

"It's very hard, the way it's set up right now, for him to be able to win," said David Schultz, a Hamline University law professor specializing in elections.

"Very slim," was how Duke University law Prof. Guy-Uriel Charles characterized Coleman's current chances.

"Coleman is in a bubble running out of oxygen," said Lawrence Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political science professor.

Coleman cannot win. He's going to pursue his frivolous lawsuit anyway.

The GOP will do everything and anything to block Barack Obama's agenda. We know that. Another Democrat in the Senate means one vote closer to cloture. That's what this is about now.

^ Why are they not counting the absentee ballots?

^to answer your question,………….

Just a snipet from the site below:


The court had said those ballots cannot be counted because they were not legally cast.


Site: MN Senate Race Still Unresolved. - NewsFeed Researcher Overview Of: Coleman, Ballots, Ballot, Franken, Election, Elections, Court, Courts, Absentee, Minnesota, Republicans, Vote

these actions by coleman are simply more evidence that the GOP just doesn't get it.

most americans know that republicans are to blame for the mess that the country is in, and they also can see (who can't?) that they're being obstructionist....and shortly they will be exposed and vilified as putting their party before country.

typically a minority party will do well in an off year election, but if the GOP keeps up this sort of thing, they'll be lucky to gain even a handful of seats in the house.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

^ Why are they not counting the absentee ballots?

Here is another article that might help answer the question you posed to me. I hope it helps answer your question. I am trying to stay away from the liberal sites I normally view to answer your question. You might tend to believe it more if I do it that way…………..

Story: http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_11758343?nclick_check=1

At some point before the long-awaited end to Minnesota's U.S. Senate election, more votes will be added to the race's tally.

On Saturday, Democrat Al Franken said which votes he'd like added. His list includes 1,585 uncounted absentee ballots, about half of which Republican Norm Coleman also believes should be counted.

But the situation in the race is not so easy as to allow the agreed-upon 781 ballots to simply be opened and counted.

The Senate election is now a month into a complex trial that shows little sign of quick conclusion.

While Franken's list of ballots that should be counted has grown — last month, his attorneys pointed to only 771 valid absentee ballots that hadn't been counted — Coleman's list has diminished.

Story continues with the link provided, above.

looks like the dems will pick up even more seats in 2010.

Club for Growth President and former GOP congressman Pat Toomey is running against Sen. Arlen Specter in the Republican primary,

The Scorecard: 2008 Congressional campaign news and analysis - POLITICO.com

even if specter gets past toomey, he'll emerge bloody enough for torsella or someone else to take the seat.

and if toomey were to beat specter, he has no chance in a general state-wide election....at all.

and i think we're going to see more of this in other states....the rabid right-winger are going to push through some 'true believers', but the majority of them will be unelectable.

A Minnesota court ruled Monday night that Democrat Al Franken has defeated Republican Norm Coleman and should be granted the election certificate that will allow him to take his seat in the U.S. Senate.

3 judge panel declares Franken winner - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com

it's may 2009 and the desperado republicans just can't face the facts they lost an election that took place 6 months ago.

but once he gets the certificate, he'll likely be seated in the senate.

republicans just keep digging themselves into a deeper hole in MN.

Minnesotans have come to the conclusion that Norm Coleman lost the state’s Senate race to Al Franken, and that he should soon concede.

A new Minneapolis Star-Tribune poll out today shows that 64 percent of voters believe that Coleman should accept the recount trial’s ruling that he lost the election by 312 votes. Only 28 percent of voters believe his appeal to the state Supreme Court – which leading Senate Democrats have been willing to grant him – is appropriate.

Nearly three-quarters of Minnesotans (73 percent) believe that Coleman should concede if he loses his appeal at the state Supreme Court. And only a narrow majority (57 percent) of Republicans support Coleman’s appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The Scorecard: Minnesotans want Franken seated - POLITICO.com

Breaking news - the National Republican Senatorial Committee has given up on Norm Coleman!

Maybe?????????

Breaking news! Yeah right? Oh it is so important,..this race has been dragging out for months now.

Coleman hasn't much of a chance.

The rest of the story: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/04/27/franken-coleman-update-042709-pulling-the-plug/

This will make 60

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning.

Link: http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/specter-switches-parties.html

^ Yup. I just read the news, Landreth.

More info:

Veteran GOP Sen. Specter switches parties

'Political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,' he says.


BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
April 28, 2009

WASHINGTON - Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter announced Tuesday that he is switching parties, a move would give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 seats if Al Franken is seated in the Minnesota race.

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," the Pennsylvania senator said in a statement.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said, adding that the "change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans."

Link & Entire: Veteran GOP Sen. Specter switches parties - Capitol Hill- msnbc.com

Originally Posted by raycarey

now that they're at 60, i would think that coleman will finally decide to do the right thing....it's far too late to do the honorable thing.


and btw, this is purely a desperation move by spectre. as i think i pointed out earlier on another thread, he was in for an extremely tough primary fight against twoomey.

Agreed. It's a survival move. We'll see how it works out for him.

Biden meets with Franken
Wed May 06, 2009 at 03:20:05 PM PDT

In a sweet move, Vice President Joe Biden met with Al Franken today, getting him up to speed on events in the capital and prepping him to take the Senate seat he won months and months and months ago. After the meeting, which was closed to the press, the vice president's office issued the following statement on Biden's behalf:

Rest of the story: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/6/728573/-Biden-meets-with-Franken

It appears the decision will be held up in court. Why not just hold another election? Probably cost as much as the court hearings.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Republican Norm Coleman must pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs for his appeal of Minnesota Senate election results.

A Ramsey County court administrator entered the judgment Wednesday. It results from the two-month trial that ended with Coleman 312 votes short of Franken.

Minnesota law required Coleman to cover some of Franken's court costs because the race's outcome didn't change. The judgment excludes Franken's attorney fees.

The men have spent $50 million so far on their campaigns and legal fight over the November election. That's more than double the cost of the 2002 race when Coleman captured what had been a Democratic seat.

The Minnesota Supreme Court hasn't said when it will rule on Coleman's appeal.

link: Minn. court orders Coleman to pay $95K to Franken - Yahoo! News

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The Minnesota Supreme Court hasn't said when it will rule on Coleman's appeal.

conventional wisdom says he's toast.....and that pawlenty will be forced to validate the election.

There have been persistent rumors locally -- rumors referenced by Dan Feidt at Politics in Minnesota -- that the Supreme Court will be handing down a ruling in the Coleman appeal sometime today. My own particular source for this allegedly got the information simply by asking a person quite close to the case.

As for who will win that appeal, well, let me put it this way: I haven't seen any efforts by Norm Coleman to renew the lease on his old office space.
Keep your fingers crossed, and watch this space. Or you could camp out at the Minnesota Senate Seat page of Minnesota Judicial Branch. But you'll have much more fun here.

Link: Campaign Silo » Franken-Coleman Update, 06/18/09: Is Today The Day?

Coleman Staffers Getting New Jobs

Have things reached the point in the ongoing (and going, and going...) Minnesota Senate race, where even Norm Coleman's staffers may have seen the writing on the wall? In recent weeks, two of his top staffers have gotten new jobs.

LeRoy Coleman (no relation), who served as Coleman's Senate communications director, has now joined the Republican National Committee as director of media affairs. And two weeks ago another top Coleman staffer, campaign manager Cullen Sheehan, became an RNC regional director.

The fact that Sheehan signed up for a new job is pretty telling, even though he'll still be helping out with the Coleman camp. The reason is that Sheehan is the official co-plaintiff, along with Coleman, in the actual ongoing election lawsuit.
Norm himself got a consulting job months ago with the Republican Jewish Coalition, providing him with a source of income.

Rats Jumping Ship

Originally Posted by raycarey

these actions by coleman are simply more evidence that the GOP just doesn't get it.

They get it all right. And they will keep getting it (the same) in every election until they finally "get it".

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.

61

Coleman Concedes

Mr. Coleman stepped outside his home just a short while ago to give his news conference. He indicated that he and Mr. Franken had a positive, personal talk and he told the Democrat that being senator was the “best job he’ll ever have.”

Finally! Minnesota will be represented