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MN-Sen: Coleman Concedes

by: James L.

Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 4:11 PM EDT


It's over:

In a press conference just now, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has conceded defeat to the Democratic comedian Franken in the 2008 Senate race -- nearly eight months after Election Day, and six months after the seat went vacant when Coleman's single term had expired. Coleman said that further litigation would damage the state, and congratulated Sen.-elect Franken on his victory. He said his future plans in politics "are a subject for another day."

Time to pop the bubbly.

UPDATE: Tim Pawlenty will sign Franken's certificate today. From a hot-off-the grill statement:

"The Minnesota Supreme Court has today addressed the issues surrounding the accuracy and integrity of our election system during the 2008 U.S. Senate race in Minnesota. In light of that decision and Senator Coleman's announcement that he will not be pursuing an appeal, I will be signing the election certificate today as directed by the court and applicable law.

UPDATE (David): Because Congress is in the midst of a week-long Fourth of July recess, Franken can't be sworn in until next week.
James L. :: MN-Sen: Coleman Concedes
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MN-Sen: Coleman Concedes | 44 comments
I bet Pawlenty is relieved
If Coleman had not done this then Pawlenty would be in a no-win situation. If he signed then the GOP would be upset and itd hurt his chances in winning the 2012 primary. If he didnt sign then hed feel even more wrath at home. And chances of winning MN in the general would look much worse. Not to mention that DFL members in the state legislature would find more reason to oppose him. Thus he would get less accomplished. So I bet he is pretty happy right now he didnt have to make that decision.
As far as Coleman's political future goes...
He does not have one. Its over for him. Okay maybe he could carpetbag to Bachmann's district and run there if it opens up in 2010. If she can get elected then any Republican can. But despite his character flaws he would be much more moderate than her. But I doubt he will even consider this. I have a feeling, though, that he basically 'took one for the team'...as in he sacrificed his political career for the GOP. Had he simply conceded after the election were over he still might have a real political future. But now hes too tarnished. And I bet he really, in his heart, doesnt want to return to private life. As he seems like your typical 'career politician'.  
Wow, I don't know how to feel
about the recount being over.  It's like saying goodbye to an old friend.
Or a houseguest who would not leave

[ Parent ]
Court's wording
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is worded, well, strangely.  The decision says that Frankem should be seated but it does not specifically direct Pawlenty to sign the certificate.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune says the wording of the ruling is due to "separation of powers."  I think it is kind of wimpy.

Coleman has conceded but if he appealed to the US Supreme Court, that would defer a decision until at least October and possibly much later.  I trust this court to be extremely biased in favor of both corporations and the Republican Party.  In my heart of hearts, I think Coleman would win an appeal to the SCOTUS by a 5-4 or 5-3 margin.

We caught a break here.

I haven't seen anyone mention this before
But was Franken seeking that particular relief - ie, a demand that Pawlenty sign the certificate? I don't think he was. (I could be totally wrong about this.) In which case, it makes sense that the MN Sup. Ct. didn't "order" T-Paw to do anything, since that relief wasn't being requested. Now, if Timmeh had refused to sign it, Franken conceivably could have gone back to court seeking an injunction or writ of mandamus or whatever the heck it may be called in Minnesota.

But that turned out not to be necessary, because T-Paw wisely chose to interpret this ruling as a court order.

[ Parent ]
Wow, October?
Obama wants health care reform passed by then. This is most definitely a huge break. It could have passed even without Franken but it is more assured now. I wonder why Coleman chose to stop fighting.  
[ Parent ]
I'm not so sure Coleman would even win at SCOTUS
Given that:
* Bush-Gore was only decided by 5-4.  Sure, that would be 6-3 now, but consider more factors:
* it's not a matter of counting more votes.  All the votes have been counted and recounted already.
* the margin here is larger than the Bush-Gore margin.

537 / 5963110 = 0.00009005368...
312 / 2887646 = 0.000108046485...

* Coleman has been ruled against several times...
* ...including a five-to-nothing unanimous decious from the MN Supreme Court.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

[ Parent ]
If SCOTUS had ruled in favor of Coleman
Then the U.S. government would be in no position to talk to other countries about democracy lol. Even though we certainly have done many undemocratic things before.
[ Parent ]
"Is it over yet?"


party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
Well, Amy Klobuchar said it would happen before the 4th of July
Glad she was right THIS time. ;)
Health, education, labor and judiciary
Franken's committee assignments
HELP is a big help
Because a health care plan with public option is currently hung up there in committee 11-11, what with Kay Hagen being an ass about it. Dropping Franken onto the committee makes it 12-11, gets it out of committee, and onto the floor, where if Dems are using reconciliation it can pass with 51 and we can afford to let the Hagens, Landrieus, and Ben Nelsons of the world vote no to cover their asses. (Credit to BooMan for noticing that.)
[ Parent ]
Because
you know the people of North Carolina just hate being able to afford health insurance, and they're still going to be looking for blood in 2014.
[ Parent ]
I agree
I think states like NC and LA would be for this kind of populist bill.  
[ Parent ]
You're your own straight man
AND the guy with the topper!
[ Parent ]
The Judiciary Committee is almost too good to be true (!).
Too bad he wasn't around for Alito and Janice Rogers Brown. Lots of YouTube worthy moments for sure.
[ Parent ]
Yeeha!
Party at my place!

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com
Disappointing
I was hoping for one last Norm 'Dickface' Coleman reference for posterity's sake.

Oh, well. :)

If he had filed another appeal
Then maybe. But today, he gets off. :)
[ Parent ]
Very magnanimous of you
However, had I been a publisher of a website that canned such a ridiculously good and pithy name for a scumbag politician, I doubt I'd be able to refrain from using it even on a day like today where perhaps said dickface had in fact earned a little reprieve based on his conduct.

But I'm sure we can use it again soon the next time he runs for an elected office (which must be the only reason he conceded).

He'll always be a dickface in my book :)

[ Parent ]
The bad news is...
...that I finished off my beer and can't afford more.  Otherwise this deserves a toast, if only in the "thank god at last" manner.
I'm off to go get beer
I'll do the toasting for us all! Hooray for Tuesday nights and "Pint Night" at my local bar (now within walking distance!)!

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26
[ Parent ]
It took a while, but..
Now the Al Franken Decade can officially begin!
Hurray! We reached 60!
Now let's try for 65.  We have NC, MO, KY, NH, FL, and others coming (assuming we don't lose any of our own), or am I getting too carried away?
It's reasonable
FL won't happen though.  OH is a much better bet.
[ Parent ]
Also LA
And TX.
[ Parent ]
Franken in 2014
Its a little early, but will Franken run for a second term, or is he one-and-done?  A lot of DFLers, while glad that Coleman is gone, were unhappy that our candidate had to be Franken (myself included).  Remember, a stronger candidate would've beat Coleman by 5-10 points given the momentum for Democrats last year.  So, will Franken find it in him to run for another term, or will he step aside and let another candidate run for his place? I can't see Franken being a career Senator.
Waaaay too early
He'll only be 63 so you would think he would likely try and run again.
[ Parent ]
this kind of question comes up a lot on these sites
some suggesting that biden will step down before the next presidential election. or suggesting that if a less-than favorite candidate of our own party wins a seat that they should step aside for a perfect candidate the next time.

very few candidates step down voluntarily from an elected seat that they worked very hard to win and al franken will not be one of them.  barring a scandal, he will be working very hard to be an effective senator for the next 5 1/2 years and will be building to run for a "full" 6 year term the next time.

i know mark dayton did step down (a very gracious move) but he was weakened and had some temperament issues that most senators don't have.

with all due respect, to suggest that al franken, after working incredibly hard to get elected and putting up with the slings and arrows of the GOP and of some in his own party for a nearly two years to win this, would consider stepping down after only 5 years is absurd.  he was running to get things done and i don't think he's such a fool that he could think he could finish his work in less than one term.

as an incumbent who will side with a popular president and will no longer be "that naughty comedian" he will be in a strong position to win re-eelction unless ramstad runs.

[ Parent ]
But Franken's different
Most Senators are already public officials that know what they are getting into when they become elected.  Having peronsally met and spoken with Mark Dayton back in 2003, it was apparent that he did not like Senate life one bit and Washington even less.  I can see Franken leaving because his main argument for running was to take out Coleman.  now that he's made his point, will he want to set aside whatever else he wants to do in his career for a full-on Senate career, known for its slow movement?  It may be too much.
[ Parent ]
franken had been helping on campaigns for years
doing a radio show about politics, and writing books about politicians and policy.  he's also a harvard grad.  i think he knows what he's getting into.

we don't know what the next few years will bring.  we don't know about scandals that haven't happened yet to franken or any gop or dfl would-be opponents.  we don't know how popular the president will be (although the last time MN voted for a Republican was Nixon in '72).

what i am quite certain of is that, barring a scandal, franken will be running for reelection and he will not have a serious primary opponent.

and i don't think he's "made his point."  he didn't have a personal vendetta against norm.  he wants to help people in the US Senate.  what else would he want to do in his career?  write a best-selling book?  star in a movie? be a race-car driver? being a good senator is one of the best careers one could ever have, especially if you want to better people's lives.  

[ Parent ]
It is way too early to tell what the Pres.'s popularity will be
He is only 6 months in. Especially in a mid-term (2014) when a Pres.'s popularity usually is not high.
[ Parent ]
Who's To Step Aside FOR?
Part of it is who he'd step aside for. The DFLers who weren't happy with him lost because there wasn't really anyone else willing to run. So who could be a natural heir in '14? No clue, and that's why the question is kind of impossible to answer.
[ Parent ]
Correction
No one wanted ro tun against Franken and his money.  I think we could have had more challengers if it were an open field - look at how many folks are running for governor! - that could have included Chris Coleman, Alan Page, Susan Gaertner or Tim Walz.  Any of those wouldn't have had the baggage Franken took into this race.

In any case, I hope Franken is as much a Senator as he is in life: a bomb-throwing, hell-raising and outspoken liberal who will call out GOP bullshit when he sees it.

[ Parent ]
as one who has been fighting Coleman
for 16 years, i'm so glad to see this.  And Coleman is now making noises like he wants to run for Governor.  A guy who has run statewide three times in the last 10 years and averaged less than 42% is thinking we're all waiting for him.

And we are...with a figurative baseball bat.

HAHA
More like a literal baseball bat - he should be sent back to New York where he belongs.  I hope he's the 2010 gubernatorial nominee, it would mean we'd finally get the mansion back.
[ Parent ]
Will he be running against a wrestler again?
Quick, let's recruit someone with wrestling experience to the governor's race!

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
I believe Shelton Benjamin is from MN

[ Parent ]
Kurt Angle in 2010!

[ Parent ]
In PA

[ Parent ]
Speaking of wrestler politicians
There was news a few days ago or so that Brian Blair, a former wrestler (in the tag team the Killer Bees, who wrestled in WWE back in the 80s) turned politician was arrested for child abuse. He was a Republican Hillsborough County Commissioner in FL, but lost re-election last Nov. to Hillsborough County's first openly gay candidate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

[ Parent ]
And a little update...
I have read that the child abuse charges against Blair have been dismissed. Read it on pwinsider.com a pretty reputable site for wrestling news. Still, just merely being charged with that, at one time, is enough to kill a political career. if he even wanted it to continue anyway.
[ Parent ]
Question: legal bills
How much are legal costs on both sides?

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
MN-Sen: Coleman Concedes | 44 comments

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