Norm Coleman is a total dick. Go figure. It has been obvious for weeks that Al Franken won the November 4th election. He was certified as a winner, but Coleman contested the election, which prevents Franken from being sworn in. For those who aren’t familiar with this entire recount process, it has been really, really aggravating.
On Nov. 4th, Coleman was up by a few hundred votes. He told Franken that he should concede, even though there were thousands of votes yet to tally. He also said that there should not be a recount because it costs the state money. If the difference between candidates is less than 0.5% in Minnesota, there is an automatic recount unless the losing candidate concedes.
The final votes came in with Franken up by a small amount. Coleman doesn’t concede, instead letting the recount go forth. I welcomed the recount, although Coleman is definitely a hypocrite.
During the recount, there were tons of really crazy ballots viewable online. The Franken and Coleman camps argued the ruling on thousands of ballots, even ones that weren’t worth arguing about.
Both sides dropped some arguments, with Franken dropping most. After the recount, Franken came out ahead by even more.
Then there were absentee ballots that Franken argued were wrongly revoked. When he was ahead, Coleman said not to review them. As soon as he was slightly behind, he said to look at some, but only ones in conservative districts. Now that he is far behind and is going to lose, he wants all of them to be viewed. If he gets his way he is totally screwed because they will most likely increase Franken’s lead instead of shrinking it. He wants them to not be viewed, however, so as to decrease the “legitimacy” of the election, even though it has been pretty fair in my view.
Today, however, is when Coleman reached the status of being a total dick, before he was just a prick. He has taken a day job as a consultant. He knows he has lost. Everyone knows he has lost. He isn’t continuing on his legal challenges in hopes that he will win. My best guess is that he is trying to bloody up Franken as much as he can. Franken is a fairly controversial figure. Any other Democrat would have crushed Coleman, but Franken isn’t any normal Democrat. Coleman is probably working with John Cornyn (head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee) to make this draw out as long as possible to make the election seem illegitimate, which they hope will hurt Franken and make him easier to beat in six years. In addition, they hope that it will affect peoples’ views of the Democratic Party as a whole.
Al Franken will be the next senator from Minnesota. He already won the election, and Coleman’s challenge is unlikely to be successful, and if it is it would only help Franken.
In addition to being a dick, Coleman is likely a criminal as well. He is currently under investigation. The investigation revolves around lodging he accepted in violation of the Senate gifts rule. Coleman used some fundraising money to pay for his lawyers, although, for some reason, I don’t think that is illegal, just pretty unethical.
I’m not sure if Franken will be a good senator or not. I have trouble believing he won’t be better than Coleman, however. I look forward to watching him.
Have a nice day.
Continue Reading...
