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Senate Race: It's Essentially Over, So a Concession of Sorts

by: Chris

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 14:57:01 PM CST

(One has to wonder at this point whether Coleman is hanging on simply to screw Franken out of seniority once he actually gets to Capitol Hill. Because get to Capitol Hill Franken will -- it's only a matter of how quickly Norm Coleman accepts the fact that his lawsuits have no merit, and he's already going back on his word with this little farce. - promoted by Joe Bodell)

For Sen.-Elect Franken, the Real Work is Just Beginning

By Christopher Truscott

Congratulations are in order for Al Franken, his staff, volunteers and supporters.

After one of the longest and most bruising political campaigns in our state's history, Franken has emerged as the winner of a very well-run, professional and fair recount of the 2.9 million ballots Minnesotans cast more than two months ago. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and the countless others who helped this process deserve all the credit in the world, as well.

It would be easy to say that Franken's overcoming skeptical and hostile Democrats (like me), the right-wing attack machine, self-inflicted wounds and a media that pounced on every scandal (real and perceived) was a Herculean feat because, to a certain extent, it was.

But the real work, as Franken and his team know, is only beginning.

More after the break

Chris :: Senate Race: It's Essentially Over, So a Concession of Sorts

Political campaigns are important because they're about who we are as a country, what we want and how we might possibly go about getting there. The door-knocking, speeches, commercials (some, at any rate) and GOTV efforts lay the ground work for the governing that follows, so these victories shouldn't be diminished and I don't intend to do that here. But electoral successes must also be accepted only for what they are because the difference between campaigning for office and the actual business of governing a great nation is roughly equivalent to the difference between the Prep Bowl and the Super Bowl-it's massive.

America faces challenges on every front: the two wars we're fighting; the destabilizing conflict in Gaza; rising unemployment; a faltering economy; a warming planet; a health care crisis that's gone unchecked for too long; and many more that aren't getting the attention they deserve. There's no learning curve, no time for a victory lap and no grace period.

Al Franken knows this.

Slogans won't provide health care to a child in need. Sound bites won't create jobs for idled workers. Bumper stickers won't create peace out of chaos. Meeting the challenges facing America and the world will require the kind of tough choices, sobering truths and painful compromises that are too often ignored in political campaigns.

Al Franken knows this.

For the past two decades the business of governing has been diluted by the perpetual campaign. It's forced us to brush issues aside, leave serious policy debates to talking heads shouting at each other on cable news, and ignore the fact that real change will require actual sacrifice on the part of the American people.

Al Franken knows this.

For more than two centuries America-regardless of the state of its political affairs-has been about doing the difficult things well, achieving more than we ever dreamed possible and leaving to the next generation the opportunity to do the same.

While he wasn't the candidate of my choosing, Al Franken knows this.

He's not perfect, doesn't have all the answers and is only one member of the legislative branch, but Al Franken is my senator and I can say that-after seeing him up close during the final months of the campaign-he'll be a constructive force in the Senate and will work each day to help move us a little bit closer to the better days that we know are always ahead for this country.

Congratulations and godspeed, Sen. Franken.

Tags: Al Franken, Norm Coleman, campaign report, MN-Sen, (All Tags)

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Senate Race: It's Essentially Over, So a Concession of Sorts | 4 comments

Coleman is going to fight to the last ditch (0.00 / 0)

Coleman (registration) is apparently going to fight to the last ditch. He's reviving a bunch of old issues, besides the duplicate ballots.

He seems to be coordinating with the WSJ and the various Republican media zombies.

Unfortunately, with this announcement today, numerous Minnesotans will be wrongly disenfranchised because their votes are not counted. Mr. Franken and his campaign for purely political reasons no longer want to "count all the votes". And, it is with great disappointment that we've seen senior members of the Secretary of State's Office contributing to the process being broken. When senior members of the Secretary of State's office, charged with ensuring a fair and balanced process, engage in acts which undermine that neutrality, all of us must be concerned.

What a creep. I didn't expect anything different, though.

by: John Emerson @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 17:05:56 PM CST

by: you @ soon

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Smokescreen's Taking The Low Road (0.00 / 0)

This one, just in...

Dear Supporter,
As you may have read or heard by now, today the Minnesota State Canvassing Board met and made their determination in the U.S. Senate Recount, effectively proving that the only declaration coming today is one of an inaccurate count.
There are a number of problems with the total certified today, including double counted votes, over 650 potentially wrongly rejected absentee votes, resulting in the disenfranchising of Minnesota voters and jeopardizing the integrity of Minnesota's election system.
Harry Reid and national Democrats have now publicly said they will try to seat Al Franken tomorrow when the 111th Congress convenes and new members are sworn in. This action, the very first action of the 111th Congress and the new Democrat leadership that campaigned on a theme of bipartisanship, will result in an historic political power play done at the behest of Al Franken. Minnesotans have the right to elect their own elected officials, just like every other state in the country, and this stunning move by Al Franken and Harry Reid strips Minnesotans of that right.
Please click here to help us continue to fight to ensure that every valid vote counts.
Coleman for Senate counsel Tony Trimble made the following statement this afternoon, raising the serious concerns our campaign has raised consistently during the recount process, and signaling our intent to file an election contest within the next 24 hours:
The actions today by the Canvassing Board are but the first step in what, unfortunately, will now have to be a longer process. This process isn't at the end; it is now just at the beginning.
We will contest the results of the Canvassing Board -- otherwise, literally millions of Minnesotans will be disenfranchised.
While we appreciate the effort of this board to do the work, the reality is that any certification of vote totals at this point is only preliminary. As this Canvassing Board has recognized, there still exist serious problems with inconsistencies in the administrative recount, and therefore in the validity and reliability of the numbers certified today.
There can be no count that is accurate or valid when 654 potentially valid absentee votes remain disenfranchised and when some votes are counted twice - leading to a violation of one of the most sacred principles of our constitution - "One person, One vote."
And, there can be no justification to report out a total when 133 votes were included in a count where there are not ballots to support them. Or when a batch of votes were not counted on Election Night, but were miraculously "found" during the recount and included.
If the Canvassing Board had resolved all these issues, then the process might be completed. But the Board has deferred the resolution of those issues for the contest phase provided for in Minnesota law.
Since the process is far from complete, there can be no confidence in the current results of the United States Senate Recount, and we will file a contest within the next 24 hours to promptly correct those problems and inaccuracies. The Supreme Court ruling today also emphasizes that that's what we must do to provide an accurate count for this election.
Senator Coleman is adamant that we not wait a moment longer than necessary to ensure that the election be completed with accuracy and validity - and most importantly, without disenfranchising Minnesota voters or having a cloud remain over the results.
The utter lack of uniformity in the treatment of rejected absentee ballots, resulting in the disenfranchising of voters, is perhaps the most troublesome aspect of the recount.
Similar ballots were treated differently by different counties. This creates an Equal Protection violation that fatally taints any result that includes these ballots.
This was precisely what the Minnesota Supreme Court order said to avoid.
Unfortunately, with this announcement today, numerous Minnesotans will be wrongly disenfranchised because their votes are not counted. Mr. Franken and his campaign for purely political reasons no longer want to "count all the votes".
And, it is with great disappointment that we've seen senior members of the Secretary of State's Office contributing to the process being broken.
When senior members of the Secretary of State's office, charged with ensuring a fair and balanced process, engage in acts which undermine that neutrality, all of us must be concerned.
The fact is the Canvassing Board's current totals are invalid and unreliable because:
· Original and duplicate ballots have been double counted - even members of the Canvassing Board acknowledge this is a serious issue, yet nothing was resolved - instead, double counted votes were simply added to their recount totals.
· Newly discovered ballots, which appeared for the first time during the recount and are included in the Canvassing Board totals without proper reconciliation to the number of voters signed into the precincts on Election Day.
· Missing ballots supposedly tallied on election night that could not be found during the recount process are included in the Canvassing Board count contrary to Minnesota precedent.
· And again, an inconsistent treatment of challenged ballots - an inconsistent treatment of wrongfully rejected absentee ballots - and an inconsistent treatment of the campaign by the very office charged with coordinating this recount simply results in a process that is broken.
The recount was supposed to be a recount - fair and reasoned - and one that would retain the credibility of the outcome of this election.
However, it ceased being that the day that duplicate ballots and "missing ballots" were included in the count, and simply became more and more broken each and every day.
We had hoped that the board would refrain from reporting out with unanimity a recount total today. Since that did not happen, we will file an election contest within the next 24 hours.
It will be based upon the issues I have outlined, as well as the lack of inclusion of 654 additional ballots that we believe should be a part of this recount and the very serious issue of included double counted votes that disenfranchises Minnesotans.
Our goal and obligation should be to get an accurate and valid vote as quickly as possible, and that is our reason for acting with urgency. Minnesotans ought to be able to expect that an accurate and valid recount would have ensured two United States Senators from Minnesota tomorrow. However, because the process is broken that will not happen.
We strongly believe that every valid vote must be counted. We have called for that principle to be the basis of this entire recount process, and we will not stop now. We firmly believe that once that happens, just like on election night, Norm Coleman will have the most votes in this close race, and be re-elected to the United States Senate. We know- all too well- that it has been a long road, and we value your friendship, advice and support throughout the campaign and recount.
We need your continued help as we move forward with an election contest to ensure the sanctity of Minnesota's election process. Please click here to continue supporting our efforts, and to help us maintain a strong, knowledgeable and skilled team carrying this effort forward.
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Paid for by Coleman for Senate '08

"Those that forget the lessons of history, tend to vote GOP"

by: TwoPuttTommy @ Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 17:16:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It might be fun to pick apart Coleman's letter (0.00 / 0)

... line by line, pointing out the duplicity, hypocrisy and intentional skewing of facts as he feigns concern over voter disenfranchisement, ignores that the Canvassing Board followed Minnesota election law to the letter, whines about every wrinkle in the election process as if each is a conspiracy against him and claims that his only goal is an "accurate and valid vote (count)."

But the more I thought about it, a job like that really should go to Mike Rowe, the Discovery Channel guy who likes to slog through all manner of sleeze and slime.

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansi...

by: minnesota_liberal @ Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 07:34:41 AM CST

[ Parent ]