It's pretty clear that it's over in Minnesota for Norm Coleman. He's going to keep stringing out the recount through appeals and maybe a federal court case. But, he can't win. Minnesota deserves its second Senator and that's Al Franken. After yesterday's court ruling, Coleman should just concede:
Norm Coleman's lawyers all but conceded defeat Tuesday and promised to appeal after a panel of three judges ordered no more than 400 new absentee ballots opened and counted, far fewer than the Republican had sought to overcome the lead held by DFLer Al Franken.We're going to have to create a very loud drumbeat to get Norm to give it up. He's hanging on to prevent the Democrats from getting the 59th vote in the Senate. We can't expect the Republicans to do the right thing. They never do.
The ballots include many that Franken had identified as wrongly rejected as well as ballots that Coleman wanted opened in his quest to overcome the 225-vote lead that Franken gained after a recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race.
"We are very pleased," said Franken lead lawyer Marc Elias shortly after the ruling, which calls for ballots to be opened next week.
Coleman legal spokesman Ben Ginsberg acknowledged that the Republican may have lost the seven-week trial and was prepared to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
"It is pretty much of a long shot with that few ballots being put in play," Ginsberg said, comparing the Republican's odds of winning the trial to someone betting on the winning team in the NCAA basketball tournament. "We are disappointed. But we feel the court is wrong and we will appeal."
