A three-judge panel has ruled in favor of Al Franken and declared him the victor in the Minnesota Senate race that has resulted in a protracted legal struggle. The Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman, who brought the suit based on what he claims is evidence of electoral malfeasance, has already declared his intentions to appeal the ruling, meaning it might yet be some time before the Senate seat is filled. Could this thing end up before the Supreme Court? Frankly, I kind of doubt it, though it is possible, providing Coleman's side can produce a substantial question as to whether the vote recount was indeed conducted fairly. Coleman insists a number of ballots should have been counted which were thrown out, resulting in his loss of enough votes to afford Franken a razor-thin victory of something like 320 votes.
If Franken is seated, it would leave the Democrats with a 59 seat majority, just one seat shy of a filibuster proof caucus. It is not difficult to get cross-over Republicans to end a filibuster in a great many cases, as witness the last economic stimulus package, for which the Democrats managed to pull three Republican votes-both of the two Republican Senators from Maine, along with Pennsylvania Republican Arlen "Magic Bullet" Spector.
The real irony in this case is, if Coleman were seated, he might well be one of the most dependable of those cross-over votes, so I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about. The Republicans might be better off were they to concentrate their efforts on seating a new Senator with a bit less zeal for reaching across the aisle to "get things done" TO the American people.
They are out there, somewhere-maybe even in Minnesota.
