Al Franken asks governor to preempt litigation and name him Senator
In the latest twist in the Franken/Coleman debacle continually unfolding in Minnesota, it seems that Al Franken really doesn't want to have to go to court in order to become the Junior Senator from Minnesota.
According to a brief filed in a Minnesota district court today, Al Franken wants Republican Norm Coleman's challenge of the results of the Minnesota recount to be referred not to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but rather by the US Senate.
In other words, Franken would (unsurprisingly) rather see all the errors and irregularities in the recount examined by the Democrat-controlled Senate rather than a court of law.
Franken's even go so far as to sent a letter to Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty asking him to sign Franken's certificate of election -- something that is actually unlawful, as Minnesota's election law requires all court challenges of an election result to be complete before a winner can be officially certified.
Tim Pawlenty is a Republican. Accordingly, one can certainly expect that Democrat partisans will accuse him of partisan wrangling in this affair. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, however is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party. He's also refused to sign an election certificate at this time.
Yet with partisan Democrats going out of their way to try and marginalize any criticism of the way the Minnesota recount has proceeded, anyone paying close attention to the overall situation cannot ignore one overarching question:
Why is it that Al Franken wants errors and irregularities in the recount result examined not by a (presumably) impartial Supreme Court, but by the Democrat-controlled US Senate?
One could not help but imagine the absurdity of the scene: Joe Biden presiding over a Senate hearing in which his party has both deep partisan interests and control over the proceedings.
There's probably a reason why Franken doesn't want these errors and irregularities to be tried before a court: likely because, despite what various Democrat partisans would have people believe, there may well be more to these allegations than they would like to admit.
Ultimately, it's the same reason why Norm Coleman didn't want this recount in the first place: because he might lose.
It's hard to fault Franken for his own self-interest, even if the means by which he's pursuing those interests risks giving American democracy another black eye. If anything, it's merely confirmation that Franken's transformation from an extradorinary entertainer to a run-of-the-mill politician.
Once Franken announced he was running for Senator, no one should have been shocked about that.
Sadly, in the wake of this new pinnacle in his own partisan excess, it may prove to be hard for Franken to take it to right-wing ideologues like Ann Counter the way he used to.
Al Franken, once a masterful critic of Republican sophists has become little more than a sophist himself.
Showing posts with label Norm Coleman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norm Coleman. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Nuh-Uh, Al...
...You don't sit until the election is over
With the recount between Al Franken and Norm Coleman for Minnesota's remaining senate seat set to exceed Coleman's term, the Democrats have some funny ideas.
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota's other Senator -- and, naturally, a Democrat -- seems to think that whomever is ahead in the recount when Coleman's term expires should be seated in the Senate on a probationary basis while the recount is completed and while any further litigation works its way through the courts.
However, that won't happen if John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, as anything to say about it.
"I can assure you that there will be no way people on our side of the aisle will agree to seat any senator provisionally or otherwise unless there is a valid election certificate and all legal issues about who got the most votes is finally decided," Cornyn insisted.
Cornyn is absolutely right to do this.
Not only would seating Franken before an official election result is determined be extremely undemocratic, but there would be little point to it.
Without an official election decision, Franken could not expect to be allowed to vote, or even speak. If anything, Franken would be reduced to sitting among his fellow Democrats and trying to look pretty.
The Democrats couldn't even expect to enjoy their filibuster-proof senate -- something clearly on Klobucher's mind when she suggests that Franken be allowed to sit provisionally.
In essence, there's a very basic principle at stake: in the United States, you win an election then you get to sit in the Senate. Unless you happen to have bought your seat from Rod Blagojevich.
With the recount between Al Franken and Norm Coleman for Minnesota's remaining senate seat set to exceed Coleman's term, the Democrats have some funny ideas.
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota's other Senator -- and, naturally, a Democrat -- seems to think that whomever is ahead in the recount when Coleman's term expires should be seated in the Senate on a probationary basis while the recount is completed and while any further litigation works its way through the courts.
However, that won't happen if John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, as anything to say about it.
"I can assure you that there will be no way people on our side of the aisle will agree to seat any senator provisionally or otherwise unless there is a valid election certificate and all legal issues about who got the most votes is finally decided," Cornyn insisted.
Cornyn is absolutely right to do this.
Not only would seating Franken before an official election result is determined be extremely undemocratic, but there would be little point to it.
Without an official election decision, Franken could not expect to be allowed to vote, or even speak. If anything, Franken would be reduced to sitting among his fellow Democrats and trying to look pretty.
The Democrats couldn't even expect to enjoy their filibuster-proof senate -- something clearly on Klobucher's mind when she suggests that Franken be allowed to sit provisionally.
In essence, there's a very basic principle at stake: in the United States, you win an election then you get to sit in the Senate. Unless you happen to have bought your seat from Rod Blagojevich.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Senator Al Franken?
Comedian predicts narrow victory in the Senate election that doesn't end
Anyone expecting -- or led to expect -- the Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senatorial election in Minnesota to come to a swift conclusion upon the start of the recount was apparently in for quite the wake-up call.
The recount has proven to be a long and exhaustive process, with the Coleman campaign engaging in some highly dubious challenges. At one point arguing, for example, that any ballots featuring a vote for John McCain be counted as a vote for Coleman -- an obviously disingenuous take on the meaning of "voter intent".
With this recount starting to look as if it will never end, Franken, the Democrat candidate -- has recently announced that he expects to win that race by between 35 and 50 votes.
Franken himself would make a fine addition to the US Senate. But those clamouring for him to take a seat in that body need to be well aware of all the implications.
First off, Franken's talents have clearly been well-suited to the role of poliitical opposition. Even if he's often proven to be little more than a left-wing counterpart of Ann Coulter -- so it's unsurprising that one should note his level of disdain for Coulter -- one think that Franken has done successfully is keep a wide variety of right-wing commentators on their toes.
As a Democratic Senator, one can expect Franken to be little more than a loud mouthpiece for the Democrats and their sitting President.
Secondly, a Franken victory would give the Democrats their 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate. While those friendly or sympathetic toward the Democrats may view this with satisfaction, one has to consider the effect such a thing could have on the democratic process in the United States.
As the National Post's Terence Corcoran has noted, some Democrats seem to be looking to the current economic crisis in order to implement their own agenda in an environment reminiscent of Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.
As we've previously seen, times of economic crisis are not the times for revolutionary shifts in economic policies or practices.
If Franken's election serves to enact such policy changes, it may not be quite the boon that Democrats imagine it to be.
Only time -- and the remainder of the recount -- will tell if the Franken campaign's prediction of victory will come true.
If it should, the rest of the story -- what Franken does when he actually reaches the Senate -- will be entirely up to Franken himself.
Anyone expecting -- or led to expect -- the Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senatorial election in Minnesota to come to a swift conclusion upon the start of the recount was apparently in for quite the wake-up call.
The recount has proven to be a long and exhaustive process, with the Coleman campaign engaging in some highly dubious challenges. At one point arguing, for example, that any ballots featuring a vote for John McCain be counted as a vote for Coleman -- an obviously disingenuous take on the meaning of "voter intent".
With this recount starting to look as if it will never end, Franken, the Democrat candidate -- has recently announced that he expects to win that race by between 35 and 50 votes.
Franken himself would make a fine addition to the US Senate. But those clamouring for him to take a seat in that body need to be well aware of all the implications.
First off, Franken's talents have clearly been well-suited to the role of poliitical opposition. Even if he's often proven to be little more than a left-wing counterpart of Ann Coulter -- so it's unsurprising that one should note his level of disdain for Coulter -- one think that Franken has done successfully is keep a wide variety of right-wing commentators on their toes.
As a Democratic Senator, one can expect Franken to be little more than a loud mouthpiece for the Democrats and their sitting President.
Secondly, a Franken victory would give the Democrats their 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate. While those friendly or sympathetic toward the Democrats may view this with satisfaction, one has to consider the effect such a thing could have on the democratic process in the United States.
As the National Post's Terence Corcoran has noted, some Democrats seem to be looking to the current economic crisis in order to implement their own agenda in an environment reminiscent of Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.
As we've previously seen, times of economic crisis are not the times for revolutionary shifts in economic policies or practices.
If Franken's election serves to enact such policy changes, it may not be quite the boon that Democrats imagine it to be.
Only time -- and the remainder of the recount -- will tell if the Franken campaign's prediction of victory will come true.
If it should, the rest of the story -- what Franken does when he actually reaches the Senate -- will be entirely up to Franken himself.
Monday, November 17, 2008
It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Franken/Coleman contest will come down to the wire
When the ballots were counted in the 4 November Senatorial contest between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democrat challenger Al Franken, Coleman managed a very narrow victory.
So narrow, in fact, that Minnesota state law mandated an automatic recount.
The results of that recount -- and, barring any legal action on behalf of either candidate -- will be announced tomorrow.
Until that happens, AlterNet's Scott Rafferty offers numerous reasons why he insists Franken will emerge victorious in the contest. They are (in short) as follows:
-Minnesota only uses hand-marked paper ballots, leaving for fewer opportunities for electoral fraud. The notorious "hanging chad" is also not in play in this particular contest.
-The optical scanners used to count ballots also allow for voters to correct a potentially spoiled ballot before it's even cast.
-In Minnesota, every vote counts. Even if a particular ballot mark doesn't necessarily fall within the officially mandated standards, manual counters will honour it as a sign of intent on the voter's behalf.
-Courts in Minnesota require solid proof of electoral fraud before a box of ballots is discarded.
-Minnesota's ballots are single-page ballots, and are designed with simplicity in mind. You don't need to be able to follow a treasure map to pirate gold to vote in Minnesota.
-The hand-counting verification of a cast ballot allows for clumsily-corrected ballots to be examined and, if at all possible, counted.
-According to Rafferty, studies have shown Democrat voters to be more prone to the kind of errors that would result in an otherwise-discarded ballot being counted.
-The optical scanning machines used in Minnesota still have a 0.2 rate of error, even with perfectly-marked ballots. A hand recount will inevitably reveal a number of these ballots.
-461 voters in Minneapolis whose absentee ballots were discarded due to seeming signature discrepancies may yet have their ballots counted, if Al Franken's legal team get their way in court.
Of course, Rafferty provides few compelling reasons why a good number of these factors couldn't swing in Coleman's favour rather than Franken's.
But even if he's incorrect, in a contest this close it doesn't take much of a margin of error on Rafferty's behalf for Franken to still emerge the victor.
Which will certainly be a sad day for comedy. But then again, American voters can likely still count on Franken to crack a joke or two on Capitol Hill.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Hopefully, Al Didn't Quit His Day Job
Franken falls short in his bid to join US Senate
Even though a recount looms, it seems that Al Franken may not be changing careers after all.
In his bid to defeat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, Franken may have lost by as little as 727 votes. Although Minnesota's election law mandates an automatic recount in cases where the margin of victory is less than .5%, it seems that Franken hasn't come out on top this time around.
Which, for Franken, may not be such a bad thing. Now he can write another book -- perhaps one on a positive note. While his last two books, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them and The Truth (With Jokes) were both written in the wake of Republican Presidential victories. Now, Franken has a victory to write about.
As one considers what many Democrats have regarded as the nadir of their political lives, a victorious third act should prove to be quite cathartic.
Comedy is, and will always remain, Franken's true gift. Now, with Barack Obama bound for the White House, many Democrats should find their sense of humour restored.
There will, meanwhile, be other opportunities for Franken, be it competing for a seat in the Senate or the House of Representatives. But for now, Al Franken makes an awfully good comedian.
Even though a recount looms, it seems that Al Franken may not be changing careers after all.
In his bid to defeat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, Franken may have lost by as little as 727 votes. Although Minnesota's election law mandates an automatic recount in cases where the margin of victory is less than .5%, it seems that Franken hasn't come out on top this time around.
Which, for Franken, may not be such a bad thing. Now he can write another book -- perhaps one on a positive note. While his last two books, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them and The Truth (With Jokes) were both written in the wake of Republican Presidential victories. Now, Franken has a victory to write about.
As one considers what many Democrats have regarded as the nadir of their political lives, a victorious third act should prove to be quite cathartic.
Comedy is, and will always remain, Franken's true gift. Now, with Barack Obama bound for the White House, many Democrats should find their sense of humour restored.
There will, meanwhile, be other opportunities for Franken, be it competing for a seat in the Senate or the House of Representatives. But for now, Al Franken makes an awfully good comedian.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Senator Al Franken?
SNL alum in close race
As the 2008 US Election winds to a close, most eyes are on the tightening race for President (although Barack Obama continues to hold a modest lead over McCain in most polls).
One of the sometimes-overlooked races in this election is that being contested between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat comedian Al Franken.
Franken, well known for his Air America radio network and the intensely partisan nature of both his commentary and his comedy, holds a 4% leader over Coleman, 42% to 38%.
Independent candidate Dean Barkley accounts for the remainder of decided voters, and very well could play kingmaker in this race.
Franken's fame could wind up giving him an edge. Having previously elected former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, residents of Minnesota certainly aren't adverse to electing celebrities to political office.
Franken would likely make a competent addition to the Democratic caucus, but his ultimate usefulness to the Democratic party will likely depend on who wins the Presidency. Franken's rhetoric gears him primarily toward opposition politics. With Barack Obama in the White House, Franken could find himself severely handcuffed.
Even if John McCain -- who previously was every Democrat's favourite Republican, even if he's been relentlessly demonized in the course of this increasingly fiction-wrought campaign -- wins the presidency, Franken's acerbic rhetorical style could prove to be a distinct liability.
That being said, Franken could make the American legislative process a good deal more interesting -- to say the least.
As the 2008 US Election winds to a close, most eyes are on the tightening race for President (although Barack Obama continues to hold a modest lead over McCain in most polls).
One of the sometimes-overlooked races in this election is that being contested between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat comedian Al Franken.
Franken, well known for his Air America radio network and the intensely partisan nature of both his commentary and his comedy, holds a 4% leader over Coleman, 42% to 38%.
Independent candidate Dean Barkley accounts for the remainder of decided voters, and very well could play kingmaker in this race.
Franken's fame could wind up giving him an edge. Having previously elected former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, residents of Minnesota certainly aren't adverse to electing celebrities to political office.
Franken would likely make a competent addition to the Democratic caucus, but his ultimate usefulness to the Democratic party will likely depend on who wins the Presidency. Franken's rhetoric gears him primarily toward opposition politics. With Barack Obama in the White House, Franken could find himself severely handcuffed.
Even if John McCain -- who previously was every Democrat's favourite Republican, even if he's been relentlessly demonized in the course of this increasingly fiction-wrought campaign -- wins the presidency, Franken's acerbic rhetorical style could prove to be a distinct liability.
That being said, Franken could make the American legislative process a good deal more interesting -- to say the least.
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