Franken Waits To Be Seated As Coleman Lawsuit Begins

Will Minnesota have representation in the U.S. Senate in  2009?  Not if candidate Norm Coleman has his way.  A required recount of votes confirmed Al Franken won the November 4 Senate election by 225 votes.  Refusing to accept defeat, Republican incumbent Coleman challenged the recount results claiming that thousands of rejected ballets should be reexamined.  A three judge panel appointed by Alan Page, State Supreme Court Justice and Minnesota Viking Hall of Famer, disagreed, but will allow a lawsuit Coleman filed arguing the recount process was flawed, rejecting Franken’s bid to block it.

When will it end? It should have already, but with this latest lawsuit set to begin on Monday, it may be months until the business is settled.  When asked how long the battle will continue, Coleman is reported to have said “we’ll see how it plays out” suggesting that if it does not play out in his favor, he’ll fight on.  In fact, the loser can appeal the panel’s ruling, and likely will.  Meanwhile, Minnesota will continue to be underrepresented in the U.S. Senate during this critical time of economic and foreign policy challenges.   Whatever happened to that Republican slogan, Country First?  I guess Norm thought the chant was Coleman First.