Although not directly affiliated with Barack Obama, Mr. Franken resides on the same left-wing fringe. His possible election as
"If I put myself on the ballot and even 50 people voted for me it'd be a travesty."
Al Franken
(Paul Duchene, "The Joke Stops Here: What If Al Franken Were President?" The Oregonian,
The trouble is, a good deal more than fifty people have joined in on the travesty. The final numbers from the recount, submitted by the Minnesota Secretary of State on Monday, January 5th: Franken 1,212,431 votes, Norman Coleman 1,212,206.
A candidacy that began as a bad joke has taken on horrific proportions.
What happened to Senator Coleman’s lead?
- on the morning after the election, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes.
- by that evening, the lead was down to 477.
- by the next day, Thursday, Mr. Coleman’s lead was down to 336
- by Friday, 239, and by Saturday following the election – 221
- final margin, before litigation – Franken by 225
Typos were blamed for the initial change, attributed to “exhausted county officials” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Were they exhausted after going through volumes of phony ACORN registrations? Why were most of the typos from a heavily Democratic precinct – were they more tired? Mr. Lott wrote a follow-up article on Foxnews.com on Does this sound familiar? Like Florida 2000? The specter of local political operatives holding ballots up to the light at various angles to try to discern some sort of marking favoring their candidate. Well, it has happened again. For details of specific egregious decisions in determining voter intent, please see Mr. Lott’s article. Suffice to say, when a certain result is desired, rules and decisions aren’t usually consistent. The same is true of the board’s decisions to include some votes and exclude others. For the most part, when a recount favored Franken, that total was used. But if a recount favored Coleman, and the original machine tally favored Franken, it was determined that the machine total was most accurate. And there are still a large number of absentee ballots which the board refuses to acknowledge (see article below). So much for “every vote counts.” Mr. Franken’s accomplishments leading up to his run for Saturday Night live was a fine show, but this looks more like the resume of a left-wing zealot than a serious candidate for Senator. During his campaign for the Senate, Franken was criticized for advising SNL creator Lorne Michaels on a political sketch ridiculing Senator John McCain's attack ads on Barack Obama. Coleman's campaign reacted, saying, "Once again he proves he's more interested in entertainment than service, and ridiculing those with whom he disagrees." Mr. Franken has articulated the following positions over the years, all liberal: He has also been a vocal critic of the Iraq War, opposed the 2007 troop surge and favors transitioning to a universal health care system. Franken has used books and Air We hope for Some More Quotes: "I'm a very indecisive person. I'd be a terrible politician." Al Franken (Sylvia Rubin, "A Franken Honest Discussion," San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1999) "I'm interested in politics for all the wrong reasons -- I'm interested in the sport, the entertainment value of it." Al Franken (Jim Ragsdale, "Franken Out To Harpoon Rush For Fun, Profit," Pioneer Press, February 22, 1996) By PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press Coleman's lawyers had promised a legal challenge a day earlier, arguing that some ballots were mishandled and others were wrongly excluded from the recount. Coleman scheduled an afternoon news conference at the State Capitol in Franken declared victory Monday, but a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh declined Tuesday to reveal if he was in "I am proud to stand before you as the next senator from The Canvassing Board's certification of the recount results started a seven-day clock for Coleman to file a lawsuit. His attorney, Tony Trimble, said Monday afternoon that the challenge would be filed within 24 hours. "This process isn't at an end," Trimble said. "It is now just at the beginning." A lawsuit would open doors closed to the campaigns during the administrative recount. The campaigns would be able to access voter rolls, inspect machines and get testimony from election workers. When the smoke cleared after the election, Coleman appeared to hold a 215-vote lead. But Franken made up the deficit over seven tortuous weeks of ballot-sifting, in part by winning more of the challenges that both campaigns brought against thousands of ballots. Franken also did better than Coleman when election officials opened and counted more than 900 absentee ballots that had erroneously been disqualified on Election Day. Likely to be a major feature of any lawsuit is the argument by Coleman's lawyers that some ballots were mishandled and others were wrongly excluded from the recount, giving Franken an unfair advantage. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was careful Monday to note that the board was simply signing off on the numbers found by the recount: Franken, with 1,212,431 votes, and Coleman, with 1,212,206 votes. "We're not doing anything today that declares winners or losers or anything to that effect," Ritchie said. All five members of the canvassing board — Ritchie, plus two state Supreme Court justices and two A lawsuit case would fall to a three-judge panel picked by Chief Justice Eric Magnuson of the Supreme Court. Magnuson served on the Canvassing Board, but declined to say Monday if he would remove himself from the selection process as a result. Magnuson was an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Costs of the election lawsuit fall to the campaigns. But there is a provision in state law that exposes the government to costs if results are reversed due to any irregularity in election procedure.
