No joke: Minnesota race is soooo ugly ...
By: Josh Kraushaar
Politico.com
November 11, 2008
The smashmouth Minnesota Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken is showing no signs of letting up.
The bruising, too-close-to-call contest, which has now dragged on for nearly a week past Election Day, seems to get messier by the day. First, the Associated Press called the race for Coleman, before retracting its call under a cloud of confusion hours later. Then, amid accusations of ballot-tampering and partisan maneuvering by the Democratic secretary of state, Coleman’s lead gradually dwindled to a current 206 votes—and the official recount hasn’t even started yet.
The razor-thin margin between the two candidates guarantees that the race won’t be settled for at least another month, and legal battles surrounding the outcome could extend the dispute well into the 111th Congress. If the race doesn’t get resolved by the time the Senate convenes in January, the prospect exists that the Democratic-controlled Senate could vote on whether to seat Franken – a vote that, if held, would almost surely spark bitter partisan recriminations.
Even if Coleman prevails, the lengthy recount process could jeopardize his bid to become chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a position he has long sought.
“Minnesota nice will be the greatest casualty of this recount,” said Cook Political Report Senate analyst Jennifer Duffy. “It’s going to get ugly, it’s going to get expensive. It’s going to reflect what the race was.”
(More here.)
Politico.com
November 11, 2008
The smashmouth Minnesota Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken is showing no signs of letting up.
The bruising, too-close-to-call contest, which has now dragged on for nearly a week past Election Day, seems to get messier by the day. First, the Associated Press called the race for Coleman, before retracting its call under a cloud of confusion hours later. Then, amid accusations of ballot-tampering and partisan maneuvering by the Democratic secretary of state, Coleman’s lead gradually dwindled to a current 206 votes—and the official recount hasn’t even started yet.
The razor-thin margin between the two candidates guarantees that the race won’t be settled for at least another month, and legal battles surrounding the outcome could extend the dispute well into the 111th Congress. If the race doesn’t get resolved by the time the Senate convenes in January, the prospect exists that the Democratic-controlled Senate could vote on whether to seat Franken – a vote that, if held, would almost surely spark bitter partisan recriminations.
Even if Coleman prevails, the lengthy recount process could jeopardize his bid to become chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a position he has long sought.
“Minnesota nice will be the greatest casualty of this recount,” said Cook Political Report Senate analyst Jennifer Duffy. “It’s going to get ugly, it’s going to get expensive. It’s going to reflect what the race was.”
(More here.)
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