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| Senate GOP prepared to fight if Dems try to seat Franken |
| 2009-01-04 |
| (CNN) -- Sen. John Cornyn weighed in on Minnesota's close and still unresolved U.S. Senate race, saying Friday that no one should be seated until a winner is made official by both Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Sen. John Cornyn says Republican senators will filibuster if the Democrats try to seat Al Franken. Democratic challenger Al Franken holds a lead of about 50 votes over Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, but this number does not reflect what could be more than a thousand improperly rejected absentee ballots still to be tallied. No matter the results, officials have said there will almost certainly be court challenges. Minnesota's other senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, told the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune this week that if the state Canvassing Board -- which is tasked with tallying votes -- certifies a winner, the Senate should "consider seating that person pending litigation." Klobuchar's statement prompted Cornyn, a Republican from Texas and the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to threaten a filibuster to block Democrats from seating Franken before an official certificate is signed by Ritchie and Pawlenty. The governor and secretary of state are barred by Minnesota law from making the election official until all legal proceedings have been completed. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 Looking at Franken taking the Senate there, I think he is close to the mark. People in Minnesota are now beating out western PA (Murtha's district) in the competition for "The Stupidest Place in America". |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-01-04 20:11 |
| #16 You want to see some bitterness? Here is a comment on the same subject from a pi$$ed off reader at AoS: Minnesota is the worst state in the union and everyone from there can go straight to hell. They elect professional wrestlers, (Ventura) Islamists, (Ellison) Shitheads (Frankin)... It is a flat, frozen wasteland full of white trash and Somali cab drivers who wont carry seeing eye dogs in their cabs. It is bitter cold or blazing hot. The state bird is the mosqueto. Their bridges fall down because of pigeon crap. They think Prince makes good music.... I wasted 4 years of my life on a girl from Minnesota who turned out to be a perfect microcosom of the crappy hellhole; Flat, stupid, cold and liberal. Minnesota sucks. Man, tell us how you REALLY feel. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2009-01-04 14:42 |
| #15 "Are people in Minnesota that fecking stupid?" OS, this disorder is not unique to Minnesota. I'm willing to bet you could see a simmilar situation in any state from the upper midwest or Northeast coast. It's not all that complex. Start with a state that is traditionally liberal with an active voting electorate. Then nominate someone who is willing publically announce they will blow organized labor. Seeing as how this wasn't a landslide is testimate to the fact that even the rubes had their reservations about Franken. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-01-04 13:58 |
| #14 and Colorado now has an east coast elitist that ran a failed school system as it's new senator. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-01-04 12:53 |
| #13 WTF is wrong with the people in Minnesota that they let an intellectual midget like Franken get close enough to where he could steal the election? Are people in Minnesota that fecking stupid? Someone seed the water with birth control agents - the nation doesn't need mouthbreating droolers like that breeding. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-01-04 12:00 |
| #12 Hmmm. Louisiana and Minnesota; two ends of the same river. Sumthin' baaad in the water ? |
| Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700 2009-01-04 11:50 |
| #11 "There can be no honest outcomes from the incompetent and corrupt way this election was handled." Alaska Paul: You may be correct to suggest that the Minnesota senate race is proof of incompetence. The underbelly of Minnesota elections has been exposed simply because of the extreme closeness of the vote count. If the same scenario were to occur in any other state you would see a similar clusterfuck. And in many cases much worse. As for the allegations of “corruption” in Minnesota elections it might be helpful to put this in historical context. Consider some past Senate races from Lyndon Johnson to Robert Torricelli. Or maybe even…uhem…Ted Stevens from Alaska. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-01-04 11:12 |
| #10 The Senate really deserves Franken. His behavior and intellect is just a little more transparent than the rest of the chamber(f%&$ing clown college). |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-01-04 09:55 |
| #9 If its that close, give the Minnesotans their new Senator so the rest of the country can see them for what they are - a joke. Seriously to treat the concept of a republic as such to send this person to Washington clearly signals that the state treats the process like the theater that Louisiana has for so many generations. Just another step in the process of arrested adolescent development impacting and undermining the structures of self government. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-01-04 08:36 |
| #8 Yep, let it ride. Clinton and Franken together at last. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-01-04 07:31 |
| #7 Seat the silly bastard and let Coleman's legal efforts continue. We're already off the bizarro scale with Obama, why worry. He'll be entertaining to watch. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-01-04 06:49 |
| #6 And refusing to seat Franken or even holding the matter up would give the demagogues on the left a great deal of fodder. This is a losing battle for the Republicans, seat him and use him to highlight our corrupt electoral system. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2009-01-04 04:53 |
| #5 Letting Franken be seated might not be a horrible idea for the Republicans. Trunks could use a vile, polarizing figure like Franken. He could be the workhouse that gets more republicans elected next time. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-04 01:35 |
| #4 The crime scene that was this senate race is contaminated. There can be no honest outcomes from the incompetent and corrupt way this election was handled. Florida got it's sh*t together this year compared to to Minnesota. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2009-01-04 01:16 |
| #3 A car trunk full of acorns. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-01-04 00:46 |
| #2 For every bad piece of legislation the Dems would foist on us, the Repubs could reply, "and it was voted in by a comedian!" And they'd be right. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-01-04 00:31 |
| #1 They can't really want to seat him. He is going to be a trainwreck. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2009-01-04 00:14 |