Franken Declared Winner of Minnesota Senate Seat

It's over. Again. Maybe. Reuters reports at 1:47 (CST) that Al Franken will be officially declared the winner of Minnesota's long, drawn out recount drama. But there's a catch... Democrat Al Franken will be declared the winner of the tight U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, emerging from a ballot recount with a slim margin over Republican Norm Coleman, state officials said on Sunday. Here's the catch. Maybe. But Coleman, the incumbent, has asked Minnesota's supreme court to require that a few hundred additional absentee ballots be included in the recount -- and he could then ask the court to investigate the contest all over again. Subscribe to Chicago News Bench

Breaking: Franken - Coleman STILL Tight

With Thanksgiving just hours away, one of the Minnesota US Senate races is still undecided. The recount has hit all kinds of speed bumps. Just hours ago, it was being reported that Al Franken (Democrat) would appeal a court decision that would not count approximately 12,000 absentee ballots, but a later report from The Hill says that he will not appeal the decision after all. Franken is hoping to unseat incumbent Norm Coleman (Republican). According to the Washington Independent, "With more than 80 percent of the 2.92-million ballots recounted, the incumbent clings to a roughly 200-vote lead — almost the exact margin he maintained when the process got underway on November 19. The outcome of this tight race will likely hinge on a few thorny issues still in play." See the full article...

Minnesota Recount: Coleman Holds Tight Lead Over Franken

UPDATE on the US Senate recount in Minnesota, where challenger Al Franken (Democrat) is now nipping at the heels of incumbent Norm Coleman (Republican). There's a lot of aspirin being consumed up there. According to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, "Norm Coleman is hanging on to his whisker-thin lead over Al Franken. With 64 percent of the 2.9 million ballots recounted, Coleman is ahead by 120 votes."

FRANKEN-COLEMEN RECOUNT OFF?

BREAKING NEWS (5:20 PM Central Time, Nov. 21) The bizarre goings on in the Minnesota US Senate race just keep getting weirder: Minn. Senate campaigns reconsidering challenges - West Central Tribune, MN Officials for both Norm Coleman and Al Franken said Friday they'll review the hundreds of challenges they've made so far in their Senate race recount - and withdraw some - before the state Canvassing Board meets next month to consider them....

Comedian Al Franken Decries "Frivolous" Challenger

Democrat Al Franken is running for the US Senate in Minnesota, where he is locked into a recount mess with Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Franken, a violent man with an evil temper, has a failed career as a comedian. It failed because he really wasn't very funny, but now, ironically, he's funnier than ever. To wit, the Minnesota Tribune reports this today (emphasis added): Al Franken’s campaign believes it’s spotted a pattern of frivolity in their opponent’s ballot challenges. “And that pattern is that if you vote for John McCain, it is inconceivable — inconceivable — that you didn’t also intend to vote for Norm Coleman,” said Marc Elias, the Franken team’s lead recount attorney, wielding a stack of 10 challenged ballots at a press conference today. “I think it’s clear now, at least in some instances, there are challenges being lodged that are clearly frivolous.” (Source) Franken-lawyer Marc Elias just can't believe that people who voted for McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, would also vote in 99 percent of all cases for Coleman, the Republican senatorial candidate. This is funny because Democrats just assume that their voters will always behave that way. A current example is the way people voted in California for Proposition 8, which bans homosexual marriage (but did not diminish civil unions). In the case of Prop 8, African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans - who tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats - actually voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8, which was viciously challenged by the Democrat Party. It is fact that 90 to 95 percent African-Americans vote for Democrat candidates in every election at every level. Yet, it is also fact that African-Americans tend to vote against a number of "liberal" issues such as homosexual marriage. In other words, many Black people around the US who \voted for Obama may well have voted (locally) against traditionally "liberal" items on the same ballot. This is not outlandish or hard to believe, yet Franken's lawyer would have us believe it is so. To draw from this, why is it hard to believe that "if you vote for John McCain, it is inconceivable...that you didn’t also intend to vote for Norm Coleman," as Franken-lawyer said. No, it would be inconceivable that people voting for McCain (or against Obama, as it were) would vote for Al Franken, a nutjob lunatic uber-Liberal. Seriously: It's not as though Franken is a moderate, easy to like Democrat that Republicans could embrace and vote for. Rather, Franken has offered nothing more than dishonest mockery of conservative values for decades now. Franken is well known to be a mean, hot tempered man. To turn Franken-lawyer's phrase around, if you vote for Barack Obama, it is inconceivable — inconceivable — that you didn’t also intend to vote for Al Franken, because even though he's known to be a raving asshole, he's a Democrat and party trumps character for Democrats. Don't believe me? Voters in Illinois need only remember Democrats of low character that hold elected office, such as Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, Governor Rod Blagojevich, virtually the entire Chicago City Council, and countless others that voters have long known are shady - but voted for them anyway. Party trumps quality almost every time. (Remember John Kerry?) Ironically, Democrat voters, who chanted "Change" with glassy-eyed conformity, largely voted the way they have for decades. Doesn't sound like "change" to me. RELATED READING: Washington Times - Blacks, Hispanics nixed gay marriage The Bench: Most Blacks, Latinos Voted For Proposition 8 Proposition 8 Exit Poll: Whites oppose, blacks support, Latinos ... 70% of African Americans backed Prop. 8, exit poll finds L.A. ... Anti-gay bias puts blacks in bad company Prop 8 Sparks Gay-Black Divide Just how shallow are Democrat voters? Extreme Wisdom Just Who Did Democrat Voters Elect? - HUMAN EVENTS Pitts: In historic election, blacks embrace discrimination ... CURE Blacks should try to see real point of liberal politics Video: Why change is rare in black communities

RECOUNT: FRANKEN - COLEMAN STILL UNDECIDED: 2.9 MILLION VOTES TO COUNT (AGAIN)

Minnesota STILL does not have a decision in the Franken-Coleman race for US Senate. With Coleman tentatively leading Franken by a miniscule 215 votes, a recount has been ordered, forcing election officials to undertake a massive task. A judge ruled that Franken could have access to information about absentee ballots that were disqualified. Election workers must now sift through some 2,900,000 votes between now and December 5th. They started yesterday, and will have to count about more than 25,000 votes per day. City and county workers across Minnesota began a laborious recount yesterday of 2.9 million ballots in the tight Senate contest between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. The state's first look at recount figures showed that nearly 16 percent of ballots were recounted by the end of the day, with 221 challenges statewide. Election workers have until Dec. 5 to complete the recount. MORE at the Philadelphia Enquirer... RELATED: Franken to get rejected absentee info Count-a-thon off to smooth start Franken Makes Gains In First Day Of Recount, But It's Far From Over

FRANKEN, COLEMAN: STILL TOO CLOSE

THE LATEST ON THE ONGOING U.S. SENATE RACE IN MINNESOTA: Twin Cities, Minnesota - NOV. 15 - Senator Norm Coleman’s lead over Al Franken shrunk again from 206 to an even 200 votes after counties from all over Minnesota turned in their audits Friday. The hand count audits were only of 3 to 5 precincts in any given county and are done after every election in Minnesota to check the accuracy of the voting machines. Full Story....

COLEMAN NOW AHEAD OF FRANKEN IN TIGHT MINNESOTA SENATE RACE

THIS DAMNED STORY KEEPS CHANGING. I posted the item below last night, and today it has changed - again. The Bench recommends a Google news search on "Al Franken" to keep up with the very latest on this story, which seems to change by the hour. IT AIN'T OVER YET: The Coleman-Franken contest for US Senate in Minnesota drags on. It's like the NYSE. Up, down, up, down. Norm Coleman was ahead of Al Franken, then Franken challenged and pulled ahead by some 200 votes (see Al Franken Stealing Election In Minnesota). Now, late tonight, comes word that Coleman has pulled ahead of Franken! Why? Because of a lot of hard work by attorneys for both sides in a drama that will be written about for years to come: Hundreds of lawyers from both parties have volunteered to help fight the continuing Minnesota Senate race, where Republican Sen. Norm Coleman now leads Democrat Al Franken by roughly 200 votes, of 2.9 million cast, after an initial count. The razor-thin margin will trigger an automatic recount. Full Story at WSJ...