Lawyer Alert: Minnesota Senate Race Recount Set To Get Underway
Get ready -- the recount in the knock-down-drag-out Minnesota race is set to start tomorrow, following this afternoon's certification of GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's lead of only 215 votes over Al Franken.
The hand count could cause quite a few ballots that the optical-scan machines originally listed as having no vote on the Senate race to then be counted as having a vote on a second look. The Franken campaign will also embark on a series of tough but potentially winnable court fights to get rejected absentee ballots re-admitted, alleging clerical and legal errors in the original disqualifications.
Coleman's current lead over Franken is only about 0.007%, which is well within the natural margin of error in even the best election equipment used in this country. So we're in for a long recount that will last for several weeks, as hand counts and legal battles determine whether that lead holds up.
Good luck, Al. You're one of the few good Democrats I have left.
November 18, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't Lieberman support Coleman?
November 18, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. And I suspect that his support was worth at least a couple of hundred votes. Which means that if Coleman ultimately wins, Senate Democrats will have just rewarded Lieberman for costing Democrats a Senate seat.
November 18, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
lol. Oh QED! That's ridiculous.
November 18, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
btw, one thing we can count on since Dems have won is that blogs will have lots of Freepers as whiner provocateurs over the coming 8 years.
November 18, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
The DNC should parachute in every election lawyer they can lay their hands on. A filibuster-proof 60 seats margin was probably never in the cards anyway because Saxby Chambliss will likely prevail in the Georgia run-off. It probably wasn't a viable option anyway when it had to depend on the loyalty of Joe Lieberman (Rat-Connecticut). Nonetheless, every seat counts if the Dems can pick off a GOPer or two depending on the issue. The GOP knows this and besides, there is a personal animus against Al Franken for having made such merry ridicule of their con game for the past several years. They also know that he fully intends to honor the legacy of Paul Wellstone and serve as a true progressive. That adds up to fear AND loathing on their part and the pull out every sleazy stop they can get away with. Their man is in the governor's chair and the wing-nut radio legions are already out in force. The Dems have to meet them blow-for-blow!
November 18, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The DNC won't help. The Estblishment would rather have a Republican win than a netroots candidate.
November 18, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I'm sure that'sw true. The "establishment," even were it Democratic, would prefer a Republican to a Democrat.
That makes sense.
Sure it does.
Not.
Wake up and grow up: our gov't is not a foreign entity. Under our Constitution and laws, We the people are the gov't. Surrender, or act responsibly as a citizen.
November 19, 2008 5:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let's not bother campaigining for Martin in GA, in view of the "fact" that he's gonna lose anyway.
What sort of "optimism" quits before the finish line is in isght?
November 19, 2008 5:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
...oh yeah, I almost forget. If you want to help and aren't yourself an election lawyer, you can always help pay for them by sending a little dough to www.alfranken.com. I did and I feel a bit better already!
November 18, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Franken would have been a riot to watch in the ol'boys network of the Senate.
November 18, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
True, he'd be like having John Stewart in there (ok, a bit different, but funny as hell).
But take heart, it isn't over. It's going to be a long time until we know who won. Given the distribution, why don't we just flip a coin and get it over with?
November 18, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
It won't be all that long.
November 19, 2008 5:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Incorrect. The Secretary of State and the convassing board will certify nothing in this race (MN-SEN) today. Certification occurs AFTER the recount.
They will only note that the race margin comes in below the .5% threshold mandated by state law.
November 18, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is that the law?
Until now, Kleefeld has been pretending to be the expert -- but on perceptions; he's not cited any legal provisions for his view. In fact, his only citations have been to "perceptions" and such media-hype irrelevancies.
November 19, 2008 5:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kos has already declared Lieberman vote as a referrendum on Obama.
What an Idiot.
November 18, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG! A blogger has an opinion and he's putting it forth in his very own blog. Heavens to mergatroid. We are well aware of your feelings on Kos, no need to keep posting the same thing over and over again.
November 18, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's wierd you are defending Kos for bloggin but advocating me not to post. Great.
This is his new blog admonishing Obama:
Let's see Obama maintain that ideal in the executive branch.
Therefore I posted his take.
He isn't just a blogger. Sadly sometimes and sometimes thankfully his take on the issue matters.
But again you're just in a fighting mood. So just ignore me if you can.
November 18, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Corrected format:
It's wierd you are defending Kos for bloggin but advocating me not to. Great.
This is his new blog admonishing Obama:
Let's see Obama maintain that ideal in the executive branch.
Therefore I posted his take.
He isn't just a blogger. Sadly sometimes and sometimes thankfully his take on the issue matters.
But again you're just in a fighting mood. So just ignore me if you can.
November 18, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
you're commmenting on a blog, not blogging. there is a difference.
November 18, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah I agree Kos is kind of an idiot. At least about Lieberman, who he's totally obsessed with. Kos has crazy eyes and an obsessive drama queen personality. That's why he hosted Armando and his ilk and will always throw red meat to his somewhat rabid fanbase.
I see Kos as more of a Megachurch than a political website.
November 18, 2008 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's weird how you flame on Kos on another blog (another blog that respects kos' opinion no less- josh marshall, greg, et al- in the very least respect the guy). If you disagree with his opinion you should post under the thread he started and call him out on it. What's the point of posting here on it?. You'll also notice how I didn't defend kos at all, merely pointed out that you sound like a broken record. "kos is dumb." "kos is an idiot." yeesh, we get it already.
Kos is a well-respected blogger- get over it.
November 18, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's well respected sometimes. He certainly is respected for his success. But he's also considered pretty inconsistent and hotheaded, like his fanbase.
November 18, 2008 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Kozmik -- I'm 57 and no 'fanboi'. The Kos is not Kos himself; it's all the contributors and commenters, and there are many excellent ones. Kos the person gets slammed pretty regularly over there for flying off the handle and making heated pronouncements.
November 18, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kos is respected? And if so, for what? Arrogance and self-promotion? Certainly not for his run-of-the-mill hit-and-miss views and conclusions.
Kos is one individual with a blog pushing his view as "representative" of something-or-other.
November 19, 2008 5:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
He's no idiot. We already knew it with the FISA vote, but this just nails it.
November 18, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kos is a zealot. I have to point out he was in the Army briefly, then a Libertarian/Republican, now he's on the left. I think his consistent qualities are being very driven and passionate, but also kind of erratic an impatient.
He doesn't have the patience to deal with government institutions or long term strategy. He wants it now, is prone to slogans and very dogmatic. That's why so much of his fanbase are young or just hotheads like him.
He's smart and does good work when he's right. But he's also prone to going overboard and losing it. With Leiberman it's definitely personal, almost Oedipal.
November 18, 2008 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can understand why Kos takes it personally. Lieberman is a signature issue for the netroots. It's a battle they fought in 2006 and lost only to see Traitor Joe ZEALOUSLY support the worst Bush policies while trying to defeat his own party. Now, the party turns on the netroots and the left instead of Joe and absolutely boasts about it.
I got angry at the Bush administration, but the Bush administration nevers inspires the absolute fury that my own party does. I guess I figure when the party abandons me, I've lost all options.
Harry Reid says Traitor Joe is a Democrat. I guess that means I'm not and I guess I haven't been in awhile, but I sure do wish I had a party because I've still got passion for issues, just no party to represent them.
November 18, 2008 7:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
what's all this about kos? Thought the story here was the Minnesota recount.
November 18, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This stuff is easy, *comedy* is hard. Go get 'em AL.
November 18, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
After county canvasses showed a margin of 206, Coleman gained an additional 25 votes, and Franken 16, from a post-election audit of voting machines in 205 randomly-selected precincts.
If this was a truly random sample of precints and Coleman ended up with more extra votes than Franken, doesn't that spell trouble for Franken on the recount?
November 18, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, it doesn't say what county it was, so we don't know if it was a county that voted mostly for one or the other. All this is saying is that in a tiny test, they found 41 uncounted votes, which is a fifth of the margin between the two. This is anyone's game.
November 18, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I got that a bit wrong--it was 205 randomly sampled precincts. There are over 4000 precincts in Minnesota, so my main point is still ok: The results is most likely random, but shows there are a lot of votes that will be found one way or the other.
November 18, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Something doesn't quite add up here. Typical machine error rates are about 0.1%. There were about 2.8 million votes cast in MN, so if these 205 precincts were indeed representative of the more than 4000, then there should have been about 140,000 votes in them. An error rate of 0.1% should give 140 errors - significantly higher than the 41 they found. So either their machines are really, really good, or these precincts weren't very representative.
November 18, 2008 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Given that Obama and the Senate Dems have signaled that it's really no big deal to them if someone actively supports Republicans like John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Norm Coleman, I'm puzzled why I should care whether Franken wins or loses. Or Jim Martin. Or Begrich. If Norm Coleman is good enough for Joe Lieberman, and Barack Obama and Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are fine with Joe's support for Coleman, who cares about Al Franken?
November 18, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's really sad- what they've done. The questions you bring up are valid. What are we to believe? I hope Franken is the clear winner after the recount- otherwise I wouldn't expect much of an assist from the Senate Dems.
November 18, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because the Ol' Boys club is scared of Franken in the Senate because he's not a career politician with further political aspirations.
They're afraid he'll call them on their ridiculousness, decide to serve only one term out of boredom with the job and leave to write a book lampooning the sacred Senate as only few can.
November 18, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
How are you, Jonze? I have to admit I'm a bit surprised by your reactions today re: Leiberman. I didn't know it was that big of an issue for you.
November 18, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I rant and I rave, but I'm already really over it. I actually predicted this the day after the election when other folks were daydreaming about how Lieberman was going to be drawn and quartered.
Here's a "what went on behind the closed doors" account from the AP-
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hyIW3sNdPT-eLawFnLxF9lJ9-AtAD94HH4NG0
Is that why Lieberman did nothing on the committee the last couple of years? I dunno. Doesn't he remember asking Obama to stump for him in the Conn. primary and that Obama did? Or because Obama switched to support Lamont after he won the Dem nod that Lieberman figured Obama was fair game? So risking President Palin was part of Lieberman's personal revenge plot on the Dems?
November 18, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's pathetic. He sounds like a jilted teen after his crush asks someone else to the dance. Grow up, Leiberman.
November 18, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, and keep raving. I like your posts today. Righteous indignation- that's what I like.
November 18, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of kos and his red meat fanbois....
November 18, 2008 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ummm...Joe? The Democratic Party didn't reject you in 2006. The Democratic voters of CT did. And I don't think you've earned too many of them back. Maybe, just maybe, if you behave yourself for the next four years they'll forget. But if you continue to act like a prick, you'd better start planning for a second career after 2012.
November 18, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
joe lieberman is a good man who will give his all to keep israel in an agressive stance. ready to respond to any threat.
November 18, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lieberman is a moaning scrotum who can't tell the truth if his life depended on it. In 2006 in CT he was all about 'electing a Democratic president in 2008.' And that's one lie among a thousand.
November 18, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
"ready to respond to any threat" -- including the invented and ginned-up as opportunity to commit war crimes against the "non-chosen poeples".
November 19, 2008 5:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
What I find amazing is the lack of purpose here. A senator is elected to represent the "people" of his state, not act out on his own agenda due to hurt feelings. What world do these people live in? If I were a Conn. residant I would be livid reading this, along with the joker who lied to get elected Senator.
November 18, 2008 8:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just got some retribution!! The Minnesota Democratic Party just called wanting some help on the Franken front and I told them that I despise Joe Lieberman and they're not getting a dime out of me. Sorry Al but not one dime for the coward caucus, not one blue cent.
November 18, 2008 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Although I share your cynicism, this strikes me as a textbook example of nose amputation for face-spiting sake. Yes, many in the D caucus are pricks. We've known that for years. As Kos notes, it's about more and better Democrats. We've gotten the "more" part, but we're just starting to work on the "better." Franken is one of the "better" and it doesn't make sense from any angle to refuse to support him. If you don't want to give to the party, just bypass it and donate directly to Franken. That's what I did this cycle in a number of races, and that's what I told the DCCC and DSCC whenever they came a-callin'. I told them I'll do my own prioritizing via ActBlue, thank you very much.
November 19, 2008 1:09 AM | Reply | Permalink