Coleman To Speak Today: What Will He Do?
The Uptake reports that Norm Coleman will be speaking at 4 p.m. ET today in Minnesota -- his first public appearance since the state canvassing board certified the election results yesterday showing him losing to Al Franken by 225 votes, and also his first appearance since his term expired this past Saturday and he became an ex-Senator.
So what's going to happen? Will he announce that he's challenging the results in court, which could prevent Franken from being seated for weeks or even months? Or will he give it up and concede, in the face of some very long odds against him winning in court?
Meanwhile, Harry Reid just took to the Senate floor to urge Coleman to concede, rather than put the seat in limbo. Reid reminisced about how bad he felt when he lost a very close Senate race in 1974, and then how he later won a super-close race in 1998 -- and how much he admired his opponent John Ensign, now his co-Senator, for handling it better than he himself had 24 years earlier. We'll have video of that shortly.
Late Update: Here's the Reid video:
Coleman needs an intervention. It's over. Someone he trusts and will listen to needs to tell him that.
January 6, 2009 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Considering what other Repubs are saying I doubt he'll be realistic. The Repubs are saying and doing exactly the opposite of what they did in 2000--that's why they're the greatest hypocrites of all. And that's saying a lot.
January 6, 2009 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Conceding for the good of the people of MN would be the classy thing to do. I suspect we can count on Quimby to do the exact opposite.
January 6, 2009 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
What? Reid thinks Norm Coleman will listen to the fraternal advice of a Senate "colleague" or the reassuring anecdote of an inept politician not even respected by his own party---rather than to the piercing scream of Norm's own consuming ambition?
It would be better for Al Franken if Reid would keep his trap shut. His comments, like Schumer's, will be replayed in Minnesota by the rightie radio echo-chamber, to convince people here that Norm is being victimized by national Democrats with partisan motives----rather than the truth, which is that Norm lost a fair and transparent recount conducted under state law and court orders.
Be honest. If Franken had lost by an equally close margin, as it seemed at first might be the case, then Al's lawyers would be agitating to take the whole thing to court. Whether Al would have done so, only he knows. But Al does need support now, so go to his Al Franken for Senate website and send a little help if you can. $5 buys about 45 seconds of a big-shot lawyer's time.
January 6, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, you're not going to have Normie to kick around anymore...
January 6, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to say I really like that "Former" before Coleman's name under his picture.
January 6, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, that's just never going to get old.
January 6, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
The only member of the Democratic Caucus who could make a difference if he spoke, would be that Independent from CT, Joe Lieberman. I wonder if Reid's statement, and his association with Ensign will eventually lead to pressure on Joe to cut the strings?
January 6, 2009 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, the only thing I remember about Coleman's Senate career is when he got schooled by a British MP during some sort of investigation. I never saw someone so starkly outclassed.
January 6, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink