Right now, Senator Norm Coleman still holds a (tiny) lead over
Franken (only 168 votes). But on the Star Tribune's
blog, the Big Question, political reporter Bob von Sternberg does
a little
recount math and describes a hypothetical scenario that has
Franken laughing all the way to the Senate:
Based on what the first-day totals of the Great Minnesota Recount
hint at, the winner of the U.S. Senate race will/might/could
be….Al Franken – by 12 votes, out of the nearly 2.9
million-ballots that were cast.
Here's how the numbers work: Franken started the day Wednesday
unofficially trailing Sen. Norm Coleman by 215 votes. By the
end of the day, with 18 percent of the state's votes counted,
Franken had shaved that lead to 174 votes. If that pattern
continues to hold in the remaining 82 percent of the precincts
(admittedly a BIG if), Franken would pick up 227.7 votes. And
that would leave him the winner, by 12.7 votes.
Point is, anything could happen, though this scenario
does seem unlikely. But then, so did Franken running for
Senate, much less a recount into late November.
