The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Fighting Franken

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On the main site, Matthew Vadum makes the case for Norm Coleman continuing to fight on, but place me in the Scott Johnson camp in thinking that Franken did not steal the election. In an election this close, there is simply no way to know beyond doubt who really won, the losing side will always feel jilted, and there are always enough irregularities to give comfort to those who are looking for evidence of cheating. The thought of the obnoxious Franken being a U.S. Senator is nauseating to me, but objectively speaking, I think the election and recount was a fair and open process. It doesn't help Coleman's credibility that when he was ahead, he and his representatives were making the exact opposite arguments as when he was behind -- on whether the process was fair, on whether certain ballots should be counted, and on whether the trailing candidate should concede. In these situations, it's like a contoversial call at the end of a crucial playoff game. The fans of the losing team may argue that they were screwed, but that's why you don't want to be in a position in which one call by the referee could determine the outcome of the game. Similarly, if Coleman didn't run a poor campaign and squander a lead that was once in the double digits, he wouldn't have had to worry about whether a shift in a few hundred votes would determine the outcome of the election.

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Quin| 4.14.09 @ 11:13AM

Phil,
There is a difference between a lawful process and a fair process. The process in Minnesota has been open, and the REVIEW of it has been conducted according to the law, but only AFTER the Franken side gamed the law while the Coleman side sat on its hands. In short, it has been lawful, perhaps, but not fair. It looks to me that the election WAS stolen by use of all the subterfuges Coleman's team now alleges, but that there is no legal remedy for those subterfuges. In other words, it looks to me like Coleman got more legit votes than Franken did, but that Franken 's team protected (or created) more votes in the aftermath, in a way not challengeable in the courts after the dirty deeds were done.

Repack Rider| 4.14.09 @ 11:26AM

Everyone got their shot in court, and the court is where these issues are supposed to be decided. It didn't help Coleman that his legal team argued FOR including some ballots, and then later AGAINST the very same ballots, and the court noted their inconsistency. If the election were held today, Coleman would lose by 20% because of all the negative publicity he has generated, and he is probably costing other MN Republicans votes with every headline. Coleman's ethical problems have been kept at bay so far, but they are getting ready to rear up and bite him. It's time to go home, Norm, to your overleveraged house, and try to figure out how you are going to pay for it and who will be buying your suits for you.

Repack Rider| 4.14.09 @ 11:56AM

I just came across the judgment online, and the court was not happy with Coleman, to the point where they dismissed his case "with prejudice." Coleman is on the hook not only for the court costs, but for Franken's legal team too. Coleman should have quit when he was behind.

Bob| 4.14.09 @ 1:01PM

Phil, you are absolutely correct on this. Of all of the states, Minnesota has long been known as one of the fairest. I'm not even willing to concede that Coleman ran a poor campaign as we always say that about the loser. But Franken did not win because he was the better candidate, he won because the Republican party is weak and intellectually bankrupt. Furthermore, there is a divisive split between fiscal conservative/social libertarian and social conservative wings of the party to such an extent that the Dems don't even have to try the divide and conquer exercise -- we do a good job of that ourselves.

MT| 4.14.09 @ 5:18PM

You have to stop ACORN---BEFORE---the election; post-election it's too late. The dems have perfected the art of election theft, and I believe it's naive to blame Coleman.