In a press conference that concluded just minutes ago, former Senator Norm Coleman conceded the Minnesota Senate race, adding that he had called Al Franken to congratulate him on his victory. The ending of an eight-month saga, today also marks the final chapter of the GOP’s disastrous 2008 cycle: With Minnesota, Democrats picked-up a total of eight seats in last fall’s elections.
Today’s decision by the state Supreme Court essentially meant that the game was over for Coleman but he still had a small opening to delay matters. He wisely concluded that the odds of provoking an anti-GOP backlash among Minnesota voters were far greater than the odds he could be any more successful in federal courts.
Coleman’s decision saves Governor Tim Pawlenty from a painful dilemma. Had Coleman appealed and had Pawlenty signed the document, it could have put the Governor at odds with the Republican base - always a tricky situation for a presidential hopeful.
It also leaves the door open for Coleman to pursue a gubernatorial run in 2010. It remains to be seen whether Coleman pushed his contest far enough to durably alienate the public, but it’s clear is that he could not afford to prolong the legal battle any longer if he has any intention of running in 2010. (He sidestepped the asked about it at a press conference earlier today.)
And just like that, Democrats get an additional and reliable Senate vote. (Don’t forget that Ted Kennedy’s refusal to resign despite his year-long absence has been costing Democrats a vote since the spring of 2008; as such, Franken will only get them to 59.) Given that Franken’s victory has looked certain for months, it’s easy to forget that Democrats were pessimistic in the first few weeks after the recount; or that Franken never led before December 20th, 6 weeks after votes were cast; or that Franken didn’t look like he would able to keep up with Coleman back in the spring of 2008, when fellow Democrats were attacking him over past writings.
But at the end of the day, Franken rode the Democratic wave and successfully completed his transition from comic to serious politician - but not before setting up one last show for us to enjoy. However frustrating the past eight months have been, they also offered moments of pure theater, starting with the canvassing board’s week-long deliberation over challenged ballots - porn for political junkies, I called it.
Update: Among the deluge of coverage heralding Democrats for reaching 60 Senate votes just in time for health care reform and the Sotomayor hearings, credit to The Atlantic’s Josh Green for being one of the rare commentators to point out that Democrats only effectively control 58 seats - 59 if Byrd returns to Washington. That means they still need Republican votes to break cloture votes but they can no longer blame the GOP for obstructionism.
Wellstone would be proud. Thank God this is finally over!
Lord. I hate both of them. If Ventura would’ve run it would have at least been entertaining.
Thank God. At least we now have another progressive at an important time.
“Coleman’s decision saves Governor Tim Pawlenty from a painful dilemma. Had Coleman appealed and had Pawlenty signed the document, it could have put the Governor at odds with the Republican base”
It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Pawlenty was given a heads up last week that Coleman was going to concede if the Minnesota Supreme Court went with Franken. That way he could say; as he has this week; that he would certify the vote if Franken won. This would make him look less partisan with most independent voters while not antagonizing the Republican base.
For the extremly important votes, ones in which failure could bring a great embarssment to Democrats, and Obama in particular (the cap and trade and health care being the prime suspects) it is very likely that Kennedy will make himself available for at least his votes. On Sontomayor he isn’t really needed, as its doubutful that Republicans would filibuster her when she wouldn’t be changing the current conservative make up of the court.
Also, seeing as how Kennedy is overwhelingmly popular, as well as the fact that a Senate vacacy would be filled by a special election (and not be filled for months at the least, although Democrats are practially assured of keeping it) it probably wouldn’t be prudant for him to so. It would make more sense for Byrd, as a gubernetorial appointment is possible by the Democratic governor, but as you said, he is getting better and he has explicity said that only Death would take him away from the Senate).
Its is interesting to see if Coleman will now try to jump into the gubernatorial race. Besides his senate career, he is known for as the GOP candidate in the 1998 governor’s race, in which he and the Democract famously lost to Jesse Ventura.
Jaxx,
Remember that for a Senator not to vote on cloture is the same as a “no.” So as far as cloture is concerned Kennedy not resigning/not showing and his seat being occupied by a Republican comes to the same thing. If anything, you could expect a Massachusetts Republican to sometimes side with Democrats vote so maybe the latter would be better.
I am also not sure if Kennedy would be able to show up for important votes. It was hard enough to get him to DC for the first stimulus vote, and he left before the second stimulus vote; as you might remember, that put Specter in a tight spot because he was stuck providing the truly decisive 60th vote. I also have a hard time believing that Dawn Johnsen’s nomination would be stuck if Kennedy were able to cast a vote on her, but that’s not the type of high-profile enough issue that’s going to get Kennedy to come to Capitol Hill.
I’m indeed happy to see Al Franken finally declared the winner in Minnesota and in line to being seated very soon. He’ll definitely be a reliable part of a liberal anti-filibuster coalition. But some people are engaged in wishful thinking if they think there are now 60 Democrats and any filibuster by right-wing obstructionists is no longer a problem. As indicated, the Democrats would need the presence and votes of a couple of Senators (Kennedy and Byrd) whose health status is shaky at best. Also, those counting to 60 are too quick, in my opinion, to include independent Lieberman (who could easily be a Republican on religious or foreign policy issues) and a handful of unreliable DINOs (the worst of whom is probably Ben Nelson of Nebraska). I believe they’ll still need Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine on a number of possible votes. But she’s the only clearly left-leaning Republican in the Senate. So I don’t think the partisan warfare there is definitely over or a lost cause for the right-wing ideologues.