U.S. Senate: Burning Down the House

[Lemur]

Today is a great day for lizard people.

A three-judge panel ruled that as many as 4,790 rejected absentee ballots can be considered for inclusion in the Minnesota Senate recount, adding a new wrinkle to the long-lasting Minnesota Senate recount between Coleman and Al Franken.

The court ruling is a victory for Coleman’s camp, which has been trying to get thousands of additional ballots counted in its efforts to overturn Franken’s 225-vote lead over Coleman.

The inclusion of these absentee ballots is at the center of the Coleman’s camp’s legal challenge. [...]

So only a subset of the 4,700 absentee ballots -- identified by the Coleman camp -- will be added to the count. The inclusion of additional ballots could be enough to shrink Franken’s lead, but unless most of them end up being included, it would still be difficult for Coleman to overturn his 225-vote deficit.

[Lemur]

More bad news for Coleman. But then, he took a lobbying job already, so I guess he kind of knew this wasn't going to go his way.

The judges in Minnesota's U.S. Senate trial say Republican Norm Coleman has not yet shown a widespread problem with absentee voters being denied the right to vote.

In a ruling Friday, the three-judge panel says rejected absentee ballots in 12 of 19 categories should not be counted in the Senate race. That's a setback for Coleman, who wanted to count ballots in all but three categories.

Coleman is trying to undo Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote lead by arguing that thousands of rejected absentee ballots should be counted. But the order from the judges will limit the number of ballots to be reviewed for counting.

[KukriKhan]

Wut a way to run a railroad.

[Devastatin Dave]

I don't understand why Coleman is fighting so hard for this seat. You win once, take the pension, then make your millions as a lobbyist or a "journalist". Jeeze, you'd think these guys would have this figured out by now...

[Xiahou]

It's nice to see Roland Burris and, by extension, Blago are finding ways to keep in the news.

It turns out that Burris may have perjured himself when he was asked if anyone tied to Blagojevich had contacted him about his appointment. Apparently, Burris now remembers that someone did contact him- It was Blago's brother and he wanted money.

Raising fresh questions about his appointment to Congress, Sen. Roland Burris admitted in a document released Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor named Burris as Illinois' junior senator.

The disclosure reflects a major omission from Burris' testimony in January when an Illinois House impeachment committee specifically asked if he had ever spoken to Robert Blagojevich or other aides to the now-deposed governor about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

State Rep. Jim Durkin, the impeachment committee's ranking Republican, told The Associated Press that he and House Republican Leader Tom Cross will ask Sunday for an outside investigation into whether Burris perjured himself.

You can't make this stuff up....

[Spino]

Today is a great day for lizard people.

A three-judge panel ruled that as many as 4,790 rejected absentee ballots can be considered for inclusion in the Minnesota Senate recount, adding a new wrinkle to the long-lasting Minnesota Senate recount between Coleman and Al Franken.

The court ruling is a victory for Coleman’s camp, which has been trying to get thousands of additional ballots counted in its efforts to overturn Franken’s 225-vote lead over Coleman.

The inclusion of these absentee ballots is at the center of the Coleman’s camp’s legal challenge. [...]

So only a subset of the 4,700 absentee ballots -- identified by the Coleman camp -- will be added to the count. The inclusion of additional ballots could be enough to shrink Franken’s lead, but unless most of them end up being included, it would still be difficult for Coleman to overturn his 225-vote deficit.

Sammy Sleestack will have his day in court! The Lizard People have spoken!

[Lemur]

Now Coleman suggests a do-over election. If Franken agreed, who would foot the bill for another election? Does this sound workable or advisable to anyone?

[Coleman said] "Yeah, you know some folks are now talking about simply saying run it again, just run it again."

"Have another statewide election?" Wilkow asked.

Coleman responded: "You know the St. Paul Pioneer Press is...one of the second largest papers in the state, last week [they] said we're never going to figure this out, just run it again. So you start hearing that. Ultimately the court has to make a determination, can they confirm, can they certify who got the most legally cast votes?"

[Major Robert Dump]

I think before another election some pretty stringent post election rules would have to be laid down before anyone would agree. It might invigorate whole new groups of people to get out and vote because they are tired of the circus, it might also invigorate a whole new group of con artists who try to think of ways to DQ ballots or cry discrimination at the polls.

I bet if they did a do-over one of the candidates would win by a very large margin, not sure who, but it would effectively end the others career. In fact, I hope that happens, because theres nothing I enjoy better than watching a politicians career end.

[Lemur]

Senator Bunning (R-KY) threatens to quit if GOP gives him a hard time. Since Kentucky has a Dem Governor, this would put the Dems into the 60-seat supermajority that nobody thought they would ever get. Freaky.

Already in conflict with his party’s leaders, Sen. Jim Bunning has reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation. [...]

The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement — a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

“I would get the last laugh. Don’t forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor,” one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

“The only logical extension of that comment is, ‘(Make me mad) … enough and I’ll resign, and then you’ve got 60 Democrats,’ ” said another source who was present at the event.

That was the clear message Bunning was sending, said a third source who heard the senator’s remarks at the fundraiser, which attracted about 15 people.

[seireikhaan]

Wow...

I'm not sure what surprises me more: that anybody would threaten their party with such a maneuver, or that Kentucky has a Democratic governor.

[Major Robert Dump]

Oh come on dude, not all democrats are liberal. I'd be willing to bet that Kentucky probably is like Oklahoma and is majority democrat registered voters, with conservative voting tendencies. If the guvnah wants to be re-elected he would stick with the wishes of his constituents.

I really think this guys threat is a bluff, and even if its not people are so damned paranoid.....didn't happen in new york city like the paranoids thought it would, eh? I think some Republicans wanted Caroline Kennedy to get the seat so they could have someone else to vilify, and be closer to a fillibuster-proof dem majority, that way everything that happens can be blamed soley on the dems.

It used to be about having a majority. Now its all about a fillibuster proof majoruty. It's really sad that federal level offices have degraded into this wrangling. I can't wait for Clancey-esq poisonings and call girl scandals to begin

[Xiahou]

Senator Bunning (R-KY) threatens to quit if GOP gives him a hard time. Since Kentucky has a Dem Governor, this would put the Dems into the 60-seat supermajority that nobody thought they would ever get.

My response: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

If he does opt out and the Dems get their 60, we would finally see bipartisanship calls stop. The Dems are not afraid to KATN when they have power.