Coleman
When he thought he had won the Minnesota election by a few hundred votes, Norm Coleman urged Al Franken to forego a recount. He cited both the cost–$86,000–and the partisanship that would result, saying, “I just think the need for the healing process is so important.”
Problem was, a recount was not Franken’s choice–it was mandated by law. And so there was a recount, and after it was over, Franken led by more votes than Coleman originally had.
So, did Coleman, after the actual counting as required by law was over, still believe in keeping down costs and beginning the healing process?
Hell, no.
He started a lawsuit which has cost the state far more money than the recount cost, and has created a partisan divide a mile and a half wide. Not to mention that he has prevented Minnesotans from being represented fully in the Senate for a few months now, halving their influence at a critical time, and possibly losing a great deal of money for the state in that respect.
His hypocrisy is not even thinly veiled; for example, he said that the election was questionable because Franken won by “thousandths of a percent,” apparently forgetting that he himself had earlier insisted that a lesser margin in his favor was not only enough decisive enough to win the election, but so powerful as to shut down a legally mandated recount.
And now that his chances of winning the court battle are looking dim, Coleman is beginning to hint at a do-over. You can expect that hint to develop into a demand, probably even a campaign.
“Shameless” does not even come close to describing this ass.
He’s calling for a do-over now. As we used to say when I was growing up “be for real.”
The thing is, the day the election was held, many people still didn’t know how dire the economy was. On election day, the economic crisis was still only a financial crisis, and though people were losing their jobs, the direness of the situation was not as well known. However, the economy has been shedding jobs at 600,000 a month. That’s more than the number of private sector jobs the Bush economy ever created in a given year. On top of that the GOP, especially the Norm Coleman/Barbara Bachman wing of the GOP have been calling for doing nothing to save jobs or the economy. Does Norm really think he’d have a chance in a ‘do-over’?
Since the election, Obama’s popularity has only gone up. People who once harbored fears of the Democrats controlling things aren’t going to have them anymore.
And none of this speaks to the anger Minnesota voters are going to have at Coleman for his having dragged this thing out and his obstructionism.
If Coleman is down to calling for a ‘do-over’ then it’s over. A ‘do-over’ would cost the state money and he won’t come even close to Franken.