You may have heard thunder from the North. You heard right.
The Sec. of State's Office Opened and Counted the 954 improperly Rejected Absentee Ballots. Franken +481, Coleman +305, (Barkley & others the rest). Net Franken +176, added to his earlier +49 = +225.
Bottom of Cliff
Over the fold, around the corner, and the (end of) infinity (a philosophical issue for sure)..... and beyond.
Everybody got into the Franken Celebration!
JedL with a 2nd Front Page Diary:http://www.dailykos.com/...
Al Rodgers with Pictures:http://www.dailykos.com/...
ArcticShadow bravely waded into Freeperville to record the,...ah....responses of a different character:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Even the skinny kid in Orange, Sentinel in the Left Tower of Democracy, swings over the the Reich-wing and bursts (BURSTS!) out in Schadenfreude:http://www.dailykos.com/...
Fallout Odds & Ends
Mark Ritchie's presser:(MN Secretary of State)
"I don't think there will be a contest.("Election lawsuit to overturn election result"-Winerev) I've said it from the beginning. This is so accurate and done so carefully that person with the least vote is going to say, 'I'm disappointed, I'm sad, but I came in short this time.'"
He means: This was clean as breathing in at -25, open as eastern Montana, accurate as the Fonz unsnapping a bra, and fair as a Norwegian blonde....
Fritz Knaak, Coleman's main attorney: (Light sabre at 25 watts and flickering):
(FRIDAY: "We will definitely have an election challenge"). Saturday: "We've had better days"..."If necessary ... we are prepared to go forward to take whatever legal action necessary to remedy this artificial lead .... You always allow yourself a chance to reflect..... We're still expecting to come out on top."
Marc Elias, Franken's main attorney: (Light sabre NOT NEEDED):
"It was a very important and great day. We are confident since there are no ballots left to count that the final margin will stand with Al Franken having won the election ... It is not a large margin, but a comfortable margin ... 225 votes is a real victory. One vote is a real victory, but 225 votes is a close election but it is a fairly clear victory."
MN Supreme Court: ...**cricket teeth chattering**... People waited all day (Coleman's side in hope, Franken's in anxiety) to hear if the Court would make a ruling on Coleman's request for an emergency order...which never came. Still quiet late at night.
They have no timeline or deadline, but they could still weigh in...OR they can certainly punt by saying something like: "Since Petitioner (Coleman) has option for filing an election con-TEST where entire issue can be treated under trial conditions, request denied."
Must See TV
For the final (hah! I'll believe it when I see it!) act tune in to you know where on Monday, Jan. 5 at 2:30pm. http://www.theuptake.com/ The State Canvassing Board will CERTIFY recounted totals of the US Senate Election between Norm Coleman, Al Franken et. al.
By MN Law, upon such certification, a candidate who believes they have evidence a certified election has produced a wrong result has 7 days to file suit in an "election con-TEST". If filed, Chief Justice of the MN Supreme Ct. (Magnuson from the Canvassing Board) appoints a 3 judge panel to hear the case. Trial begins within 20 days of filing.
This is a full scale trial, complete with affidavits, forensics, sworn testimony, objections, overruled & sustained objections, Perry Mason look-alikes (the WineRev is older than you think, even though he carries a certain Victor Cifuentes/ LA Law profile...), sidebars, Jay Leno's Judge Ito Dancers from OJ I, you name it.
It is a civil action, not a criminal one, so the standard of proof is NOT "beyond a reasonable doubt" (known as "damn close to 100%") but the rather "a preponderance of the evidence" (as in "at least 51% is on this side.")
Panel decides case by majority vote. Losing side has right of appeal to MN Court of Appeals, and if necessary, MN Supreme Court. (Would Magnuson & G. Barry Anderson recuse themselves if such a case came up to the High Court, since they had both been on the Canvassing Board? Maybe, maybe not.)
Soooooo.....If Board certifies Monday, 1/5, some candidate like, say, Coleman (making a BIG assumption here) could file as late as Monday, 1/12. Trial would then start no later than 2/1.
So: Path A: Coleman acts like a rabid skunk and chooses to go the Full Lutefisk and files according to above procedure.
Path B: FORMER Senator Horse Teeth decides its hopeless and concedes-- formally, on paper, with Knaak, Trimble and Magnuson (not the Chief Justice) standing by weeping softly (because they see the end of their legal fees from Norm.)
Both Paths finally lead to the Coda: A Certificate of Election is prepared (by Secretary of State? Attorney General?) and signed by Secretary of State Ritchie and Governor Pawlenty.
The US Senate
Can the Senate seat Senator Franken (ooohh that sounds nice to type) without a Certificate of Election? On the strength of the State Canvassing Board's certification, yes they can. (Precedent: Sen. Mary Landreiu of Louisiana seated while various court actions were still pending.)
Can McConnell, Cornyn and other Senate crazies filibuster seating someone under such circumstances? I don't know......any Senate/legal scholars/ historians out there? Could be, but it would be at least..... unusual.
New Media: TheUpTake
Citizen Journalism triumphant. Mike, Noah, Jennifer, Erin, Jason and their merry band of Uptakers who all ride in the same van have delivered great coverage! And its not just me who thought so. Part way through the afternoon TheUpTake noted their feed was being picked up by the on-line versions of USA Today.... and the New York frickin' Times! Yipes!
During yesterday's blazing recount (well, blazing after the first 7 1/2 hours of steam and smoke like a frozen wet log) several 1000 people and organizations were tuned in. Given the 4 minute lag in posting live comments all of them wanted to comment at the same time (and half of them typed in "Just tuned in. How far is the count?" a minimum of 3X/ 15 minutes from 9:00am on)
As the comments flew by you got a sense of how far reaching this race was and how long was the reach of the UpTake. People said they were watching from:
Australia
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Boston
Recife, Brazil
Duluth
Wales
California (in brutal 78 degree conditions)
"I can't sleep watching this even though its after midnight here in Rome, Italy"
Norway
Sweden (who came in after Norway and noted "Norway sucks")
I mean WOW! When they're watching in Duluth you KNOW you've got reach!
As Jennifer herself put it:
Jennifer: A shout-out to our team today. Behind the Scenes, on the blog: myself, Jason Barnett and Chris Dykstra. On the scene: Mike McIntee, Chuck Olsen, Tom Elko, Noah Kunin, Sarah Burt, Matt Johnson and Christian Torkelson. Thanks everyone!
And they were on TOP of IT:
Jennifer: Report from Noah says that our two volunteers - Sarah and Christian - who were doing a hand-tally (hash-marks on the back of napkins sometimes!) got the most accurate count out of any outlet. Outlets were apparently asking them for the count. Rock on!
I doff (DOFF!) my hat to you all. (Low sweeping bow)
AND if you like what the crew did on the Recount, they also posted you can e-mail them and learn how to set up your OWN UPTAKE in your town, your province, your state. Now there's an idea whose time and technology have come. And its obviously something that would strike terror into the hearts of corporate media. Just when they've finished buying everything media related and making every outlet Clear Channel/Bland Channel/ Faux Noise (what a choice!) along come...... the People running circles around them (and incidentally undermining their entire business model.)
Sooo.. if you got a video camera for Christmas, and you want to "stick it to the Man", and you want the chance to stand up with a shiny press credential and say, "I'm Melissa Devereaux, New Orleans UpTake, Senator Vitter, do you find adult size Huggies or Pampers make you more effective in selling out your voters to Louisiana Oil & Gas?" Here's your chance! info@theuptake.com
Reich-Wing Reactions
Conservative Americans are naturally disappointed with yesterday's news but are taking the apparent Franken victory with as good a grace as can be mustered....... YEAH, RIGHT! (Local wingnut reactions.)
Free Speech Zone: Party of One:
i'm officially declaring my intent to riot in the streets if franken is declared the winner. i'm also going to drive around without my seatbelt on.
i think this recount is corrupt. i'm sorry, but when the sec'y of state is an ACORN guy who looks like he has AIDS - you can't consider it legit.
Support for statewide health coverage?
I would now ask all Franken voters to check themselves in to their nearest mental health clinic because you people are bleeping nuts.
Liberals reveling:
A wingnut wrote: Well, one positive thing: this proves again that the USA is the land of opportunity. A brain damaged wrestler for Governor, and now a Hollywood clown for senator.
I guess you didn't think much of Ronald Reagan then?
And those were just some from the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Minneapolis Star Tribune showed a different angle:
Its important to know the name of the candidate you support while bashing the other side:
The best team this year is the Democratic Steal Machine. They were able to overcome a Norm Carlson lead and steal a victory. They did not give up. Are we still waiting for votes to come in from St. Louis County? Give credit to ACORN and Ritchie. What a team!
And we've got people in MN who think like this:
Another poster stated that the Republican party needs to spend some time asking why the county turned on them so quick. My answer to that question is simple. The Republican party has acted like a bunch of liberals under George Bush! Look at the increase in federal spending, national debt, massive pork projects have all happened under the watch of President Bush. Social issues in the last eight years...if anything as a nation we have moved to the left in the past eight years (homosexual marriage). No real restrictions on abortion. Other issues such as education...where are the school vouchers? Why did the Republican party have problems in 2008? Answer...they didn't act like conservatives or walk the talk. The American people have short attention spans and the Republican Party can save face and become a majority party if they go back to their core beliefs.
And one comment who speaks for WineRev and all believers in The People ruling themselves:
I'm proud to be a Minnesotan
I participated as an observer in the recount, and then I watched a great deal of the canvassing board action (on the challenged ballots) live via the web. The process was transparent and done with a high integrity. Every election judge and every official I met or saw had only one motive -- to get it right, to do their utmost to get an accurate count in each and every precinct down to the individual vote. There is no "steal" here
Time for a cup of coffee--- and even though its Sunday, and even though its the morning, today the coffee deserves a small zing of Bailey's, in honor of the cold, the new snow, and in celebration. I'll keep you posted on any Supreme Court news, and we HAVE to cover the Canvassing Board, but for now, that's the latest from yust southeast of Lake Wobegon.
Shalom. L'Chaim. Prosit!