Franken wins by +312 votes.
Norm Coleman's briefs for his appeal to the MN Supreme Court are due by close of business April 30.
Franken becomes the magic 60th senator just past the fold.....
"Pardon me, boy? Is this the Pennsylvania station?"
I really, really wasn't going to post anything Recount related until Coleman's brief was filed. That would be actual hard news. OR, it could be fabulous hard news if several 100 Minnesotans and their attorneys found they HAD to file various motions with the MN Supreme Court and got in line WAY ahead of Fritz Knaak and the other Coleman mouthpieces so that the window shut at 4:30pm (or whenever) and they opened an Emerald City porthole and said, "Come back tomorrow!"
But then PA senator Arlen Specter (my senator for 7 1/2 years when I lived in Clarion, PA) decides to give the Reichwing Occupiers of the Republican Party a swift knee to the groin by switching parties. Needless to say Joe Liebermann is incensed since now he'll get even LESS attention for switching from D to CfL. (And why the Grey Cup League allowed him in at the 55 yard line in Montreal is beyond me.)
SOoooooo now counting Sanders, Liebermann and now Specter on certain organizing issues the Democrats have 59 votes. If they can pry one more loose from the far south shore of Lake Gitchee-goomi (St. Paul is just a fringe suburb of Duluth really) they hit the magical "take your Southern-fried filibuster out to the grease dumpster" 60 level and sharply cripple G-NO-P's ability to prevent real political, economic and legal reform.
Odds are they will up the pressure to force Coleman to slow walk everything in the MN Court and then run like hell to jump into the LaBrea Tar Pit of the "speedy" federal court system.
I haven't thought that much about it and I'm on a tight, early schedule today, but you are welcome to talk about it.
Diaz & Doyle do a decent job running down the ins and outs in their Star Trib story, and the comment thread was nearing 400 at 6:30 this morning.
http://www.startribune.com/...
Joe Bodell does a terse, pointed analysis at MN Progressive. Its quite good because after all it links to KagroX of DailyKos ("And with a name like DailyKos, its GOT to be good.")
http://www.mnprogressiveproject.com/...
Life Back to Normal
Just before you forget the names Hayden, Marben and Reilly from the 3 member Elections Contest Court, they came from their own courtrooms across MN to serve on the ECC. (St. Cloud, Thief River Falls & Minneapolis, respectively.)
Jay Weiner of the Minn Post who doggedly covered the ECC trial (and listening to the Coleman team in court for 7 weeks, whether presenting or objecting would leave anyone in canine collapse) has a sweet follow up piece on Judge Reilly. What is life for her in her court now that she's back in her own courtroom. Great read! Well done, Jay!
http://www.minnpost.com/...
OK, back to re-stocking the shelves for the last days of the wine sale. When Norm files his brief lets chat, OK? Thats what there is from yust southeast of Lake Wobegon.
Shalom.