Here I offer a cynical yet likely highly accurate prediction about how the Republicans will conspire to keep Al Franken out of the Senate for as long as they can, so that the Democrats will not have that valuable 60th seat. That they will be depriving a state of 50% of its representation in one of the two houses of Congress is meaningless to the Republicans.
As soon as the Minnesota Supreme Court issues its opinion ruling in favor of, and giving the election to Al Franken, Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota is supposed to certify the election so the state's second senate seat can be filled.
As a Republican, and as a Republican with presidential aspirations, governor Pawlenty wants to do everything he can to delay his certification of the Minnesota senate election results so as to keep Franken out of the Senate as long as possible. This should be beyond debate. Apparently under Minnesota law, governor Pawlenty truly cannot certify the election results until all state court proceedings regarding the election dispute are complete. This doesn't seem to be in dispute, so Norm Coleman, who lost, seemingly has the right to exhaust his appeals in the Minnesota state courts. Now that the Missesota Supreme Court has heard oral argument in his appeal, Coleman's almost finished with that process (assuming the Minnesota Supreme Court doesn't remand the case back to a lower court, which there's no indication that it will).
On TV interviews, Republican governor Pawlenty keeps insisting he's not delaying, because under state law he "cannot" certify the election results until the court proceedings are finished. Okay. So will he certify the election results as soon as all state court proceedings are complete? Here are my predictions:
- Norm "Sore Loserman" Coleman will indeed lose in the Minnesota Supreme Court. Al Franken wins the election.
- Republican Norm "Sore Loserman" Coleman will either appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or somehow initiate a lawsuit in federal court so as to delay the proceedings even longer.
- Pawlenty, by his own admission, has no legal duty under Minnesota law not to certify the election results in that scenario. Pawlenty keeps getting asked if he will certify the election when the state court proceedings are finished. But if you listen closely, he won't answer the question! He will not say anything beyond "I will comply with whatever the court orders me to do" because he knows that he is not a party to the Coleman versus Franken state court proceedings. As such, the Minnesota Supreme Court is in no position to order him, the governor, to do anything. Nor will it.
- So when Coleman tries to drag this case out by taking it to federal court, Republican governor Pawlenty will refuse to certify the election results and continue to prevent Franken from be seated in the Senate.
- Pawlenty will give some lame, horribly disingenuous excuse about how his actions are "not to delay but to make sure all the votes were properly counted and to make sure the election results were fair for everyone" (or some BS like that, since that's the last thing he cares about and since those things were already adequately decided in three different state courts). The purpose will be solely to delay the seating of Al Franken, another Democrat senator.
- Al Franken will not be seatend in the Senate for at least 10 more months as a result.
What's funny is that the Democrats are talking like they seem confident that Republican Pawlenty will actually certify the election upon the final ruling of the Minnesota state Supreme Court. This is how ignorant the Democrats are. I'm not even sure they realize that Norm Coleman will take this to the SCOTUS or federal district court (to delay Franken's seating in the Senate, not because Coleman really thinks he has a viable legal case - he doesn't).
Well, that's my prediction. Like usual, I hope I'm wrong, but I rarely am.