From Politico.com:
The legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty — a no-win predicament for a Minnesota Republican with his eye on a White House run in 2012.
Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed the review of no more than 400 absentee ballots in a race he currently leads by 225 votes. Coleman’s camp says an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is coming; once that’s done, the dispute lands in Pawlenty’s lap.
If Franken’s ahead at that point, Pawlenty will have a choice: sign the election certificate that will allow Democrats to seat Franken in the Senate or play to the Republicans whose support he’d need in 2012 by withholding the certificate while Coleman challenges the election in the federal court system.
“The Republican Party nationally and in Minnesota is playing not just with fire, but with dynamite,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, a Democrat and the dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.
Oberstar — like a lot of Democrats — says November’s election should finally be over as soon as the Minnesota Supreme Court rules.
If Pawlenty and the Republicans push it further, he says, “this thing is going to blow up in their face.”
Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed the review of no more than 400 absentee ballots in a race he currently leads by 225 votes. Coleman’s camp says an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is coming; once that’s done, the dispute lands in Pawlenty’s lap.
If Franken’s ahead at that point, Pawlenty will have a choice: sign the election certificate that will allow Democrats to seat Franken in the Senate or play to the Republicans whose support he’d need in 2012 by withholding the certificate while Coleman challenges the election in the federal court system.
“The Republican Party nationally and in Minnesota is playing not just with fire, but with dynamite,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, a Democrat and the dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.
Oberstar — like a lot of Democrats — says November’s election should finally be over as soon as the Minnesota Supreme Court rules.
If Pawlenty and the Republicans push it further, he says, “this thing is going to blow up in their face.”
If the panel rules in Al Franken's favor, Gov. Pawlenty can either break with Republican dogma and show independent leadership or mount the party stripper pole and dance until 2012.
Republicans of all stripes despise Franken for three basic reasons: he wrote a book calling GOP Grand Poobah Rush Limbaugh a "big, fat idiot," he has a sense of humor and he's smart.
More from Politico.com:
Of course, Coleman could spare Pawlenty a difficult decision by dropping his appeal if he is losing after the state’s Supreme Court rules — but his Republican colleagues in Washington are showing no signs of letting this go away quietly.
“I think if there is a realistic prospect for a complete count that’s fair that would give Sen. Coleman the victory, we should not give up until the last avenue of appeal is over,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). “Everybody on our side believes that.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said he doesn’t see a political downside for Pawlenty if he holds off from signing an election certificate.
“I think if there are good, strong arguments for continuing to let the process play out ... I don’t think he will risk any backlash in doing that,” said Thune, a member of the GOP leadership. “And I don’t think that Norm would carry on with this unless he thought he had a very good chance of prevailing in the end.”
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