Disaster: With absentee ballots counted, Franken now leads by 225 votes
posted at 8:11 pm on January 3, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Not surprising, but phenomenally discouraging.
Norm Coleman’s term as a U.S. Senator ended at noon Washington time today, and by evening his hopes of winning a second term had been dealt an expected but serious setback as state officials counted previously rejected absentee ballots in St. Paul.
Democrat Al Franken held an unofficial lead of 225 votes over Coleman, according to a newspaper tally of officials’ count of the absentee ballots. Franken had led unofficially by 49 votes going into the day and gained a net 176 votes from the new ballots…
The outcome Saturday was not a surprise, as the ballots counted came disproportionately from precincts where Franken did well on election day, according to a Star Tribune analysis. But a court challenge to the recount is almost certain to follow a certification from the canvassing board, as Coleman lawyers acknowledged this week.
Coleman will sue, of course, but his odds of winning are hanging by a thread. Exit question: What’s most depressing, the Caroline appointment, the Burris appointment, or this?
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If he won, he won.
Kasper Hauser on January 3, 2009 at 8:14 PM
Considering the Burris appointment isn’t depressing so much as entertaining and the Caroline appointment wasn’t so much of a “higher you are the harder you fall” situation as this, I’d say that puts this squarely into “most depressing” territory.
OneGyT on January 3, 2009 at 8:14 PM
They are all one and the same, aren’t they?
bloggless on January 3, 2009 at 8:15 PM
An outside of San Francisco example of a mandate.
SJBill on January 3, 2009 at 8:16 PM
A question and a comment:
First, does all this go back to the CRA and Fannie and Freddie? It seems that way.
Second, it could be worse. Imagine President Franken — quite an emetic. Eh?
IlikedAUH2O on January 3, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Shit, meet fan.
Bruno Strozek on January 3, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Why is this depressing? Sure Franken is a nut, but it’s not like Coleman was the bees knees. MN isn’t exactly a conservative mecca.
therightwinger on January 3, 2009 at 8:16 PM
This, because people actually chose this. The others were appointments by corrupt, incompetent bureaucrats.
aquaviva on January 3, 2009 at 8:16 PM
RIP AMERICA
angryed on January 3, 2009 at 8:17 PM
At least Minnesota is in the ash radius if Yellowstone goes all Krakatau and stuff.
-T
The Therapist on January 3, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Whats most depressing!
It’ll be a stinkin Liberal Trifecta!
canopfor on January 3, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Kind of hard to believe that Franken will be any worse than Ried, Pelosi, Franks, Dodd, and Waters. They all will probably have a weekly lunch to discuss which idiotic agenda to push next.
Hog Wild on January 3, 2009 at 8:21 PM
The MN State Bird is the Common Loon for a reason.
paragon27x on January 3, 2009 at 8:21 PM
The Princess is assuming a sinecure in NY where Schumer will do all the heavy lifting, and taking a seat that won’t go Republican until the moon turns to gold anyway. Burris — absent all the Blagojevich melodrama — is a gray little functionary who will serve as a placeholder until IL can find someone remotely interesting to run for the seat.
Franken is a violent little weasel who picks fights with LaRouchies, is barely a C-list celebrity, and a walking avatar of Bush Derangement Syndrome, smug, arrogant, not terribly bright, and overflowing with contempt for everyone on the other side of the aisle. I honestly believe he will be involved in a physical altercation with a political opponent before his term is up.
And the good folks of MN … voted for this.
This is the most depressing one by a long chalk.
Il Padrino on January 3, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Minnesota.. WTF?!?!?
Yakko77 on January 3, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Wow, now they’re not even pretending that they’re not cheating.(I mean a swing of at least 500 votes?) That’s pretty brazen even for a lying dirtbag like Franken. I hope that teaches everyone that you can only get away with not negative campaigning if you’re really far ahead. (I thought it was a massively stupid idea when Coleman announced it and seriously, if it wasn’t close Franken wouldn’t have had the chance to cheat.) At this point about the only way Franken won’t get the seat either he or his friends cheated to get is if he OD’s or something.
Dave_d on January 3, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Go Packers.
Bears too.
Joe Mauer takes ‘roids.
So does Morneau.
There.
SteveMG on January 3, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Good God MN, what are you people smoking up there. Jesse Ventura and now Al Franken? Is there something in the drinking water I should know about if I ever visit the state?
TheBlueSite on January 3, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Makes sense—The senate’s a joke now, with Reid in charge, (and the spineless Pubbies!)
thegeneral on January 3, 2009 at 8:25 PM
I’faith, for one thing, Al Franken does seem monstrous ill-suited for any society, even a new one.
PercyB on January 3, 2009 at 8:26 PM
Actually that reminds me of something. Ed, you guys lost your old motto “Minnesota nice” and have definitely earned a new one, “Minnesota Nuts”. (I mean when it’s a choice between the guy that brought back your favorite sport vs a clown who doesn’t really live here any more that not too many would basically be chanting “We want the clown”)
Dave_d on January 3, 2009 at 8:27 PM
Figures.
Count to 10 on January 3, 2009 at 8:27 PM
This, obviously.
Y-not on January 3, 2009 at 8:28 PM
Oh yeah, and Bud Grant was gay.
NTTAWTT.
Fran Tarkenton was one too.
NTTAWTT either.
SteveMG on January 3, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Doesn’t matter. Coleman was pro-Bailout. Get him out of there. I’d never vote for him…
The Dean on January 3, 2009 at 8:29 PM
The Caroline one. America may well survive buffoons, but is, you know, much less likely to survive, you know, royalty.
MB4 on January 3, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Norm Coleman just lost his Senate seat to a comedian.
Way to go Norm.
e-pirate on January 3, 2009 at 8:30 PM
On the upside, the presence of Franken in the Senate means that we might see a return to the fist fights and duels of the 1800’s Senate history. That could entertain at least.
myrenovations on January 3, 2009 at 8:31 PM
I’ve said it before, I’m going to say it again: I don’t care which one is ahead, you shouldn’t be able to win a statewide election by 225 votes. This is, for all practical purposes, a tie, and there should be a revote like in Georgia or like in Louisiana two years ago.
factoid on January 3, 2009 at 8:31 PM
HAve you noticed, Democrats count until they win, and it never seems to come out the other way. I wonder why.
tarpon on January 3, 2009 at 8:32 PM
It pains me to say it but this country and its government is a sick joke. On the other hand, every court needs a jester and with Franken the senate will have theirs.
rplat on January 3, 2009 at 8:33 PM
None of them. Coleman deserved to lose, and Caroline+Burris are incompetent buffoons which means a resurgent Republican party could come back in the next 2, 4, and 6 years.
The Dean on January 3, 2009 at 8:34 PM
No, he lost his see to a clown. At least a comedian is occasionally funny. Clowns are NEVER funny.
Dave_d on January 3, 2009 at 8:34 PM
factoid on January 3, 2009 at 8:31 PM
I was gonna say the same thing. Anytime an election is within about 1,000 or 2,000 votes, there should be an automatic runoff election.
gmoonster on January 3, 2009 at 8:34 PM
err he lost his seat to a clown.
Dave_d on January 3, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Free Stuart Smalley,
the Great State of Minnesota
deserves to be served,by two
Senators at the same time!
———————–
Al Frankenstein(The Socialist)
his timid unhunched-back helper
Stuart Smalley(The Liberals Liberal).
——————————-
That way,the videos will be rolling non-
stop on all news sites,as to the astute
views of Al/Stuart!
The glorious heated debates,and insight
into the minds of Smalley/Al!
And the emotional cat-in-iption fits,and
screaming fights in all the Liberal technicolour
one can cram into said video of the Senate floor!
As Burns would say,’Release the dogs’!haha(Snark!).
canopfor on January 3, 2009 at 8:36 PM
I seriously question the intelligence of anyone who voted for Franken. Minnesota deserves what they get.
katieanne on January 3, 2009 at 8:38 PM
I really have to choose? This election cycle really has moved into just plain depressing. I can’t believe that those three people could actually become United States Senators. I know the Senate has been a joke for a while now, but this is ridiculous. Three hundred million people; is this really the best that we could come up with? I can’t believe that these are the people that are going to be governing me. I really can’t. I think I need a drink.
meltenn on January 3, 2009 at 8:40 PM
IMHO, the solution for many of our nations political woes is to repeal the 17th amendment and return to State Legislatures choosing the Senators.
Several supporting points — Exhibit A — The average contemporary bubba really doesn’t have a clue of the issues or positions of politicians. Then you’ve got hopeless 3rd party candidates allowing candidates who don’t represent a majority of voters or elected representatives to become Senator.
Exhibit B — The Blago selling Obama’s seat or Caroline Kennedy for Senate. Take your pick…
Exhibit C — Campaign finance reform — Senators spent more time raising money for relection than they do getting the Senate’s business done. If they were chosen by State Legislatures, they’d not only be freed to actually get things done, but they’d get stuff done with a proper balance of federal and state concerns. If they focus too much on diminishing State power, most State Legislatures would likely remove them from office.
Exhibit D — No more 3rd party candidates messing up Senate elections.
Exhibit E — The 17th Amendment removed an important Check and Balance envisioned by the Founders to keep the Federal Government from dominating.
Exhibit F — The 16th, 17th and 18th amendments were probably the worse group of amendments every. One has already been repealed. It’s time for the repeal process to continue.
droofus on January 3, 2009 at 8:40 PM
Qeustion: do we sit back and laugh at the sitcom as Rush calls it and let everything completely colapse first or try to jump in and save what little will be left after…oh…. say april 1st?
katy on January 3, 2009 at 8:41 PM
question
katy on January 3, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Silver lining: Colts score.
Forget this cr@p. There’s still several weeks of football…
Y-not on January 3, 2009 at 8:42 PM
I agree with this sentiment. What I really want to know is whether Coleman is such a joke among his constituents that enough of them decided to vote for a joke such as Franken or whether Minnesota voters take their right to vote so lightly that they think it’s acceptable to vote for a joke such as Franken.
BuckeyeSam on January 3, 2009 at 8:44 PM
I think it will happen before the end of the year, and he will be removed from the Senate by his colleagues.
Mark1971 on January 3, 2009 at 8:45 PM
But then we have the potential problem – actually, it was a real one that served as a major factor in the enactment of the Amendment – of political corruption of state legislatures where Senate seats can be purchased.
Or horse trading among various factions in the legislature in return for a nomination. Instead of the best candidate being selected, we saw corruption, vote-buying and influence peddling determining Senate seats.
On the other hand, we have Al Franken.
It’s a toss up.
SteveMG on January 3, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Dave_d on January 3, 2009 at 8:27 PM
I hope to be showing MN my a$$, feet and tailights very shortly. Used to work for the phone company here, and once had to go through DFL HQ’s on a job. The look on the receptionist’s face once she noticed the red, white and blue elephant on my keychain was priceless. (Thought the gal was going to give birth to a porcupine… breech) Couldn’t resist occasionally wearing my Club Gitmo T-shirt on the job as well. The looks I would get were lethal. I felt safer in Iraq.
paragon27x on January 3, 2009 at 8:46 PM
BINGO !
Red State State of Mind on January 3, 2009 at 8:47 PM
okay…so where’s Percy Potato Head calling for the entire state to be nuked???
I was talking to my brother yesterday, he was giving me the business..’Al Franken?!?!? What in the hell are you people thinking out there??’
I just told him if they had a run-off, a’la Georgia, Frankentard would get his ass handed to him. I also informed him that the other Senator, Amy Klobber…Clobbis…Klobiestshire…something like that, is every bit the clueless, deranged, liberal fool that Franken is…she just not famous for it….
Gahhh!!!!
BigWyo on January 3, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Should it be a surprise that Minnesota voted in a clown? They voted in Ventura.
Another RINO, Coleman, bites the dust.
Who is the next degenerate that Minnesotans would vote for?
Michele Bachmann deserves a better state to represent.
Mr. Ed Morrissey, you and your lovely family should start thinking about moving to another state. Alaska should be mighty good.
Pawlenty could kiss his chances of the presidency or anything in politics goodbye.
These four years are going to be worse than Jimmy Carter era.
Our forefathers are rolling so fast in their graves.
jencab on January 3, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Another election stolen by the left…
nazo311 on January 3, 2009 at 8:50 PM
In light of Jesse Jr. calling ‘Blago’ mental,
me thinks that Al/Stuart might be’Certifable’
crazy!
So,next time,all Liberal candidates need to be
scrutinized,ah,for the protection of the public
at large! (Sarc!)A hem.Hehe
canopfor on January 3, 2009 at 8:50 PM
Can’t we just go back and do a re-vote and all of those morons who only voted because they wanted to vote for Obama can stay home?
I mean, honestly, how many people do you think went out of there way to vote for Stuart Smalley but didn’t care one way or another who won the Pres. election?
jimmy the notable on January 3, 2009 at 8:50 PM
Franken had much better lawyers, and I think that was the key for him. On the ballot-counting issues that were in uncharted territory–hundreds of mistakenly rejected absentee ballots, 133 missing ballots that were never found, and missing duplicate ballots (or missing originals of duplicates) no doubt were counted twice in some cases. The Franken lawyers were thinking ahead and guided the decision-makers to their viewpoint. The election could well have turned on good lawyering, because the sum of all those small decisions seemed to break for Franken. It was not the count. It was in deciding what to count, and what not to count.
RBMN on January 3, 2009 at 8:51 PM
RINOs in office do the party no good…
The Dean on January 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM
I can’t take this anymore. The country has been stolen; that’s it in a nutshell. And after they let all the Me-hee-cans in, we will be destroyed. When will America learn? I think it’s too late now.
ErinF on January 3, 2009 at 8:56 PM
Minnesota is an embarrassment to the entire nation. To think, this was once a proud people (Viking Nation), now they send a jerk-off comedian to the Senate.
Oh well, might just as well bring Congress approval ratings down to 3-4 percent, most of which live in Minnesota.
Keemo on January 3, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Don’t forget: Minnesota’s alsao the state that barfs out Garrison Kellior’s bilge every Saturday night, too.
-T
The Therapist on January 3, 2009 at 8:58 PM
So is PA. They seem to not mind being called rednecks and racists by “their man” murtha the turd.
ErinF on January 3, 2009 at 9:00 PM
I blame Coleman for this. Why did he wait so long to even contest the blatant fraud? No, instead the double vote counting continued until it was virtually tied. And by then it was too late to put a stop to it. Coleman needed to be removed, but he has been replaced with a psychopath. And the person to blame for this? Coleman himself.
Vegi on January 3, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Isn’t Minnesota,the main shipping hub of the Liberal
Kool-Aid,the stockpiling,distribution centre,that over
see’s all shipments to the Liberal districts of America!
Wasn’t there an ongoing controversy of supplying the
whole Schooling district of Minnesota with the Liberal
kool-Aid!
Maybe Minnesota should let another State handle the
shipments,like Vermont!(Snark!)haha.
canopfor on January 3, 2009 at 9:00 PM
How does the GOP recover now?
ErinF on January 3, 2009 at 9:01 PM
We just experienced an election where a community organizer turned U.S. Senator became President
One of the dumbest people in the world became Vice President
A comedian jerk
winssteals a Senate seatA scandal ridden Chicago machine hack governor ( from the same machine as the “President-elect”) appoints a hack to the Senate
and the democrat governor of the state of New York, who replaced a dirtbag piece of garbage, may appoint Caroline Kennedy to a Senate seat
and they are all dems
and all of this was condoned, in some shape or form, by the American people
joey24007 on January 3, 2009 at 9:02 PM
I know I’m a little late to the game in pointing this out, but my homestate is between MN and Yellowstone. I hope no one would wish that on one of the last conservative bastions of America.
gryphon202 on January 3, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Just grab the KY, bend over and shut up.
America Died on Nov. 4, 2008.
JP1986UM on January 3, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Minnesota gets what they deserve. As a former Medicine Lake (minneapolis area)resident, I can attest to the fact, most Minnesotans are in fact nutz…Hubert Humphry is rolling over in his grave….These aren’t democrats, they’re frickin’ socialists…
Tim Zank on January 3, 2009 at 9:09 PM
TMZ needs to open an East Coast branch, with a camera crew dedicated to Franken Beans. He will be an endless source of hilarity.
EMD on January 3, 2009 at 9:09 PM
I have long suspected that the majority of the American public today are completely unable to think in a way that is rational and unemotional. For some reason, there is a breakdown in the thought process whereby people exhibit a profound inability to follow an argument to its reasonable and rational conclusion. Probably a myriad of reasons for this, but the breakdown in public education has to rank in the top three.
I really have resisted arriving at this conclusion, because I truly believe in the concept of American exceptionalism and in what I perceive to be just the sheer attractiveness of the results of our 200+ year experiment. But, this past election cycle has given me a terrible sense that my fears have been realized. This result is the cherry on top. I have a sick feeling in my gut that our country is in a decline that we will be hard pressed to stop. I try really hard not to be so pessimistic, rather preferring to face the truth wherever that happens to lead, my name nothwithstanding.
Puddleglum on January 3, 2009 at 9:10 PM
FIFY
Chaz706 on January 3, 2009 at 9:10 PM
and all of this was condoned,in some shape or form,by the
American people
joey24007 on Jan 3,2009 at 9:02PM.
joey24007:El correcto you are Joey,and if the MSM would
of done their jobs,in the same manner and zest
as they went after Republicans,the American
voters would of been politicaly educated!
Time for a hard hitting Documentry,like the
one where Clinton refused to pull the trigger
on OBL!
Only this Documentry,will be how the MSM was in
a debaucherous romp with the Liberal Party,and
how the MSM propagandized and shaped public op
inion that allowed Liberals to win in an extreme
ly biased fashion,and steal the Presidentcy!:)
canopfor on January 3, 2009 at 9:14 PM
With Franken and the armed to the teeth Jim Webb on the senate floor, the Republicans better come in heavy or not at all, as Junior Soprano might say.
Buddahpundit on January 3, 2009 at 9:16 PM
I spent the three longest days of my life in MN. A friends wedding,
they decide to get married right before Christmas. Why anyone would
want to live there is beyond me. I think their brains have frozen.
We need global warming so they can thaw out.
izoneguy on January 3, 2009 at 9:18 PM
“But a court challenge to the recount is almost certain to follow a certification from the canvassing board, as Coleman lawyers acknowledged this week.”
It ain’t over till…
diogenes on January 3, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I got an email from Newsmax trying to raise money for some republican lawyer group wanting to sue over the recount. They claim that some democrat election official admitted that some Fraken votes were being counted twice. Also that at least one precint that will heavily favor Coleman will not be recounted and those voters have to live with the results from election night. Has anyone heard about this?
boomer on January 3, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I’ve read HA, LGF, Jihad Watch, Ace, Pajamas Media, Urbam Grounds, Israel Matzav, blahblahblah, ALL DAY. Time to step away. I’m feeling that we are done. Finis. Over. No mas.
mimi1220 on January 3, 2009 at 9:23 PM
Er, UrbaN Grounds. Sorry.
mimi1220 on January 3, 2009 at 9:24 PM
We officially have the dumbest group of elected officials ever assembled for 2009. A comedian, a “present” president, and Dingy Harry and Nan Pelosi.
It’s like a mental institution with a stack of blank checks.
God Help America. Please.
HornetSting on January 3, 2009 at 9:25 PM
This. By far. Shows that even rampant, obvious cheating, as long as it’s the Democrat who wins is OK and to be accepted. Oh, and before the resident (what do you mean by cheating?) troll shows up: Let’s count off a few things:
1) Votes that just happen to show up and are newly found. Funny thing,they were always in Franken’s favor. How lucky can you get?
2) Precinct re-count votes 100 votes over the number of voters. Canvassing board apparently shrugs that off. More votes than voters and nobody is concerned? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.
3) Numerous decisions by the canvassing board indicating their bias and preference for the outcome.
There is just too much smoke here to think this was a fair recount. It was certainly a typical recount — keep counting until the Democrat wins, but certainly not ethical and above board.
AZfederalist on January 3, 2009 at 9:28 PM
Keep recounting until the next election,out fox the pos!!
christene on January 3, 2009 at 9:30 PM
I’m afraid He has something else in mind…and it ain’t gonna be pretty…
right4life on January 3, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Franken was ahead at the beginning of today, and they kept counting. And Bush won the recount in 2000. So what are you talking about?
If you’re trying to point out that the side that is losing will always push to continue recounting, while the side that’s ahead will try to stop recounting, that’s not a very interesting point. It’s true of both sides — notice Coleman trying to add absentee ballots where before he had argued against their inclusion — and it’s exactly what you would expect. Why do you make it sound nefarious?
tneloms on January 3, 2009 at 9:35 PM
“What’s most depressing?”
This.
G. Charles on January 3, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Exit question: What’s most depressing, the Caroline appointment, the Burris appointment, or this?
Caroline…’cause it affects me directly.
Either way, with that crew i the Senate, CSPAN should have some interesting viewing coming our way!
JetBoy on January 3, 2009 at 9:39 PM
You know the old saying, “the inmates are running the asylum”?
With Franken’s ascension, we now have a new one:
The Court Jester has assumed the throne
AZfederalist on January 3, 2009 at 9:40 PM
What would it take to totally dissolve the us senate? to be rid of 100 of the most egotistical gas bags on the planet..
What happened to our country?
lukespapa on January 3, 2009 at 9:40 PM
This is a duplicate posting from the other Frankenstein thread. I’m not so confident in the accuracy of this recount. When I took statistics in college, we would have looked at this situation as highly improbable. When a few million people cast ballots in a political contest, it is so unlikely that the tally will come up less than fifty votes apart that something would seem to be very wrong. People are just not split that evenly. A perfect even split in such a large election is as likely as all the votes going to one side. It’s just not going to happen….legitamately. If you believe in Occams razor, the far more likely scenario is that somebody is stuffing ballot boxes to get just past their opponent. Keep this in mind, over 75% of the ‘new voter registrations’ that were turned in during 08 for MN were from Acorn. Acorn has established a pattern of loading up the voter registrations with phoney voters and submitting absentee ballots for them. Another thing they do is put volunteers in the precincts on election day and after the voting is done, use the bogus voter registration to load up there side when there are no republican overseers around, which is very often the case. I would also point out that all of this time and foot dragging facilitates mischief. Votes have appeared that were not safegaurded, votes have dissappeared and according to the Coleman camp, 113 votes from the same precinct were counted twice. (the total from that precinct is still 113 more than the ballots that were cast there. (All for franken by the way). That issue still has not been resolved. If you are believing this is all co-incidence, you are extremely gullible. It has been TWO MONTHS since the election and they haven’t opened up the absentee ballots yet??? Trust me, those ballots are probably being engineered as we speak, that’s why all the foot dragging, they will not open them until they know the outcome. I think if this election were to be re-run, under very watchful eyes and checking registrations closely, Coleman would win handily, just like Saxby Chambliss did when everyone said it was a neck and neck contest. How much did he win by? It was almost 15 percent. It’s a lot harder to commit voter fraud in a runoff when everybody is watching closely. That being said, I think the dems are probably going to succeed in stealing this election just as they did in Washington State. The democrat judges, the democrat canvassing committee, all of the people who’s job it is to provide justice in this situation will turn a blind eye in order for there side to win.
Bikerken on January 3, 2009 at 9:43 PM
Point 1: the only reason Franken was ahead at the beginning of today was because of earlier shenanigans (finding some ballots here, more votes than voters there, etc.)
Point 2: Bush won the recount because, for once, the Republicans were able to stop the re-voting being performed by those trying to “divine” voters’ intentions from “dimpled chad” ballots and a Florida Supreme court trying to re-write voting law. Had the same process continued, the Dems would have been able to steal that election as well.
Interesting side-light to that by the way. Following the Florida election, someone obtained a Vote-a-matic and tried to create a dimpled chad. The only way he was able to do so was by putting multiple ballots into the voting machine. Interesting side-light to that side-light: several days following the election, a Democrat Florida election official was stopped with a Vote-a-matic machine in their car. A machine that the person had no legitimate reason to have in their possession.
AZfederalist on January 3, 2009 at 9:47 PM
People get the government they deserve. If a majority voted for Franken, oh well. Just hope they purchased some KY jelly to go along with that vote. Their gonna need it.
GarandFan on January 3, 2009 at 9:49 PM
I don’t know how many of you have done this, but there was a website showing how the canvassing committee was counting the “questionable” ballots. They would take a questionable ballot for Franken and count it and discount one for Coleman that was marked the EXACT same way. The fix was in on this one. ALL of the decisions that were decided by the secretary of state, (An Acorn stooge), and all of the democrats in connection with the ballot counting went Frankens way. This is why we have second amendment. Our government is starting to decide what it will do without consideration of what the people voted for. Next thing you know, they’ll be talking about raising a Civilian National Security Force with the “Same amount of funding and authority as the Military”. OOOPS! Too Late!
Bikerken on January 3, 2009 at 9:50 PM
What else was there aside from the extra ballots found in that trunk? That was about 42 extra votes for Franken that is less than the final margin. There was also the case of the *lost* votes that would have more than made up for that difference had the committee ruled that they never existed. You claim that “new” ballots might be fraudulent, but ignore “lost” ballots.
If you’re claiming that the committee ruled in favor of Franken in both these cases, that has to do with your #3 complaint, not this one.
If you’re also talking about the typos that added votes for Franken when corrected, those totals were verified during the recount, so it clearly was just a typo.
I didn’t see this news. Can you give me a link?
Maybe. But as Ed noted, this committee is high non-partisan with the exception of Mark Ritchie. It’s hard to say why they’d be biased toward Franken, and there wasn’t any apparent partisan fighting within the committee.
I don’t understand why people keep repeating this line. They have not stopped counting as soon as the Democrat is ahead. They are following all the procedures they should be following and in fact, they continued the recount today because of a motion initiated by Franken.
tneloms on January 3, 2009 at 9:57 PM
How many of these votes were found in an attic, storage room, or in the trunk of Dhimocratic election worker’s car? Did they check to see how many dead people voted?
Mooseman on January 3, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Truth be told, the difference in this election is what one might call, “Within the margin of error.” There have been far more than enough well publicized hijinks and questionable decisions made here for any REASONABLE person to conclude that the outcome is not really legitimate. But you watch as the democrat judges who will hear the legal challenges tell us all to move along, nothing to se here.
Bikerken on January 3, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Meh. I’m bored with this story. The moral is: If you whine enough, magically other votes will show up and you’ll win.
Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care.
mjk on January 3, 2009 at 10:10 PM
I would like it if AL Franken would apply the ‘Card Check’ legislation to his own election…because I would personally love to meet some of the Fu$$Tards that voted for him and kick them in the ass until I got tired of it.
BigWyo on January 3, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Reading through these comments, I do really think the angst/anger/etc is justified. Coleman’s lawyers were idiots: Coleman had an 800 vote lead on election, and then some funny business happened in the Iron Range and his lead went to 200. In the end, this state is disgusting. Senator Klobauchar, who’s done absolutely nothing, has an 65% approval rating. Coleman, who saved St. Paul and brought hockey back, has been vilified over and over again. Now, they put in utter trash to represent us. I hope Pawlenty doesn’t run again, and the DFL takes over everything and taxes this state into oblivion. People are going to reap what they sow.
BTW, the idiots in this state vilified Northwest during the mechanics strike. Bascially said NW was evil for demanding some cutbacks during the tough times a few years ago. Well, NW broke the union and got back on its feet, and you know what happened, they sold out to Delta. The Democrats in the legislature asked what it would take for NW to stay here. NW answer: nothing. Be happy Georgia, you got Northwest because of your pro-business policies. Congrads to you!!
IR-MN on January 3, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Before, Al Franken was just a jerk, a violence-prone thug with a short temper and a breathtaking arrogance.
Now, Senator Al Franken is a jerk, a violence-prone thug with a short temper and a breathtaking arrogance, backed up with political muscle.
Amazing.
Kensington on January 3, 2009 at 10:15 PM
I say he goes 30 days after being sworn in before he goes nuts on the Seante floor and C-SPAN scrambles for the bleep button.
ThePrez on January 3, 2009 at 10:15 PM
WTF is the difference? We said good bye to this country for good the day we elected Barry. We’re all screwed anyway, what’s another lunatic socialist Senator? You talk about this being discouring and depressing… but aren’t you our eternal pessimist anyway? You finally won me over to your dark side, and now you want to act like there is any reason to think things can ever get better, but raising the question of what is most depressing. I didn’t realize we could be further depressed.
RightWinged on January 3, 2009 at 10:18 PM
There seems to be no doubt that this election was stolen. It is hard to imagine that “every” problem was resolved in favor of Frankin. Lost votes, miscounted votes and intent votes were all recorded in Frankin’s favor. It would seem that in the real world (although very close) that Coleman won by several thousand votes.
duff65 on January 3, 2009 at 10:20 PM
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