Since Minnesotan's are probably too polite to say so (that Midwestern thing), I'll take a shot...

Cornyn is a piece of shit.

If the Minnesota Supreme Court orders the issuance of the certificate, Franken will be seated, no matter what Cornyn says.

Makes sense: Harry Reid consistently backs down from fights, and the Republican base will eagerly support a Franken filibuster. I see no reason for the Republicans to compromise on this one iota.

Hopefully, they won't be able to hold the less radical members of their caucus (Snowe, Collins, Specter, etc.) once Franken has his certificate. No reason for them not to continue fighting tooth and nail though.

The Democrats desparately need stronger leadership in the Senate.

I suggest a compromise: in order to make things "even", let's have Texas give up a seat too.

Yeah, Cornyn's. So many of us tried so hard to get that asshat out.

I had to attend a recent fundraiser for a GOP Senator. He said Coleman has spent a total of $26 million on the race/court effort and doesn't plan on taking it to the US Supreme Court.

democracy inaction

I'm a Minnesotan and I am outraged! If you ask any typical Minnesotan, they too are outraged and are sick and tired of this farce. Opinion runs about 95% against Norm Coleman and would like him to concede, even many of his supporters. There is a problem when few of the local media sources do not follow the national GOP threats. I am in the process of contacting our Gov to protest this farce. I'm also thinking of organinizing a protest in front of the State Capitol. Anyone out there ready and willing to join me????
Impatiently waiting for Sen Al!

I'm willing to show up in front of normie's house too.
Any lawyers out there who could direct us not so nice Minnesotans on how to file a suit against the GOP and norm for taxation without representation or something like that?
I'm serious. We need to make our voices heard!

Another week, another lost week in the Senate for the state of MN. Still NO public coverage of this from the MSM.

And the weak, weak response from the DSCC "communications director" shows the startling lack of ability the Dems have to break through the GOP wall of noise and official right-wing news agencies.

Normie could not be elected dog catcher in this state right now. I do have some hope that with this recent confirmation of the alleged payments from Kazeminy will put the kibosh on his persuing this senate seat any further but then I think, this is norm coleman and he'll do anything the GOP instructs him to. If the GOP has it their way normie will be contesting this from a federal pen.

My guess is that Coleman will do what the GOP tells him to do. After all, how else is he going to afford expenses for his various court cases?

This is a portent of things to come. As the GOP becomes less and less viable in states like Minnesota, it will become more and more obstructionist in support of what remains of its national clout. Democrats need to see this in that broader context. Finding a solution here will save a lot of grief later. On the other hand, Harry's usual spineless performance will guarantee that there will be dozens of such challenges in the next election cycle.

Private citizen Coleman will be getting legal defense donations from all of the GOP money men as long as he does exactly what he is told to stretch out seating Franken as long as possible.

I think the key will be to put heavy political pressure on Pawlenty. He's up for re-election in 2010, should he decide to run again.

Should the Republicans succeed in keeping Minnesota a one senator state, the blow back in Minnesota would be awesome to behold.

Pawlenty is not a rising star anymore in the rather sparsely populated GOP galaxy. His current budget plan for the huge deficit in Minnesota is its own black hole. As he dims in the firmament, and as Coleman's orbit decays, Minnesota may become bluer than blue, with Franken rightfully taking his seat. Pawlenty will not be able delay the certificate. He has too many problems dealing with the budget and his own standing in the state. There is only so much political capital to spend in Minnesota. Rep. Bachmann has blown any chance of being taken seriously. Rep. Kline is disliked for not helping fund worthwhile projects due to his phony stance on "earmarks." So the only direction the GOP is going in Minnesota is down the drain.

Hobbes called what Norm is doing "disorder costs." O tempora, o mores.

Once the tribunal has ruled and any state appeals that may be taken are taken (and I am not sure this any meaningful appeals route in Minnesota after the decision is issued), then any federal court action will be decidedly more narrow and limited, and will not take "years" as Cornyn suggests.

Meanwhile, Pawlenty seems to be feeling some heat. That's right Timmeh. Please sink your political career by trying to deny Franken the seat he was legally and properly elected to.

Cornyn proves yet again what any thinking person in this country already knows: the GOP cares about no one and nothing...well, nothing but the GOP. "Damn the people of Minnesota, who gives a fig about them? Who do they think they are anyway, voting citizens? Ol' Norm deserves a 4th, 5th, and 6th chance!" says Cornyn and the GOP.

Someday it will be written...."In their last days, as a rapidly deteriorating party, the GOP seemed to be driving their own nails into their own coffin"

When do the people in Minnesota get out the pitchforks and torches to go after the people who are depriving them of their rightful representation in Congress? I thought there was a more egalitarian spirit in Minnesota than that. Texans like Cornyn (and his toadies like Pawlenty) are counting on Minnesotans being wussies.

I suspect what Cornyn and Texas are mad about was that obscure bit of legislation called the Great Lakes Compact, that was affirmed by the Senate at the tail end of the last Congress. In essence it is a Treaty, as Canada and Ontario are party to it -- but what it does, after perhaps 25 years of negotiation, is prevent the export of any water from the Water Rich Great Lake region, to the thirsty Texans, who have long had their eyes on building some sort of canal or pipeline for that purpose. No one ran a big campaign about it, but the successful completion of the Compact pretty much ended the dreams of Texas to steal our water. You see -- we think ahead, and protect our interests and assets.

Beginning in the Reagan Era we began to get a set of Political Texans who moved into Minnesota Politics -- some of them like Coleman, already here, but willing to root their political futures in the interests of the Koch Brothers (that is the real power behind Coleman, Kazeminy is chump change) and the real interest was all our fresh clean water. The Compact which involves all the Great Lakes States plus Canada, was the response, and Cornyn and company were defeated.

It is worth mentioning that the Republicans hate and fear Franken more than President Obama or any other national political figure.

Republicans have been packing the courts at both state and federal levels for decades, and now they are depending on THEIR activist judges to keep Al Franken from taking his Senate seat.

It is too soon to assume that the 3-judge panel will rule in Al's favor. What judges do in election-law cases is entirely unpredictable.

I agree with everything said here about the failure of the Democrats to put forth a coherent and persuasive message about this contest.

And even though Pawlenty has no political love for former Senator Coleman, the Governor would only undercut his own political base if he does not keep the obstruction going. So I do not expect him to sign a certificate. His signature would legitimize Al's election, and the Thugs do not ever want to recognize it. Oh, if only the Democrats had taken the same attitude towards G. W. Bush---who, after all, did LOSE the election to Al Gore.

Pawlenty cannot afford the hit if Minnesotans see he is blocking our representation in the Senate. He does want to have a political future. It is too late for him to move to Texas and start over.