Coleman: Whoever Wins Senate Race Will Have 'A Cloud Hanging Over Them'
Norm Coleman is taking an interesting rhetorical tack in the continued spin war among the Minnesota press. Coleman spoke to local newspaper company ECM's editorial board on Friday, and commented that the winner of this Senate race will always face serious questions.
"No matter who wins the race, there's always going to be a cloud hanging over them -- did they really get more votes than the other guy," said Coleman. "That's a reality. And there's nothing you can do to change that."
It really is worth asking why someone would be litigating endlessly to be declared the winner, while simultaneously saying aloud that whoever wins will face doubts over democratic legitimacy. One possibility is that Norm could be planning for the contingency of Franken winning -- and thus would want to create an environment that continually undermines his opponent.
Another question, which I've asked before: Where were you in 2000, Norm, when we really needed you?
Josh
Matt
Eric
It's definitely sour grapes, in the traditional meaning.
The Senate seat is no good and he doesn't want it anyway. If Franken or some unfortunate wants the tainted seat, whatever, who cares. Even if he's seated, Franken probably lost the election anyway, for all we know.
April 28, 2009 11:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
And as we all well know, sour grapes make for a sour whine.
(Bah-DUM-bum-bumm ...)
April 28, 2009 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure Franken and Democrats in general will have no trouble finding the silver lining. Meanwhile, Coleman will instead have an FBI investigation hanging over his and his wife's head.
April 28, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I take Coleman seriously on this. I've suspected ever since Coleman's election night total dwindled with the correction of tallying errors that Republicans have a plan B to delegitimize Franken's win.I'm sure part of the conspiracy theory about how Democrats stole the election for him, buying all the judges, making up new ballots etc. is the conservative craziness we see every day, but I suspect a cynical effort to promote these allegations just so voters have doubts and render Franken less effective and vulnerable in 2014.
April 28, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
My read of Minnesotans is that they are savvy and engaged enough to know exactly what Coleman is up to. Minnesotans don't like it when politicians screw with them. They absolutely loved Gov Wendell Anderson until he appointed himself to take over Mondale's senate seat. Had he just waited until the general election, he would have won by a wide margin. Instead, they elected two republican senators and a republican governor to punish him. Coleman will certainly see a backlash.
April 28, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if we are lucky, it'll hurt Pawlenty too!
April 28, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why did they send Michelle Bachmann to Congress? Or is that a different kind of savvy in her district?
April 28, 2009 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bachmann is a rich little bitch who inherited the largest most widely known fresh flower business in Minnesota. For generations the name Bachmann meant wonderful things for weddings, birthdays, Mothers Day, etc... It is difficult for Minnesota voters to get that the little flower girl grew up to be a spoiled fascist bitch who now guards her fortune the way all Republicans do, to screw the hell out of the little people they collected it from. Sad.
April 28, 2009 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michelle Bachmann has no relationship whatsoever with Bachman's, the floral and garden business.
April 28, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe she may have changed her name from the original "Eichmann".
April 28, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly - The only thing Michele Bachmann inherited was the last name "Bachmann" when she married her husband. Marcus Bachmann has no relationship with the Bachman's floral empire either (notice that the two names aren't even spelled the same way: Bachmann vs. Bachman's Floral & Home Centers http://www.bachmans.com/
April 29, 2009 5:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
How about Bachmann Turner Overdrive?
May 2, 2009 2:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Alan Page, the Vikings hall of fame lineman is a judge on the State Supreme Court.
Watch out Norm you may get your ass kicked!
April 29, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't be surprised if the Republican tactic against Franken in 2014 were to point to his lack of a voting record for the first six months after the election.
They're that ridiculous.
April 28, 2009 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's that and he's also making the case for a do-over.
April 29, 2009 5:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
So Norm, you admit you are not certain that you've got the most votes. Doesn't this mean that your current appeal has more to do with your petty power grab or obstructionism than as a crusader for the people.
Just asking.
April 28, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Coleman is so massively full of shit it's hard to know where to begin. Just last Sunday his local paper posted its Minnesota Poll that showed:
a) Most Minnesotans surveyed feel he should concede
and
b) Most Minnesotans surveyed feel the recount and trial was "fair and impartial."
The latter number, BTW, is more than the percent of Minnesotans who voted for Obama last November.
http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/43753267.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUxWoW_oD:EaDUiacyKUUr
April 28, 2009 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
+ Spector = 60!
April 28, 2009 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember when Gore's lawyer popped up in a restaurant while eating lunch when he heard the Supreme Court had decided for Bush and said, "Where's the irreparable harm?"
That cloud was the irreparable harm that the SC pulled out of their butts to take the case and find for Bush.
April 28, 2009 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
----
"No matter who wins the race, there's always going to be a cloud hanging over them -- did they really get more votes than the other guy," said Coleman. "That's a reality. And there's nothing you can do to change that."
----
Thank you Norm for making the case as to why you should discontinue your appeal.
Well said!
- FTF
April 28, 2009 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some polling places in Minneapolis and St. Paul had long lines. Some ran out of registration forms.
Not in the suburbs.
If we had a truly equal voting system, then Franken would have an even bigger lead.
So Franken doesn't have a cloud over him if he gets to be a Senator.
April 28, 2009 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Norm Coleman Diner: the food is terrible and the portions are too small.
What a nimrod.
April 28, 2009 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
The right wing commentators on the Star-Tribune boards have been saying this for months. Ginsberg, Coleman's lawyer-in-the-hallway, has been saying this regularly. It's not quite as popular as "the fix was in," "ACORN did it," "found votes," "more votes than voters," and the recent "statistical improbability," but a regular item all the same among the reactionaries. My guess is that the purpose is to poison the pool, so to speak, but I can't see that it's working. The only folks buying this line are the brain-dead faithful who are pretty fact-aversive. Judging by the responses in the local paper, I'd say only about 1/4 to 1/3 are even partly buying this balloon.
April 28, 2009 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The loser of the race will have, not a cloud over him but an orange jumpsuit on him, hopefully sooner rather than later.
April 28, 2009 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
New Norm Coleman honorary title:
Norm Coleman: Artificial Cloud Maker
April 28, 2009 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm Coleman, still a scumbag.
April 28, 2009 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm is such a douche.
John
April 28, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Keep squandering what little dignity you have left, Norm. You've already shedded your own gray cloud for a permanent dunce cap.
April 28, 2009 2:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
"-and thus would want to create an environment that continually undermines his opponent."
isn't that what the GOP is all about now?
April 28, 2009 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stay classy, Quimby.
April 28, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
"No matter who wins the race, there's always going to be a cloud hanging over them..." No Norm, only you!
April 28, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can see the GOP ad in 2014: "Al Franken missed more floor votes than any other current Senator!" "When important legislation was being passed, WHERE WAS AL FRANKEN?" "Minnesota needs a Senator who will serve Full-Time, not part-time." blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ... There is no depth to which the GOP will not sink.
April 28, 2009 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL
April 28, 2009 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm is doing everything for his political future. The best way to be a sure loser is to be a sore loser. His political future can best be described by Gertrude Stein's less than kind comment about Oakland (now on the City's Coat of Arms). "There's no there there."
April 28, 2009 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Q: What do you call a Minnesotan elected by a margin of one vote?
A: Senator!
April 28, 2009 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's my kind of cloud; steady paycheck, good health plan, nice office and cheap haircuts.
April 28, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
When I see Norm or read about him I start to itch and can only think of taking a shower.
Guys like him need a few years in jail to get them thinking straight.
April 28, 2009 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, well.
The loser of this thing will have another kind of cloud to deal with:
Historical footnote.
April 28, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm, shut up you douchebag.
April 28, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry Norm
The cloud is over you
period.
April 28, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm, I teach special education, the matter is now clear, you lost----more people voted for the other guy----yes just a few hundred or so, but a few nonetheless.....
now kindergarten kids can count to a hundred, they find it a big number-----1st graders can count to 500 a bigger number.
April 28, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
See the last line from this song. Norm you don't know where you are going and neither do I, but I think you are headed for a very bad place.
Paul Simon's lyric:
Cloudy
The sky is gray and white and cloudy,
Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me.
And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.
I'm a rag-a-muffin child.
Pointed finger-painted smile.
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.
Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell.
Down from Berkeley to Carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.
Hey sunshine
I haven't seen you in a long time.
Why don't you show your face and bend my mind?
These clouds stick to the sky
Like floating questions, why?
And they linger there to die.
They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I.
Cloudy,
Cloudy.
April 28, 2009 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
A similar cloud never seemed to stop Bush from destroying the country and half the world at his pleasure.
April 28, 2009 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had been planning to say something like that while reading all the other comments before repeating someone.
The only one with a cloud this time, though, will be Norm Coleman.
May 3, 2009 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
dont worry, norm!
Team Apartheid and Team Torture will always need a few good sleazy new york lawyers with bad accents who refuse to work on saturdays.
April 28, 2009 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
News flash Norm - you lost.... no clowd -
April 29, 2009 7:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Go back to Jersey Norm. Sit and wait for the indictment for corruption that is surely in the offing
April 29, 2009 8:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if this jerk said the same thing about prez Bush in 2000????
April 29, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
They will? A cloud where the votes are actually counted? Republicans can't deal with that.
April 29, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Norm knows of clouds. I can't think him without the being reminded of Wellstone and how things might have been.
April 29, 2009 11:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
And then Former Senator Coleman was dragged away screaming, "My cloud! Mine! He can't have it! I want my damn cloud! GIMMEEEE!!""
April 30, 2009 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Norm: There'll only be a cloud if you and your GOP buddies seed one, you a-hole.
April 30, 2009 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta love Norm.
Bush turns the GOP into a terrorism party.
Norm take them all the way to mediocrity.
April 30, 2009 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alan Page the ex Vikings NFL hall of famer is a judge on the state Supreme Court.
I hope he rips Norm a new one.
April 30, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink