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Kaine To Pawlenty: Tell Coleman To Quit -- And Don't Keep Delaying A Dem Senator
Here's the full text of DNC Chairman Tim Kaine's letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), asking the Republican governor to urge Norm Coleman to concede the state's disputed Senate race.
The key quote is this, making clear that Dems intend to hang this thing around belligerent GOPers' necks as a destructive, anti-democratic event: "To allow this to process to continue into the federal courts for no other reason than to deny for as long as possible the seating of another Democratic Senator would make what has been a bad situation for Minnesotans even worse. I urge you to do everything within your power and influence to bring this process to an end."
Dear Governor Pawlenty:
It has now been six months since Minnesota voters went to the polls to cast their ballots in a hard fought election for the United States Senate. No one will deny that the race was incredibly close - but after an official recount, an extensive legal process and a clear and definitive ruling by the three judge panel, it is all but indisputable that Democrat Al Franken won and will be the next Senator from Minnesota.
The voters of Minnesota elected Al Franken, and during every step in the legal process that judgment has been confirmed. By continuing to fight this losing battle - despite the fact that two-thirds of Minnesotans believe its time for him to concede - Norm Coleman is putting his own political ambition ahead of the voters choice and Minnesotas right to full representation in the Senate.
Last month, there was another hard fought race in New Yorks 20th Congressional district. But once Republican Jim Tedisco realized the numbers were not going his way, he appropriately conceded. He congratulated his opponent Scott Murphy and moved on. Now that the outcome of the election in Minnesota is abundantly clear: its time for Norm Coleman to follow Jim Tediscos example. I urge you to use your influence to bring this process to an end by asking Norm Coleman to allow his neighbors and yours, their full representation in Congress.
However, if Mr. Coleman refuses to concede and this case is heard and decided by the Minnesota State Supreme Court, I urge you to commit to signing an election certificate for the rightful winner as soon as the Court issues a ruling in this case. To allow this to process to continue into the federal courts for no other reason than to deny for as long as possible the seating of another Democratic Senator would make what has been a bad situation for Minnesotans even worse. I urge you to do everything within your power and influence to bring this process to an end.
Sincerely,
Tim Kaine
Chairman Democratic National Committee
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Josh
Matt
Eric
Ah, that great Democratic specialty- the strongly worded letter! Give 'em heck, Tim.
May 20, 2009 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
As opposed to what? Small arms fire?
May 20, 2009 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, wait. The Dems could do something really tough and change the name of the other party to something really evil-sounding, albeit inaccurate.
Yeah, that's it.
May 20, 2009 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or they could simply move to seat Franken after the MinnSC decision (and force the Republicans to mount a REAL filibuster if it comes to that) regardless of what Pawlenty does. But nah, best to write letters instead.
May 20, 2009 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is an excellent idea.
May 20, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the shoe were on the other foot, the Publican party would have already done that. And what would be our response? Hand-wringing by Harry R? What was our response to Specter announcing he is not a "loyal Democrat?" He got to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee -- Supreme Court Justices, anyone?
May 20, 2009 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't make shit up. Specter is NOT chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Dick Durbin gave Specter the chair of some lame judiciary sub-committee because Durbin wanted to chair a sub-comittee on human rights. That was Durbin's doing. The party as a whole told Specter to pound sand.
May 20, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Leahy is chairman of the Judiciary Committee according to the Senate.gov website. Is that not true?
May 20, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sloppy memory; thanks for the correction. If he kept his seniority he would be in line after Leahy. The Dem caucus voted to take his seniority away, and Harry kept saying that they could probably work things out. Don't know how it all ended, but definitely he is NOT the chairman of the Judicial Committee. Sorry for the mistake.
I like the way we rein each other in if we make mistakes here; there is so much to keep track of...it takes a vill... er... a TPMCAFE!
May 20, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cville, no need to be so deferential and gracious to FreeRider; he's generally an asshole, regardless of his immediate (and unsolicited!) position on any one item. Yeah, you, FreeRider. Get some sex, already, and get a fucking life.
As for me, I vote for the "small arms fire"! :-)
Really, for all the Republican Outrages Of The Day that these miserable nazis manage to conjure-up (what's today's GOP Outrage? I haven't checked the news, yet!), THIS ONE is a true "outrage".
To hold an election hostage the way they are is an absolute anal rape of democracy. They're only getting away with it because Conventional Wisdom... namely, the MSM... cannot bring itself to a consensus that this has fuck-all to do with "counting every vote", and is, in fact, voter theft and a treasonous attack on the U.S. Constitution... by means of the same "legal trickery" of which the right has accused "trial lawyers", since there has fucking been a right wing.
But to say that openly in the pages of the WaPo or New York Times would be unseemly. And if they did, I'm sure the Dems would vote to censure/condemn/whatever any paper or TV network that dared to be so rude.
It's never been more clear: the Republicans will always be a problem for the survival of this Republic, until we reach the point where they piss their pants in FEAR of the opposition party, and the ruthlessness with which we smack them down; first time, every time.
Translation: We need new Democrats. And this is how we start accomplishing that:
I am seriously thinking about sending my first campaign contribution in 57 years to a fucking Republican. Namely, the as-yet unnamed senatorial candidate from Nevada.
Yeah, yeah, tell me all about how I'm messing with "the majority" (AS IF being "the majority" actually means anything, currently!). Fine. Then get your tofu-eating, tree-hugging, limousine-riding, terrorist-loving Leftie asses in gear and make up for the loss, by electing some progressives who can defeat vunerable Republicans, elsewhere!
Sorry for the tone. This whole thing has infuriated me, like little else has. And what the fuck are YOU lookin' at, FreeRider?!? :-)
May 20, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Barry -- I deliberately didn't respond to FreeRider; my comment was to tedb. I think you have hit on something really important. The way the Publicans like to use a phrase, "blame game," etc to obfuscate the point.
To paraphrase what you said, the republicans are "Holding Minnesota Hostage" to keep a duly elected Democrat out of the Senate. That is what they are doing, and the inflammatory nature of the phrase is just what the doctor ordered!
May 20, 2009 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank YOU, Cville... I mean it, the MSM is still reporting this story (that is, when they can bring themselves to do so!) as "We still don't know who won the election in Minnesota..."
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHH!!!!
I just want to spit! when I read that shit!
May 20, 2009 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is Norm Coleman and the republican party holding the citizens of Minnesota hostage? They voted, Al Franken won, and the citizens of Minnesota deserve representation. (Are these the same crew who went out on 4/15 with teabags -- 'taxation without representation'? They obviously don't even get the point!
May 20, 2009 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again with the forgetting. It will take amending Senate rules to do that. 67 votes to do that isn't going to happen.
A writ of mandamus from the MN-SC to Timmay! will be more useful
May 20, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about Republican Jingoist Party?
May 20, 2009 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Timmay! will not pay attention to this, as he is far more partisan. He's using underhandedness to mess with the state's budget right now - negotiating in bad faith, then letting the bills pass and claiming an emergency so he can "unallocate" things he want to get rid of. The mark of a pure partisan coward, if you ask me, but that's Timmay! for you.
Really, our only hope is that no Independence Party candidate runs next year, splitting the vote has cost the DFL dearly these last few cycles.
MN is becoming an object lesson in why third parties do more harm than good, despite any good intentions they may claim. DFL'ers who feel disaffected, who claim the candidate is not sufficiently (whatever) will defect in far greater numbers than will lockstep Republicans. So we get stuck with the Republican dregs, like Timmay! and Quimby.
May 20, 2009 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you on Timmeh. He's fully drunk the no-new-taxes kool-aid, and doesn't give a rip about MN anymore. His ambitions are national. He's done the Club for Growth full monty on the state budget.
I fully expect that he's going to do what he can to keep Franken out of the senate. That will win him the support of the Limbaugh wing of the Republican party.
May 20, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, I finally figured out your avatar! That's an excellent avatar.
May 20, 2009 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kitties are at their best when they lie on their backs with their little tummies up!
May 20, 2009 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree!
May 20, 2009 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
they fly better when they're sitting up, facing away from you
and then ya get your shoe exactly under em on the upswing ...
an watch the kitty FLY
uhm, not that I would know anything about that
(ducking & running)
May 20, 2009 8:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
All third parties should band together to support two causes, and two only: Instant Run-Off Voting (so their votes aren't seen as votes for the opposing, big party,) and Public Financing, so their candidates can run on an equal footing.
Cause until then, 99% of all third-party campaigns are just spoilers.
May 20, 2009 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, I'm glad that Democratic leadership isn't letting this pass without addressing this fiasco in some way, but I would think this would merely strengthen Pawlenty's backbone. If he does certify Franken, won't the knucklehead Republicans scream "He's caving in to the Democrats!!@#!!#!"
If Pawlenty has presidential ambitions for 2012, he can't be seen as caving in to the Democrats on anything.
May 20, 2009 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
And if they do scream about it the Dems get a nationwide talking point: "The rethuglicans are more interested in winning elections than proper governance".
May 20, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. This just guaranteed that Pawlenty goes down with Coleman, kicking and screaming till the end.
Of course, this also means his national ambitions are dead, so in the end it'll be a wash.
May 20, 2009 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dems: "We Write Letters Real Good!"
ThHis is going to drag on past the summer.
Pawlenty will be repaid in a future Republican administration.
May 20, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naw, he will be repaid in the next election.
May 20, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mean when he runs against OBAMA for president? Who (well, I KNOW who) -- okay, how many people will vote for someone who didn't even respect the election of his own state's citizens?
Yeah -- Pawlenty/Palin! You go!
May 20, 2009 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
At the end of all this, can Franken sue Coleman for lost wages?
Also, I really hope that something got lost in the reproduction, and the real letter from Tim Kaine makes far better use of commas and apostrophes.
May 20, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I noticed that too.
May 20, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL! I just posted a message about that last point myself. The punctuation made me wince. If that's the way the letter went out, Kaine needs a better secretary, at the very least.
May 20, 2009 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Corporate Media would have already hung many millstones around Dem necks, if a Dem were being this belligerent and petulant about an election. Every word would get aired like Petulant, Childish, Sore Losers, Egomaniacs, Power Hungry, Personal Agenda, ToneDeaf, etc....
Every Dem who is close is browbeat into conceding elections, like Gore or Kerry before the polls are even closed by the Corporate Media. A Republican, however, who makes a national disgrace about losing an election has Nary a Bad Word spoken of him, even after 7 months of disenfranchising an entire state. In fact, allowances and excuses are made every step of the Media Way.
May 20, 2009 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wish we could still recommend comments, because you've pretty much nailed the situation.
May 20, 2009 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
This entire fiasco gives the expression (from the sublime to the ridiculous) new meaning. No one could or should be this patient. Come on Minnesota, show some guts!
May 20, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
As his national viability grows, TPaw now makes local decisions based on their national impact. Disgusting, but that's the way the game is played - on both sides.
May 20, 2009 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Minnesota DFL voters need to file a class-action suit against the Coleman campaign and the RSCC. If the Republicans are going to continue the obstruction, it needs to be made clear that it could cost them dearly -- and what better way than to drain the RSCC's campaign coffers prior to the 2010 mid-terms!
May 20, 2009 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is that Tim Kaine's original punctuation? If so, ouch.
May 20, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink