One Republican is willing to openly say that Norm Coleman has a tough time ahead of him in his legal fight for the Minnesota Senate seat: Ken Starr, who described Coleman's situation as an "uphill battle," but isn't ruling out the idea entirely.

The former independent counsel was asked in a radio interview with WCCO-AM in the Twin Cities whether the U.S. Supreme Court would grant certiorari to Coleman's case. "I would tend to doubt it," said Starr. "I can understand why given the stakes, that every avenue of appeal would be exhausted. But we select our Senators through state elections, and so it is ultimately for the state, subject to fundamental rights of equality and so forth. So I would say it would be an uphill battle."

Starr did go on to add, though: "So I would just say, good lawyers can do a great job in making a case that might seem at first blush -- especially in light of Bush vs. Gore -- the kind of case that the Supreme Court might not want to be involved in, but you would be surprised. Some cases get up there that the smart money was wrong."