Just because Texas has finished the November elections (they are all done, right? Right?) doesn’t mean everyone is finished, and it doesn’t mean Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, can’t cause trouble.
With Al Franken now nursing a 50 vote lead over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, as re-counts of contested absentee ballots begin, the recently-elected National Republican Senate Committee chair has weighed in.
Al Franken is falsely declaring victory based on an artificial lead created on the back of the double counting of ballots. His campaign’s actions in the last several days on the issues of rejected absentee ballots are creating additional chaos and disorder in the Minnesota recount. Those actions, coupled with the recent comments by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who suggests seating someone even if there is an election contest, are unprecedented. Minnesotans will not accept a recount in which some votes are counted twice, and I expect the Senate would have a problem seating a candidate who has not duly won an election.”
As Talking Points Memo points out, Franken has not declared victory, nor is it unprecedented for senators to be seated with challenges remaining in the final count. But there’s a certain comedy to the fact that Cornyn is boosting Coleman, when two months ago Coleman was his biggest challenger for the NRSC chair. Coleman only dropped his quest because he was caught up in the whole recount fiasco.
This article appears in December 26 • 2008.
