Al Franken Wins!

by: Chris Bowers

Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 14:31


The Minnesota Supreme Court has unanimously declared Al Franken the winner in the Minnesota Senate campaign, and Governor Tim Pawlenty has confirmed he will sign the certification papers:

After an unprecedented eight months of legal wrangling and pouring over hundreds upon hundreds of contested ballots, the Minnesota Supreme Court has paved the way for Democrat Al Franken to fill long-vacant Senate seat, CBS station WCCO-TV reports.

Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has indicated he will sign Franken's election certificate, CBS News reported. The timing of the signing was not yet clear.

Now, let's see if Senator Al Franken will support a public option!

Chris Bowers :: Al Franken Wins!

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Al Franken Wins! | 30 comments
Pawlenty signing (0.00 / 0)
He said he would....but did he commit to when.

It's one thing to say 'I'll do it'......'when I'm dragged kicking and screaming to the table and the pen glued to my fingers'......

Congrats to Al!   Congrats to Minnesota!  

Right now (0.00 / 0)
Pawlenty is too busy slashing the state budget and then he has to start raising his national visibility. Kidding aside, the governor will likely sign quickly, he doesn't need this scandal to stain him at the moment.


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
today (0.00 / 0)
Pawlenty said he'll sign it today.
[ Parent ]
He had nothing to gain from doing otherwise (0.00 / 0)
The 2008 election was a mess, sure, but the process worked through without anything resembling FLA 2000 or Ohio 2004. Net benefit for Pawlenty on the national stage at this point.

Similar dynamics for Coleman and his backing off of continuing the fight. If Norm hopes for a future in MN, he had to end the election 2008 without burning too many bridges.  

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Welcome to the Senate! (4.00 / 3)
Senator Franken! It's long overdue.

Also, first!

Damn... (4.00 / 3)
just beat me. But I'm sure our prospects for everything from the public option to EFCA just got a little bit brighter.
[ Parent ]
We have a great liberal Dem in there now (4.00 / 2)
I hope Reid gives Franken some good committee assignments, and allows his seniority to start Jan. 5th, when he SHOULD have been sworn in.

Al Franken should not be behind appointees like Roland Burris, Kirsten Gillibrand and the Bennett guy from Colorado. In other words, he shouldn't be punished for Coleman's delay tactics.

[ Parent ]
Is Reid allowed to do that? .. (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Yeah (0.00 / 0)
But he won't in the interests of bipartisanship.
[ Parent ]
No more 'We don't have 60 Senators' fake excuses Harry (4.00 / 3)

Holy Joe is not part of a usable 60-vote majority, nor is Spector (0.00 / 0)
... but the filibuster rule is an antidemocratic relic.

The GOP was able to bully the Dems into not filibustering in 2005-06, with the threat to nuke the rule.  

Our turn.


There is no such thing as a free market.

[ Parent ]
Al Franken's Committee Assignments (4.00 / 3)
by BooMan23
Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 08:22:58 PM PDT

[Originating at the Frog Pond]

Now that I know what committee assignments senators Mike Bennet (D-CO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) received I can, by a process of elimination, tell you what committee assignments Al Franken will get when he is finally sworn into office.  Al Franken will serve on the:


   Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

   Special Committee on Aging

   Committee on Indian Affairs

I don't think I need to tell you that these are pathetic committee assignments.  No disrespect to the country's aging population, but the Special Committee on Aging doesn't even have the power to craft legislation.  And the Indian Affairs Committee is important, but hardly a coveted slot.  Norm Coleman's quixotic thermopylaeic battle to deny Franken his seat has succeeded only in screwing Minnesota out of potential seats on Foreign Relations, Banking, Agriculture, and Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.  Those seats went to Mike Bennet of Colorado and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.  

When Franken finally takes his seat he will be able to make a mark on education, health, and labor policy.  But he will do it as the 100 ranking member of the Senate and lowest ranking member of his committee.  Good job, Coleman, you asshole.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo...
HELP (0.00 / 0)
The HELP Committee is a big one, though, so at least we got that.
[ Parent ]
CQ says two seats have been held for Franken (4.00 / 1)
Sen Whitehouse has filled in for Franken on the HELP committee and Sen Wyden on Judiciary, according to CQ. The two smaller committee assignments are also confirmed in the story.
[ Parent ]
confused (0.00 / 0)
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has been temporarily filling the seat the Democrats reserved for Franken on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has spent two weeks working on a complicated health-care overhaul that is expected to be completed July 10. The work on that bill has taken so long that Franken might still be able to participate.

were there two seats, one for whitehouse and one that whitehouse filled temporarily, or just one that whitehouse filled temporarily?

[ Parent ]
wikipedia shows: (0.00 / 0)
Majority
   * Ted Kennedy, Massachusetts, Chairman
   * Chris Dodd, Connecticut Acting Chairman
   * Tom Harkin, Iowa
   * Barbara Mikulski, Maryland
   * Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
   * Patty Murray, Washington
   * Jack Reed, Rhode Island
   * Bernie Sanders[1], Vermont
   * Sherrod Brown, Ohio
   * Bob Casey, Pennsylvania
   * Kay Hagan, North Carolina
   * Jeff Merkley, Oregon
   * Al Franken Minnesota [2]

Minority
   * Mike Enzi, Wyoming, Ranking Member
   * Judd Gregg, New Hampshire
   * Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
   * Richard Burr, North Carolina
   * Johnny Isakson, Georgia
   * John McCain, Arizona
   * Orrin Hatch, Utah
   * Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
   * Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
   * Pat Roberts, Kansas


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...
[ Parent ]
So we should be able to pass public option out of HELP Committee... right? (4.00 / 1)
By my count there are twenty three Senators on the committee, 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans.  All the Republicans and Kay Hagan will oppose a straight-up public option.  That leaves 12 Democrats voting for it, assuming no other Democrat defects, which is enough for passage.

Of course this means that Kennedy will have to make it to the Senate to cast his vote.  I know what he's going through is difficult and I don't want to diminish that, but surely if there's any vote that's worth making it for it's this one.

[ Parent ]
my exact thoughts (0.00 / 0)
we're on the exact same wavelength!
[ Parent ]
Still 10 more days possible (0.00 / 0)
There is a 10 lag to allow a rehearing request.
Coleman won't drop the matter. (4.00 / 1)
He'll take it as far through the federal courts as he can, probably up to the Supreme Court.  Knowing those scoundrels, they'll probably rule in favor of Coleman - after all, they can't have the actual winner taking office, can they?  That would further weaken Republicans' ability to control policy in government.

At any rate, don't expect the weak Reid to seat Franken.  He can't refrain from bending over backwards to appease the GOP in spite of the clear majority status his party enjoys.


Coleman conceded (4.00 / 1)
Oh well... I'm sure you were enjoying the Democrat-bashing.


New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.
[ Parent ]
Has he? (0.00 / 0)
I didn't read anything in the news saying he had.  I'm glad to be proven wrong if that's the case.


[ Parent ]
You're proven wrong. (4.00 / 1)
Coleman concedes.

Happy now?

Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in Nevada.

[ Parent ]
Great! (0.00 / 0)
After eight months of Coleman and his fellow election thieves threaten to take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, I was expecting the worst.  I'm glad to be proven wrong on that.  Here's a link to a site that isn't compromised by Franken-haters, and suck-ups who only supported him because they figure now that Democrats will have a filibuster-proof majority.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

I'm giddy about this.  Thanks for letting me know!


[ Parent ]
Republican bashing (4.00 / 1)
Michael was bashing at how biased and partisan a majority of the Supreme Court is.  Michael is right.  Coleman's only chance, all along, was to get this thing to the Supreme Court of the United States rather than to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

We got a huge break.  The only party to steal the Presidency is the Republicans and they did it wice, 1876 and 2000.  What's a mere Senate seat.

[ Parent ]
Thrice. (0.00 / 0)
They stole 2004, too.


[ Parent ]
You know, I'm really surprised Coleman's not appealing (0.00 / 0)
The U.S. Supreme Court was his best chance.  Then again, it still isn't a very good one.

Could Franken serve during the appeal to the USSC?  If yes, then I guess there would be no point for Coleman to appeal.

[ Parent ]
Coleman classy to the end (4.00 / 1)
Tosses the UpTake out the presser
NO MORE EXCUSES! (4.00 / 4)
I mean it. Thank goddess Franken won. I'm so glad we'll get another strong progressive voice in the Senate. But by golly, Obama & Reid have no more excuses for being so timid. We want bold, progressive change. And since they now have the magic number 60, they need to deliver!

Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in Nevada.
Hooray (4.00 / 2)
Now this means that only a Democratic Senator FILIBUSTERING legislation can block a public option or any other good policy. It's up to you, congressional Democrats. We're watching.

 

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

Al Franken Wins! | 30 comments
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