Call in the Lawyers
[Sen. Chambliss of GA will likely win the run-off election in December, so the question is whether the Dems will end up with 57, 58, or 59 senators (counting Lieberman). The further from 60 the better, obviously.]
online.wsj.com
›NOVEMBER 14, 2008
By BRAD HAYNES
The question of whether Democrats dominate the Senate next year could swing from the polls to the courts.
Hundreds of lawyers from both parties have volunteered to help fight the continuing Minnesota Senate race, where Republican Sen. Norm Coleman now leads Democrat Al Franken by roughly 200 votes, of 2.9 million cast, after an initial count. The razor-thin margin will trigger an automatic recount.
The Minnesota race is one of three that remain undecided a week after election day. In Georgia, incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss faces a runoff on Dec. 2 after failing to secure a majority of votes last Tuesday. In Alaska, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens trails his challenger by 814 votes, with about 40,000 ballots left to count.
If Democrats pick up all three seats, they will reach their goal of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, making it easier for them to push their agenda through the chamber. They now have a confirmed 57 Senate seats, including two independents that currently caucus with the party.
With the stakes so high, both parties are pouring resources into the remaining races.
On Saturday, lawyers contested 32 absentee ballots on Mr. Coleman's behalf, claiming that they were out of official supervision before being counted. A judge dismissed the case. On Wednesday, lawyers for the Franken campaign sued county officials to turn over the names on rejected absentee ballots, so voters could contest accidental rejections.
Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee campaign organization is circulating a memo questioning the legitimacy of the decisions made by Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, highlighting his partisan ties.
Mr. Ritchie has appointed a board to oversee the recount, including a former law partner of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and a former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer, leader of Senate Democrats' election efforts, accused Mr. Coleman and his allies of trying to obstruct a proper recount, drawing parallels to the 2000 battle over Florida's presidential votes. "The right wing has worked itself into a lather in a clear attempt to intimidate election officials from doing their job," Mr. Schumer said. "I have news for those seeking to intimidate the process: Minnesota is not Florida." [Sen. Schumer is almost as big an ahole as Harry Reid, IMO.]
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, Mr. Schumer's Republican counterpart, dismissed the Democrat's remarks. "I believe that the people of Minnesota are trying to ensure that the recount process is conducted by Minnesota standards, not those that are applied in Washington, D.C.," he said. "I applaud Minnesotans, and the Coleman campaign, for wanting to maintain that reputation for clean, fair and honest elections."
In Alaska, where officials intend to finish and certify the initial count by Nov. 25, candidates are entitled to a free recount if the deciding margin is less than half a percentage point.
Even if Sen. Stevens wins an eighth term, the 40-year Senate veteran faces fallout from seven corruption convictions for failing to properly report gifts from an oil company. If his Senate colleagues voted to expel him, the choice of his temporary replacement would fall to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the recent Republican nominee for vice president.
Gov. Palin ruled out appointing herself to the post, but left open the possibility of running for the seat in a special election, if one became necessary.
"My life is in God's hands," the governor said Wednesday. "If he's got doors open for me, that I believe are in our state's best interest, the nation's best interest, I'm going to go through those doors."‹ |
