Monday, January 05, 2009

What’s In It for Me, Al Franken?

Remember that signature line of his on SNL? You do if you remember what the “Me Generation” was. Well, it seems that the titular head of the Me Generation has just been declared and certified as the winner of the race to fill a US Senate seat from Minnesota.

Senator Al Franken.

But think about it, people used to laugh at the thought of Ronald “Bonzo” Reagan being called President Reagan.

Franken and Coleman were in a remarkably tight race. Coleman finished in the unofficial count up by 215 votes on November 5th. And now 7 weeks later, after a laborious recount of the votes tallied, plus all of the provisional votes and votes that were excluded for one reason or another, here we have Al Franken leading with a commanding 225 vote lead.

Former DSCC chair Chuck Schumer hailed the result:
“While there are still possible legal issues that will run their course, there is no longer any doubt who will be the next senator from Minnesota. With the Senate set to begin meeting on Tuesday to address the important issues facing the nation, it is crucial that Minnesota's seat not remain empty, and I hope this process will resolve itself as soon as possible.”
John Cornyn, who is the current chair of the NRSC was less than enthusiastic at this outcome, and was critical of Schumer, who will chair the Senate Rules Committee, the committee that has oversight of contested elections, for making conclusive remarks like that:
“Senator Schumer will likely play a key role in determining who ultimately assumes this Senate seat," Cornyn said. "Prejudging the outcome while litigation is still pending calls into question his ability to impartially preside over this matter when it comes before the committee, as it most certainly will.”
My guess is that Senator Schumer won’t have the deciding vote in this. My guess is that the drama will play itself out in the courtrooms. And Cornyn should be happy with that, since Republicans do rather well when the result of an election is placed in the hands of some appointed judges.

Or am I the only one who remembers Bush v. Gore?

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