politics:

Reid weighs in on court’s ruling for Al Franken

Staff and wire reports

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 12:34 p.m.

AP Photo/Craig Lassig

In this April 13, 2009 file photo, Al Franken talks with reporters outside his home in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, June 30, 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court paved the way for Franken to fill a long-vacant Senate seat.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.

Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.

Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday.

Reid's office issued the following statement today:

“I congratulate Senator-elect Al Franken, the next Senator from the state of Minnesota.

“The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator they elected in November and the full representation they deserve. After all the votes have been counted and recounted, the Minnesota Supreme Court has made the final determination that Minnesotans have chosen Al Franken to help their state and our country get back on track.

“The Senate looks forward to welcoming Senator-elect Franken as soon as possible. He will play a crucial role as we work to strengthen our economy, ensure all Americans can access and afford quality health care, make our country more energy independent, confirm the President’s outstanding nominee to the Supreme Court, and tackle the many other challenges we face.

“I once again encourage Governor Pawlenty to respect the votes of his constituents and the decisions of his state’s highest court. He should put politics aside, follow his state’s laws and finally sign the certificate that will bring this episode to an end.”

Discussion: 21 comments so far…

By neiman1

6/30/09 at 1:14 p.m.

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No excuses now harry, there is your 60th vote to destroy America. All hail the new economy, it is working out so well for us all.
By NewToThis

6/30/09 at 1:15 p.m.

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Well, that's just great!
By atdleft

6/30/09 at 1:24 p.m.

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neiman-

Oh yes, isn't democracy just horrible? The people voted to end the radical right assault on working people, and the court agreed. How dare they!

Btw, I hope this means we won't have to hear any more GOP whines and moans about Democrats being "sore losers".
By firedawg2000

6/30/09 at 1:38 p.m.

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Franken is even too liberal for liberals! There must be some good drugs in the state of Minn. How else can one explain this evil clown getting elected?
By mred

6/30/09 at 1:51 p.m.

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With his extensive successful background in both TV and Radio, Sen Franken would be an excellent choice to head up a media reform committee that would strengthen the important print media and bring back fairness to the radio waves that are clogged with dittohead programing. Hopefully someone with the expertise of Mr. Greenspun could advise this committee as well.
By That_Anonymous_Guy

6/30/09 at 2:13 p.m.

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I find all of the obsessing about passing the 60-vote threshold amusing. Trying to get 60 senators to vote in a bloc is like herding cats, regardless of whether they all have a "D" behind their name.

An important victory for Democrats, no doubt. But I don't expect progressive legislation to begin flying out of the Senate any time soon just because one more Senate seat flipped to the Dems.
By getalife

6/30/09 at 2:15 p.m.

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mred,

So when liberals announce it is OK to kill certain people as your boy Franken did, he gets a pass, but when a conservative tell us he hopes the Messiahs policies fail he gets raked over the coals.

Welcome to the new world. Franken is even a bigger piece of @#$%%$ than Pinky.
By LasVegasRocks

6/30/09 at 2:16 p.m.

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Norm Coleman, Governor Pawlenty, and the republicans have obstructed the people of Minnesota from having equal representation. It's about time they got out of the way and allowed the appropriately elected Al Franken to take his place in the US Senate.

All this is about, is that the republicans were big time losers in November 2008 and they continue to be "sore losers."
By mred

6/30/09 at 2:39 p.m.

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GAL (get a life) I just heard your hero Sean Hannity support the coup by death-squad proponents in Honduras, even though almost all European and Latin American democracies oppose it. The Franken comment was taken out of context, the dittohead republicans are in bed with actual death squad killers.
By JBond

6/30/09 at 2:43 p.m.

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Neiman, attempt to present facts if you are intellectually capable of it.

From Wikianswers:

As of February 2009, 57 counting Al Franken and Roland Burris who have yet to be sworn in. Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, officially listed as Independent, caucus with the Democrats, giving them essentially 59."

Filibuster proof would require 61 Senators
By ksand99

6/30/09 at 3:18 p.m.

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JBond, to invoke cloture, the Senate needs 60 votes (3/5 of the body). With 58 elected Democrats (wikianswers apparently forgot or didn't know about Arlen Specter's switch) and Lieberman/Sanders, there are 60 votes available for cloture.

TAG is right, though. You're essentially trying to convince Lieberman to vote just like Whitehouse or Lautenberg. It's highly unlikely.

Unlike the lock-step republicans, Democrats don't all march to a single drum.
By Future

6/30/09 at 3:28 p.m.

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Too big to fail Harry Reid'm and Weep said "The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant..."

Just how brillent do you have to be an ex porn star and cast the 60th vote.
By AngryReader

6/30/09 at 3:39 p.m.

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JB I am pretty sure 60 is the magic number, and since both independents caucus with the Dem's we now have a filibuster proof Senate. Assuming that traitor Arlen Specter doesn't screw us again.

You guys stop picking on Neiman, he may be a nutjob, but he is a consistent nutjob.

As for Franken, he has a higher IQ than most of the Republican leadership put together. By leadership I mean the vacous airhead from Alaska, Newt The Grinch, and the drug addicted fat man.
By castle

6/30/09 at 5:13 p.m.

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You get what you vote (as a whole nation) for; for collective good or bad. Whether it is a former baseball team owner, "B" movie star, natural state governor, peanut farmer or whatever we as a nation seem to survive no matter what we elect.
By getalife

6/30/09 at 10:29 p.m.

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Filibuster proof Senate = complete lunatic garbage from your friend and mine the idiotic moron from Searchlight.

Harry Reid has never had a real job and neither has Obama; two peas in a pod.

Any businessman knows you only have to struggle through payroll once to understand how much garbage these liberal blowhards generate.

Welcome to the new world!
By stopblamingamerica

7/1/09 at 6:03 a.m.

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"The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator"He will be an absolute embarrassment to the dems, (If thats even possible.) But isnt reid the same traitor that said the surge will never work and that we are losing the war ?What a slap in the face to are soldiers,20 years ago they would of asked for his head on a platter.Not today. what a true marxist.when I look in harry reids eyes I see pure blackness!wake up nevada!God help us.
By SgtRock

7/1/09 at 7:14 a.m.

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Welcome back, Carter.

The Dems had full control of the House, Senate and White House during the Carter years.

I expect similar results now to what happen then.

Very rough waters ahead.......lucky if we do get over 10% inflation and over 15% interest rates on mortgages in the next 10 years. They are going to BUST the bank wide open even more than now. They are going to print out so much money that a can of Pespi will cost over $10 dollars 8 years from now.
By revtomperl

7/1/09 at 9:35 a.m.

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Glass is now 60% full - so now we still have lots of gloom and doom and possible throwback to Carter - I always appreciate the governator when he points out that we would be in good shape in energy policy if Reagan had not cancelled the programs on energy created by Carter. Hey, let's see where this goes and pull together! Welcome Al Franken! Congrats to Minnesota now that the Republicans have decided that it is good for the citizens to have full representation.
By DouglasDemocrat

7/1/09 at 9:40 a.m.

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"The Dems had full control of the House, Senate and White House during the Carter years.

I expect similar results now to what happen then."

Yes, because Democrats always vote in a bloc.

Never mind that 3 Republicans were needed to pass the stimulus bill because one of the "bloc" jumped ship.

Never mind that the biggest obstacles to health care reform are Democrats Kay Hagen (NC), Blanche Lincoln (AR), and Kent Conrad (ND).

Never mind that the magical 60 includes Joe Lieberman, who bolts from the bloc every chance he can get (especially on funding pie-in-the-sky defense programs like the "laser plane").

Nope, to Rock it's just "they have 60, so hang it all on them".

We could have 75 votes in the Senate, and still manage to screw it up.
By cignettis

7/1/09 at 4:20 p.m.

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Just one moron verifying another moron.
By gmag39

7/1/09 at 10:28 p.m.

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I am not a "fan" of Al Franken. And I am a dem formerly of Minny.
However, the man will always hold a very special place in my heart for writing the #1 bestseller;
Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot.