Let us not forget, Coleman was an absolute jerk during the whole process. And,he was a sucky senator. Subsequent to Franken’s establishment in office, he has proven himself equal to the best. Indeed, his lack of experience in elected office in general and the senate in particular is rather hard to detect.

This is partly a function of increased favorablity following the nasty recount process, but is also reminds us of something else: There was a third candidate in this race. If Dean Barkley was not in this race, would the outcome have been so close? And, who would have won?

The common knowledge on the street at the time of the election is that about two thirds of Barkley’s votes would have been for Franken had Barkley not been in the race. In addition, Franken was advancing on Coleman for the last several weeks. In other words, if the election was held three weeks later, OR if Barkley was not in the race, Franken would have had a decisive if not overwhelming victory. If both were true, Franken would have taken Coleman out by a landslide.

This is why I’ve been so frequently annoyed at calls to “just do it over” or statements that “no one really won” and so on. Franke was behind. Franken came from behind and passed colement.

In addition, consider this: If Franken was moving in on the vote count, then what about absentee votes cast days or weeks before the election? Wouldn’t more of those have been Franken votes had they been cast on election day?

For the most part, Pawlenty has signaled that he will only sign the election certificate if he is instructed to do so by the court. He has implied, therefore that he will not sign it if he is not instructed even if the court has made a decision.

He has not explicitly stated which court he is referring to, but it seems that he is expecting that the state court may instruct him to sign before a federal court (to which we assume loser Norm Coleman will bring the contest) decides on the matter.

Here’s the problem: The state court will produce its ruling any day now. They are rather late in doing so and we await not only a ruling but an explanation of what has taken them so long. Once they do this, Pawlenty COULD sign the certificate, but may not.

Independently of the court’s decision, the court may or may not provide an instruction t the governor to sign the order. What Pawlenty is saying is that he will sign if so ordered, otherwise …. the implication is that he will not.

If he does not, he would wait for the court to provide such an order. That would likely only come if the issue is brought before the court, they hear arguments, then sit in their chambers for who knows how long.

Details here. The story is based on an interview with Pawlenty on CNN on Sunday.

So, this means … who knows. Don’t be holdin’ yer breath is all.

It is not know if Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is going to be ordered by the court to produce an election certificate, but it is generally thought that he will not issue one unless so ordered. If the court does not order the Governor to carry out his legal duty, it may be required that Franken makes an argument to the court to do so.

One thing people have not commented on yet to my knowledge is this: In the event that Franken has to argue for the court to order Pawlenty to act on the court’s ruling, what sort of argument will Coleman make to the contrary? That could be interesting.

In the mean time, I understand the Coleman legal and recount team has offered its services to parties in Iran. I wish I was joking about that.

The outgoing Senator, Coleman was in First Class. Franken was in Coach.

Just thought you’d like to know….

Speculation was mounting in St. Paul and elsewhere that Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision not to seek a third term in 2010 — perhaps to seek the 2012 Republican U.S. presidential nomination — means Coleman is planning to end his legal battle with Democrat Al Franken to overturn his recount loss in November’s Senate race and instead run to replace Pawlenty.

But unnamed Coleman sources say that’s not the case, the Washington publication Politico reported Monday.

“Not at all,” said the source. “He ran for U.S. senator, wants to continue being a U.S. senator. … What (Pawlenty) has done or not done has never been a factor in his decision-making.”

source

Of course, he has been known to break his promises before. Every time, in fact.

This opinion was widely held prior to the presentation of arguments by Coleman, but now, with some real face time in the high court behind us, in which we see the arguments for real, and see the reaction by the judges, it is confirmed and certain that Coleman’s fate is sealed.

But what is not known at this time is the fate of Governor Pawlenty. Pawlenty is now known to be stepping aside from the race for re-election for governor of Minnesota, and it is widely believed that he will run for president. I can’t wait to see Pawlenty in a throw down against Obama. But, for Pawlenty to get that far he has to avoid being fallen upon, beaten, chewed up and spit out by his comrades in the Party of No. Which means that when the court rules in favor of Franken, but does not specifically order the governor to issue an elections certificat, Pawlenty CAN NOT issue that certificate. This is clear. As Hamline professor David Shultz recently noted (reported by Paul Demko noted in a recent piece in the Minnesota Independent) “As soon as he signs [the election certificate] voluntarily, he’s dead meat with Republicans nationwide. They’re never going to remember eight years of no new taxes. They’re going to remember you voluntarily put Al Franken in the Senate.”

On the other hand, if he does not sign, the citizens of Minnesota, who are quite tired of this process, will surely snub him if he runs for governor gain.

Which is why he is not going to too that, obviously.

If you are interested in the Minnesota Gubernatorial race, you should check out Mike Haubrich’s interviews with some of the most likely folks to run for Gubernor next time around…

Attorneys for Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) have asked the Federal Election Commission for permission to use campaign funds to pay his legal bills stemming from allegations that a Coleman confidante funneled improper payments to the lawmaker via his wife.

Coleman and his wife have denied any wrongdoing, but the former CEO of Deep Marine Technology, a Houston, Texas, company, filed a lawsuit claiming that Nassar Kazeminy, a DMT investor, “coerced DMT to make improper payments of $75,000 to Laurie Coleman through her employer, for the ultimate benefit of her husband.”

A similar lawsuit was also filed in Delaware after media reports that Kazeminy may have paid “large bills for clothing purchases” by Coleman and his wife at Neiman Marcus.

A liberal watchdog group in Minnesota, Alliance for a Better Minnesota, wrote to the FBI in November asking it to investigate the allegations, and also filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, another liberal organization, filed a complaint with the ethics panel as well.

source and more information

Of course, he also beat my candidate, Humphrey. But in so doing Ventura demonstrated what happens when we Democratic Farm Laborers in Minnesota get together to put up a candidate for governor: We screw it up. Humphrey was not the candidate for that election. So we got Ventura. Hatch was not the candidate for the last election. So we got Pawlenty.

I also recall that governor’s election quite well, as it was my first election here in Minnesota. Ventura was well ahead at the end of the night, but it took FOREVER for both Humphrey and Coleman to concede. They were struck with such utter disbelief that they could not admit that Ventura, a third party candidate who, only a couple of weeks before the election was thought to have no chance of winning, had indeed beaten the mainstream candidates.

I also remember that evening that Tom Brokaw of NBC news called Ventura and totally dissed him. He did not call him “Governor Elect” or ask about policy. He called him something slightly derogatory and asked him about wrestling. He called our newly elected governor and made fun of him on national TV. Brokaw’s professionalism suffered greatly that day.

Anyway, Jesse was interviewed by Larry King, and the interview of the now-mulletted ex governor is reported in the Strib. Here’s a bit of it:

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura told the nation that Norm Coleman is a hypocrite who has lost the election for U.S. senator and should give up his fight against Al Franken for a second term.

In a wide-ranging interview Monday night on CNN with Larry King and in his trademark blunt style, Ventura also called former Vice President Dick Cheney a coward for avoiding service during the Vietnam War and made a pitch for himself to be appointed ambassador to Cuba.

…

“Coleman’s always been a hypocrite,” said Ventura, who “shocked the world” when as an Independence Party candidate he defeated Coleman and Democrat Skip Humphrey for the open governor’s seat in 1998.

“He never does what he says,” Ventura added. “He said on Election Night [in 2008], when he won, that Franken should drop out and he should be the senator. Well, the same should hold true after the recount.”

Strib

Jesse also had some comments about Dick Cheney. Ventura, who himself has been waterboarded (we’re pretty tough on our elected officials here in Minnesota) said, “I’ll put it to you this way: You give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I’ll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.”