Minnesota Republicans: Pawlenty Will Help Coleman

[babylonsister]

Minnesota Republicans: Pawlenty Will Help Coleman
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff



Republican activists remain confident that Minnesota’s Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty will help Norm Coleman continue his fight to be declared the winner of the state’s deadlocked 2008 Senate race.

Pawlenty “will fight like hell” to delay certifying Democrat Al Franken the winner of the race, should Coleman, a Republican, lose his appeal pending before the state Supreme Court and move to take his case to the federal courts, said Sarah Janecek, a Republican commentator and publisher of the newsletter “Politics in Minnesota.”

So far, Pawlenty, whose signature is required to certify a state election, has evaded questions about whether or not he plans to certify a winner of the pivotal race if Coleman’s challenge is unsuccessful and he decides to fight on.

Despite increased pressure from Democrats that the race be called in Franken’s favor, the Republican activists contend Pawlenty is prepared to allow the legal process to play out even if an appeal delays a resolution of the race.

“My sense is the governor is not going to issue a certificate of election until all reasonable opportunities for an appeal have been exhausted or Norm Coleman has not decided to pursue a further appeal,” agreed Chris Georgacas, a former Minnesota Republican Party chairman.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003113026

[a kennedy]

1. D*mn, D*mn, D*m!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :grr: :grr: :grr: I want it resolved as soon as possible......

[MADem]

2. What's the process for impeaching the governor for failing to do his duty? NT

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. It's time to put this BS to bed.

Enough is enough.

If there had been a half-dozen close races last fall should the government be expected to shut down while this nonsense was being thrashed out?

Franken should be seated, period.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Go For It, Timster...

I suspect that Magic Arlen is smartin' from his "support" of Normie and how come I get a feeling that if the certification comes up for a cloiture vote (as I predict it will), he will now play with the Democrats when a vote to seat Franken occurs (which I expect will happen). I also could see several other rushpublicans voting to seat him as well. This is no slam dunk and once you have a Supreme Court verdict, this goes beyond partisan. The GOOP filibusters at their own peril and delaying Senator Franken his seat and the people of Minnesota proper representation shows just how much these goons disdain the voters and the electoral process. While the wingnuts want to hold on til the bitter end, the "pragmatists" see the perils as this trick could be used on them in the future. It's a desperation tactic. I'm still certain that part of Specter's deal to flip was his votes on three things...Health Care, SCOTUS and Franken. Pull Collins and/or Snowe over and Senator Franken will be at work shortly after the Minnesota Supreme Court rules...Palwenty or not.

[rurallib]

5. BTW - whatever happened to the Coleman bribery story?

[Botany]

6. This sucks for Al and the U.S. Senate but in the long run .......

.... this will help to kill the republican party in Minnesota for generations.

"A Minneapolis Star-Tribune poll released April 27 found that 73 percent of respondents want Coleman
to concede if he loses the Supreme Court appeal, including a majority of Republicans."

[sellitman]

8. They will win in the Supreme Court I'm afraid.

So much for States rights ..huh?

[Botany]

9. No they won't

The supreme court will not touch the case.

[sellitman]

12. They did with Gore.

The Court is even more Conservative now.

I think you are mistaken.

[Botany]

15. The court wrote that bush v Gore it was a one time only ruling ...

.... and it was not applicable to any past or future cases. Even though the court now has
Alito & Roberts it also has a sense of where the country is at and they would be very
reluctant to overturn a Constitutional ruling by a state court.

[sellitman]

19. You are very naive.

You really think Alito & Roberts would turn this case down?

Then I have a bridge for you to buy.

[Goblinmonger]

22. Takes 4 votes to take the case

And with the POTUS election they at least had a reason they could make up which was that the electors needed to be picked by a certain date. No such reason in a state election. Alito won't touch this one.

[quiller4]

26. It doesn't matter what Alito and Roberts want to do if

they can't convince at least two other justices to go along. Actually I don't think Roberts would support taking the case. He is on records opposing the courts action taking Bush-Gore. The only two likely to favor taking the case are Alito and Thomas and I don't think they could pick up two other judges.

[trotsky]

29. The supreme court being referred to is the Minnesota Supreme Court. n/t

[leftynyc]

18. They wont touch it

Unlike 2000, the senate is firmly in Democratic control. It would cause such an uproar that the calls for impeachment will be deafening. Between a Democratic majority in the house and in the senate, they will vote to save their own sorry skin.

[sellitman]

20. They won't go after torturers.

You think the Supremes are afraid of the them?

Don't make me laugh.

It will go to the Supreme Court and Franken will loose.

All hell will brake loose and Reid & Pelosi will write a meanly worded letter as retribution.

[leftynyc]

24. You're wrong

and you cannot spell.

[sellitman]

25. Thanks for the spelling tip!

You are just the best.

[ShadowLiberal]

34. If the state supreme court unanmiously rules in Franken's favor then they can't touch it

Up until now ALL of the major decisions about disputes in this election have been unanimous rulings by state officials (both in the recount oversight committee, and in the courts).

On top of all that, if anything the recount committee of 5 that ruled on disputed ballots leaned republican, with the secretary of state being the only registered democrat on the committee.

What that all means is that since the state officials & judges are all making unanimous decisions on these cases about state law, it's going to be very difficult for the supreme court to be able to step in and say "no no, you guys are all wrong".

Were the rules very divided on the other hand, with split decisions from the courts, and contradictory rulings being made about things, then the supreme court would have a much more justified reason to intervene in the case, to say which contradictory rulings are right, or if say the committee deciding the disputed votes were stacked with a majority of one party ruling on party lines no matter what the law said, producing lots of 3-2 decisions, overturning what the 3 biased judges ruled.

[Wapsie B]

7. I wonder if Timmy got a call from the Death Star ordering to keep the stall going?

Fools. For all this Franken should have his term extended.

[LynneSin]

10. People thought I was nuts when I said this was going to the Supreme Court

It just takes one nutjob in the SCOTUS to make this happen and well there happens to be four of them to pick from (Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas).

Anyone who thinks the SCOTUS won't get involved must have slept thru the entire months of Nov-Dec 2000.

[LynneSin]

11. PAWLENTY'S APPROVAL REACHES ALL-TIME LOW

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/01/1918260.aspx

A new Minneapolis Star Tribune poll shows his approval rating below 50% and at an all-time low for him in the survey. Overall, 48% approve of his job versus 36% who disapprove. Back in September 2008, when he was floated as a serious veep possibility, his approval rating was at 54%.

Pawlenty is up for re-election in 2010, although he hasn't said yet if he will run for a third term. He's also considered a presidential possibility in 2012.

In the ongoing Franken-Coleman recount, Pawlenty has said he won't certify a winner until the appeals process has been exhausted, and he's been vague whether that would also include a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

___________________________

Keep it up Tim - let's make you totally unelectable!

[bdamomma]

30. Pawlenty is committing political suicide, exactly what he deserves.

[ShadowLiberal]

35. His not commenting on what he'll do is certainly hurting him, but this is a bad time for governors

If you look a lot of governor's approval ratings you'll find that they've gone recently, because a lot of governors are having to make tough unpopular decisions to balance the state budget. Minnesota is no exception, it's not a good political environment to be an incumbent governor right now.

[annm4peace]

13. short Video of Minnesotans awarding Gov Pawlenty with the Golden Bush award

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Hfysbepj4


short excerpt of the ceremony "honoring" Minnesota Govenor Tim Pawlenty for his defense of coroporate profits and his cutbacks of public services and education. May 5, 2009, State Capitol Building...

[Peacetrain]

14. I think Pawlenty is tying his future to a falling star..

Which is OK by me

[Blackhatjack]

16. Pawlenty will pay a political price if he delays certification after the MN SupCt Rules for Franken

He knows his chances of pursuing higher office are definitely being tied to a losing cause on behalf of Coleman.

I don't believe he will stand by Coleman much longer .....

[Bjorn Against]

17. All I can tell you is watch my journal over the next few days, trust me you won't be disappointed.

[Blackhatjack]

21. Regarding Pawlenty? n/t

[Bjorn Against]

23. Yes, but that is all I am saying for right now.

[Blackhatjack]

27. Pawlenty would have to believe he is invincible to stay hitched to Coleman and go against the polls

He made a lot of noises about wanting to be the VP to McCain in 2008.

In case he hasn't read the polls recently, President/VP is a national office and only about 22% of voters nationwide identify themselves as Republicans.

Delaying Franken from being seated is going to drive away voters he would need in a future campaign.

[Bjorn Against]

31. Alright, the post about Pawlenty that I promised is now up.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5625575&mesg_id=5625575

[Cha]

33. All right! Glad I saw

this..looking forward.

[bdamomma]

28. Pawlenty can kiss away any political ambitions he has.

[dflprincess]

32. Sarah Janecek hates Franken.

Al is the one who called Janecek out for starting the like that the big screens at Wellstone's public memorial were telling people when to applaud or cheer. In reality what was on the screens was closed captioning - which tells the hearing impaired when the audience is clapping or cheering.

Hopefully, the court will direct Timmy the Tool to sign the certificate.

[WI_DEM]

36. Why doesn't there seem to be more outrage among MN voters over all of this?

Why aren't they demanding the governor certify Franken so that they have full representation in the senate?