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You may be surprised to learn Minnesota only has one senator. It isn’t some constitutional quirk, it’s the undecided race between two certified crazies: Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
The contest has been tied for five months now, with both candidates receiving just under 42 percent of the vote. The third-party candidate, Dean Barkley, was, as Gail Collins of The New York Times put it, “an under-funded Independence Party candidate who did rather well by running on a platform that boiled down to: 1) Not crazy, 2) Not Norm Coleman and 3) Not Al Franken.”
After months of court cases and recounts, a winner has yet to be declared, but it seems to be an uphill battle for Coleman. The race now hinges on absentee ballots, which seem to be more in favor of Franken.
Coleman’s lawyers have said they will appeal the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court on grounds of unequal treatment of ballots. He has a valid point – recounts are less about counting every ballot and more about getting the ballots you wanted counted. However, there is little, if any, evidence of disenfranchisement in Minnesota. I agree every, and I mean every, vote should be counted, but what is Coleman hoping to achieve?
Coleman is fighting a legitimate and consequential battle. Both sides are certainly facing tremendous pressure from their respective political parties. Democrats are intent on achieving the “magic” 60 senators they need to bypass any potential filibuster – and there will be plenty. Republicans are intent on stopping their quick flow out of Congress. The Coleman-Franken race would be hard fought in any election year, but this year it has taken on epic proportions. But when is it time to admit defeat?
Doug Tice, political editor for the Mineapolis Star Tribune, said it is unlikely there will be a resolution to the race soon. Both sides are intent on taking the case as far as it needs to go. Little, if any, consideration has been given to a special election, though it seems like a fairly simple and sensible solution. Both parties are more interested in blood.
We have entered a new age of political races, where every victory will be close and hard-fought. Any sense of chivalry or dignity politicians once held is now gone. In North Carolina this year, Elizabeth Dole ran ferocious ads against her opponent featuring wild accusations of atheism. Not that it matters, but her opponent was a Sunday school teacher. In Alaska, Ted Stevens, who ran for re-election while under investigation for corruption, recently had the charges against him dropped when it was discovered prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense. Stevens, who apparently has no shame, has proclaimed newfound innocence and is asking for a special election so he can be re-elected.
Those three races are just a taste of what’s to come. Next year’s midterm elections will be even nastier than before, as Republicans nastily guard the few seats they have left in Congress.
William P. Davis is Web editor for The Maine Campus.
