# How's Al Franken's Senate bid going? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239 "2008-02-12T01:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/441 "2008-12-28T17:58:38Z")
Do you expect Coleman’s most fervid supporters to accept the results saying that Franken must be seated? Are you willing to state that they will not appeal to the Senate to do otherwise? Are you saying that they won’t steps FAR beyond 99.9999% of losing candidates? I’m not saying they’re on solid ground to appeal to the Seante or that there is any reasonable expectation that the Senate will unseat Franken or even listen to the appeal, but they will certainly not rest until Franken is approved by the Senate. And that’s when this election will be settled. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/442 "2008-12-28T18:03:34Z")
Coleman will contest it in court, not the Senate. If he loses there (which is the most lkly sceario), he’ll conced. Tgere’s no point in pursuing it in the Senate, because (as I understand it), while the Senate can refuse to seat a certified winner, it can’t just replace that person with whoever it wants. Plus it’s controlled by Democrats anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/443 "2008-12-28T18:18:52Z")
I do not believe that there is any significant possibility of a serious debate in the Senate about whether or not to exercise their duties in a pro forma manner. Noise or not, they will rubber stamp as usual. There may be a debate about whether or not to seat Franken while the court contest process unfolds, or to let the governor seat someone else, or to let the seat remain vacant until the process concludes. But they will do nothing other than affirm the process in an overwhelming manner and likely **Dio** is right, Coleman will concede once he loses the court contest process. He is a GOP-national toadie and it does not serve the national GOP’s interest to appear so hyper-partisan when you are assured of losing. The noise you predict will likely be very muted to a few outside of party control. Now if Coleman somehow (against all reasoned analyses) wins the contest phase by virtue of a single judge ruling other than the recount results or absentees surprisingly swing big his way then there is a slightly less improbable chance that Franken would appeal to the Senate. But even then I doubt that there will be debate of any significance. It isn’t in the Democrats best interest to do so, even if they won. Obama still needs a few Republicans to come his way some of the time - creating a hyperpartisan circumstance is not a good idea when you’ll still be less than 60 and without full control over some Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/444 "2008-12-28T23:58:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > …If he loses there (which is the most lkly sceario), he’ll conced. Tgere’s no point… You edited this and _still_ made four typos? Impressive. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/445 "2008-12-29T00:10:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You edited this and _still_ made four typos? Impressive. 😉 Have you ever tried posting with a baby in your lap? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/446 "2008-12-29T00:15:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Have you ever tried posting with a baby in your lap? 🙂 Baby? No. Babe, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/447 "2008-12-29T00:43:53Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Have you ever tried posting with a baby in your lap? 🙂 I have, and as soon as I saw your typos I thought “that is the characteristic pattern of someone typing with a baby in his lap.” Know it all too well. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/448 "2008-12-29T01:00:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You edited this and _still_ made four typos? Impressive. 😉 I’m counting five. (lkly = 2, sceario = 1, conced = 1, Tgere’s = 1.) Is this a special case of Gaudere’s Law? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/449 "2008-12-29T02:10:46Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’m counting five. (lkly = 2, sceario = 1, conced = 1, Tgere’s = 1.) Is this a special case of Gaudere’s Law? 🙂 You could count ‘lkly’ as two omitted letters in one word, and thus two mistakes, or simply one misspelled word. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/450 "2008-12-29T02:16:22Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > You could count ‘lkly’ as two omitted letters in one word, and thus two mistakes, or simply one misspelled word. Th latr. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/451 "2008-12-30T05:34:12Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > I’m trying to imagine who he could lose to next… > > A quick google for famous Minnesotans … how about Bob Dylan? John Madden? Too bad Winona Ryder has a record… Lonnie Anderson of WKRP? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/452 "2008-12-30T05:39:40Z")
> [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](#): > > I wonder what Coleman does next if he losses this one. He could wait four years and run for Klobuchar’s seat, but she would likely crush him. In fact, I have a hard time thinking of any Republican who would want to go up against her. The Republicans in Minnesota don’t think any man could beat her, so they plan to run a woman. They were thinking Michele Bachman would be the one, but her big mouth got her into trouble, so they are less likely to choose her now. Now odds are being given that it will be Mary Kiffmeyer, former Secretary of State, defeated in 2006, but now just elected to the State Senate in 2008. She has already run (and won) statewide, so they think she may have more appeal. She’s just as crazy right-wing fundamentalist as Bachman, but she does a better job of concealing it and looking sane. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/453 "2008-12-30T20:39:51Z")
I could see that. I think it will be a kind of sacrificial lamb situation. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/454 "2008-12-30T20:54:53Z")
Love the [fark.com](http://fark.com) headline; “Douche now beating Turd Sandwich by 50 votes” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/455 "2009-01-04T01:51:43Z")
And this just in: > **[Senate race certification set for Monday with Franken up 225 votes](https://www.startribune.com/senate-race-certification-set-for-monday-with-franken-up-225-votes/37047159/)** > > The Supreme Court has yet to rule on Coleman's request to consider more wrongly rejected ballots. **Recount is done; Franken up by 225** Gleefully offered without comment ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/456 "2009-01-04T02:51:50Z")
I can hardly wait for the tidal wave of juicy porn that will hit when Franken takes office! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/457 "2009-01-04T04:02:35Z")
What’s with the Coleman and Franken campaigns each having a [unilateral](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/in-minnesota-end-of-beginning-starts.html) veto on which absentee ballots get counted? Isn’t it the right to vote, not the right to be voted for? Seriously, where is this coming from? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/458 "2009-01-04T07:06:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](#): > > I can hardly wait for the tidal wave of juicy porn that will hit when Franken takes office! If I knew what you are talking about, I am sure I would agree, because it’s, you know, porn. But, what? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/459 "2009-01-04T07:17:24Z")
Not from around here, are you, boy? The Norm! campaign was eager to advise the Minnesota public that Al Franken had churned out gross and repulsive smut in the service of his porn producing masters, vile corruptions like _Saturday Night Live_, and _Playboy_. Hardly matters, does it? After Big Green Al invented the internet, every fifteen year old boy in America has his own electronic pornucopia, masturbatin’ like a motherfuck. What’s Franken’s mildly risque japes next to tentacle sex _manga_? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239/460 "2009-01-04T07:32:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Norm! campaign was eager to advise the Minnesota public that Al Franken had churned out gross and repulsive smut in the service of his porn producing masters, vile corruptions like _Saturday Night Live_, and _Playboy_.] Hey, “Norm!” rhymes with “Porn!” More or less. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-al-frankens-senate-bid-going/437239.md?page=24)