Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) has an uphill battle. He is between a rock and a hard place. How?
He is a glowing new or semi-new face in the Republican Party. He has pressure from his party to keep his boot on Franken's neck and not sign the certificate to seat him in the senate. This pressure from the GOP will continue, even if the Minnesota Supreme Court sides with Franken on the win for the senate seat against Norm Coleman.
If Pawlenty does not sign the certificate, he is playing politics, clear and simple. He is going against the will of the people in his state and he is allowing this to drag on. If Pawlenty does this, bad move.
We all know that Al Franken won this seat, in a mandatory recount because the vote total was too close. During the recount and every court appeal, Franken has come out ahead and he is stil 300+ votes to the north. It is over for Coleman.
And Coleman? The polls are out and the people of Minnesota want this over with and Coleman to concede. If Coleman does not, he can forget any other political aspirations in Minnesota. He will be forever remembered as the grumpy, sourpuss, sore loser who dragged a senate race to the courts, knowing he did not have the votes and knowing he LOST.
So, what will Pawlenty do? I hope the right thing.
DNC Chairman Tim Kaine penned a letter to Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday, asking the Minnesota Governor to persuade Norm Coleman to concede and, short of that, sign the certification of Al Franken's election once the state's Supreme Court makes its final ruling.
The letter is the latest in a growing effort to ramp up the pressure on the governor - and Republican Party as a whole - to seat Franken, as the Minnesota Senate race drags on more than six months since the actual election. In his note, Kaine claims it is "all but indisputable" that Franken won the election and urges Pawlenty to "use [his] influence to bring this process to an end by asking Norm Coleman to allow his neighbors and yours, their full representation in Congress."
"However," Kaine adds, "if Mr. Coleman refuses to concede and this case is heard and decided by the Minnesota State Supreme Court, I urge you to commit to signing an election certificate for the rightful winner as soon as the Court issues a ruling in this case. To allow this to process to continue into the federal courts for no other reason than to deny for as long as possible the seating of another Democratic Senator would make what has been a bad situation for Minnesotans even worse. I urge you to do everything within your power and influence to bring this process to an end." read more here....
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