One thing I haven’t read much about is how the Specter switch impacts the Franken-Coleman thing:
“This makes it pretty darn important,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of the race following Specter’s switch. “I expect they will pursue the appeals until they are exhausted, whenever that may be. … I would assume if they were unsuccessful in the Minnesota Supreme Court, there may very well be an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are planning a full-scale public pressure campaign to force Coleman to concede should the court affirm a three-judge panel’s ruling that Al Franken is the winner. Democrats have already begun using the race’s elevated importance to raise money, and they’re mounting a fresh campaign to pressure Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, to sign an election certificate once the state Supreme Court rules.
“Pawlenty’s signature is very, very important,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic chairman of the Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees election disputes. “We expect it to happen after the Supreme Court of Minnesota rules. …. If he refuses to sign, we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”
I will not be at all surprised if Scalia-Kennedy-Roberts-Thomas-Kennedy-Alito find a way to reverse the results and seat Coleman. I just hope that Franken has the dignity to deal with this in a bipartisan way.