U.S. Senate race headed for recount
Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 9:27 am
- 3 Comments
The most expensive Senate race in Minnesota history looks like it may also end up its closest. With all precincts reporting, and nearly 3 million ballots counted, Norm Coleman eked out a miniscule 727-vote lead over Al Franken, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. In statistical terms, that’s a 42.00 to 41.97 edge for the Republican. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley garnered 15 percent of the vote and conceded defeat last night.
This means that under state law the race is headed for a recount. Franken just issued a statement making clear that he is not conceding the contest. “Let me be clear: This race is too close to call, and we do not yet know who won,” Franken said. “We are lucky enough to live in a state with built-in protections to ensure that in close elections like these, the will of the people is accurately reflected in the outcome.”
The challenger also raised the specter of voting irregularities that might have affected the results of the extraordinarily tight race. “There is reason to believe that the recount could change the vote tallies significantly,” Franken said in the statement. “Our office and the Obama campaign have received reports of irregularities at various precincts around the state. For instance, some polling places in Minneapolis ran out of registration materials. Our team has been working on those issues for several hours already, and they will continue to do so this morning as the recount process begins.”
The ultimate outcome, in other words, will likely be in limbo for weeks.
3 Comments
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 12:33 pm
And Norm already confirmed his win this morning?
A little presumptuous..I’d say.
Maybe the recount will changes things. Let’s hope!!!
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
Now that we have had the most expensive race in history, can we have some campaign finance reform?
Norm Coleman and Al Franken brought in Millions of dollars from outside the state. We have to stop this influx of money from outside sources. All campaign money should be accountable to a person who actually lives in Minnesota.
We should get rid of PACs which funnel in millions to campaigns with no way to determine where it came from.
527 committees can bombard our TVs with lies from unknown sources.
We must develop a system to rate commercials for truth. We have truth in lending how about truth in campaign commercials. How about a rating system? We need to fix these issues or just let the corporations drive our elections and economy through the mud.
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
Looks like Sarah Palin has the same sugardaddy as Coleman.
“NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family–clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent “tens of thousands” more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.”
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