CNN, City Pages colorfully call for Coleman concession « Minnesota Independent: News. Politics. Media.

Concede? Moi? (WDCpix)

“You know you’re low when you have lower ethical standards than a convicted felon, but that’s where former Sen. Norm Coleman finds himself,” writes former Clinton adviser Paul Begala at CNN. He’s comparing Coleman to former Sen. Ted Stevens, who conceded victory in Alaska in November. But that’s among the tamest lines offered by Begala in his call for Coleman’s concession. When Al Franken trailed in votes on Nov. 5, Coleman said he would “step back” if in the same position, but now that Coleman’s behind, he’s not sticking to his word. “[T]hat’s not the first example of former Sen. Coleman employing situational ethics,” Begala writes. “He was, after all, a self-professed Clinton-Gore Democrat who morphed into a Bush-Cheney Republican. He decried unscrupulous trial lawyers who file lawsuits on behalf of consumers — and now has filed a lawsuit seeking to have the courts giveth what the voters hath taken away.”

Then Begala offers a more peculiar take: “You’re like one of those Japanese soldiers hiding in the caves in the 1970s; like one of those doctors who keeps shocking the dead patient 30 minutes after he flat-lines; like a pathetic, creepy stalker.”

Begala’s call for Coleman to step down (which, despite my alliterative headline, is not the official view of CNN) is echoed by another concession request, albeit one closer to home and far less strange. City Pages calls for Coleman to “exit with honor,” but makes sure to get its digs in, too. Calling Franken “a celebrity prince coming back to carpetbag” and “a B-list comedian reborn as a talk-radio hack,” the unsigned letter to Coleman states that they’d be making the same argument if Franken was in the same position:

But Franken won. So honor the vote. Honor a binding right of democracies. Honor it even if your opponent still appears more focused on Manhattan than Minnehaha.

Begala and City Pages join Harry Reid, former Vice President Walter Mondale and former GOP Gov. Arne Carlson in calling for Coleman’s concession in the race.