frankenCameras and reporters were crowded three-deep in a semicircle around Al Franken Monday night, two hours after a Minnesota court had declared him the winner in Minnesota’s 2008 U.S. Senate race.

“I am honored and humbled by this close victory,” Franken announced from his townhouse stoop in downtown Minneapolis.

Asked about the vow from his Republican rival, former Sen. Norm Coleman, to appeal the decision on equal-protection grounds, Franken said, ”I urge him not to … although I’m sure he’s made his mind up.”

In a statement earlier in the day, Coleman pledged to appeal the decision to “a supreme court” — meaning, apparently, Minnesota’s high court, the nation’s, or both.

Coleman’s appeal appears to be the only thing standing between Franken and an election certificate — the ticket to being seated in the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. “I believe I will be certified,” he said.

“Amy Klobuchar is only one senator,” Franken said. “It’s time that Minnesota — like every other state — has two.”

After what he called a “long delay” that had required “so much effort,” Franken said he was “looking forward to getting to work as soon as possible.

“I would love to be certified in 10 days,” he said, referring to the period after which, if Coleman files no petition to the state Supreme Court, the election contest judges’ ruling would stand.

Franken named the coming debate at the U.S. Capitol on health care policy as one in which he’d like to participate. “I want to be there for that,” he said, adding that the country is facing “an unprecedented array of problems, and the sooner I can get to work, the better.”

A reporter asked, will he indeed be traveling to Washington, D.C. soon? Yes, Franken said — but then, he added, that’s not unusual for him lately. He’s made frequent trips there to confer with Democratic leaders and to raise money.

On that point, Franken seemed to misunderstand how much of his own legal expenses this court’s order states that Coleman, who brought the suit, must pay.

One clause does state that the Republican must cover Franken’s and the court’s expenses for three days as a sanction for the Coleman’s side’s legal shenanigans. But another (which could change on appeal) states that Coleman must cover Franken’s costs for the entire lawsuit, which Coleman, after all, initiated.

It’s clear that — to put the political situation in movie terms — the Democrat would like to see the near future play out something like “Mr. Franken Goes to Washington” meets “I Love You, Man.”

But the coming attraction Coleman is ready to reel out promises more conflict on the order of “Monsters vs. Aliens.”