2014

Al Franken is taking a scolding in some quarters for declaring victory yesterday after the State Canvassing Board certified that he received 225 more votes than former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota’s Senate recount. So it’s probably best if he stays off the front steps of his downtown Minneapolis condo today and makes no public comment about this development: A University of Minnesota political scientist has calculated that Franken stands a 67 percent chance of winning re-election to the Senate in 2014 — assuming he ever gets seated in the first place, that is.