Franken (Aaron Landry) and Coleman (WDCpix)

Nearly seven months after election day, Minnesota’s unresolved Senate race sees another milestone today — and a chance to move closer to filling the state’s second seat. The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Norm Coleman’s bid to overturn a trial court’s ruling that Al Franken won the U.S. Senate election by a margin of 312 votes. Team Coleman wants the case to be sent back to the lower court under orders to consider 4,400 rejected absentee ballots for possible inclusion in the vote tally. If the state’s high court rules in Franken’s favor, Coleman may take his appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

After the jump: watch live video of the arguments, which begin at 9 a.m., via The Uptake.

I call as my first and only witness — the Pioneer Press itself!

Pioneer Press, today you submit that ”what we have here is a statistical tie.” You say “there is no mandate to be found in the ‘random errors’ produced by our imperfect measuring instrument.” And even as the election-contest process you’ve said you respect remains underway, you conclude that holding a new “do-over” vote — a solution you now welcome seeing “on the horizon” – is the only way to settle this election.

It’s a very convenient time to reach that conclusion, don’t you think, now that the court has again seen fit to shrink the universe of ballots that could provide a reversal for Coleman? Why the sudden-onset despair from an editorial page that has — with the odd exception now and then — cheered on the state’s patient, painstaking approach?

Let’s sample what you’ve had to say on the subject since you endorsed Coleman last fall. What, for example, did you say on Nov. 18 about letting the system work?

It’s not necessarily pretty, but the system is working. Competition and the institutions that support rule of law are doing what they’re supposed to. As all of the legally cast and counted votes are recounted, a process Minnesotans can be proud of should lead to a result they can believe.

And what did you say on Nov. 25 about letting the election contest run its course?

… a court contest seems highly likely. … A discrepancy in totals, a “missing” ballot or two, a rejected absentee — all may fit the bill. Let us hope that whoever jumps into court first has the decency to wait until the last pile has been collated and the totals posted.

And what did you say on Dec. 30 about our prospects for deciding an apparent tie?

Let us say it again. We do not know who won. How we decide a statistically tied election is more important right now than who is declared the winner. It will take time. We can get through it.

And what did you say on Jan. 4 about allowing Minnesota’s process to play out?

Because this process involves human beings, it has required corrections and judgment calls. But, slowly, painstakingly, everyone involved, from election officials to the two campaigns, has pursued the answer to the question, who won? There’s form and substance to the process of finding that answer, and it needs to play out — in Minnesota. The U.S. Senate, along with partisans favoring one candidate or the other, should just sit tight while Minnesotans reason their way to a decision.

And what did you say on Jan. 6 about the election contest being part of that process?

Coleman plans to file a legal challenge, known as an election contest, today. … No one wants an interminable trial of Minnesota’s election system. But Coleman has a right to make his case.

And what did you say on Jan. 7 about allowing our process to settle an close election with its inevitable errors?

Errors happen, and at some point, neutral referees need to make a call. Will a two-month legal fight will produce more confidence in the result? Maybe not. But it is the procedure spelled out in Minnesota law and it could put all remaining issues before neutral arbiters one more time. … While we do not expect instant results, we do want and need the finality of a ruling based on the best evidence available.

No more questions, Your Honors. I rest my case.

Today’s spread amounts to the newspaper’s largest investment of front-page real estate in a celebrated public figure’s PR machinery since the Strib put a New York Times article about Angelina Jolie’s industrial-strength image-control efforts on its Nov. 21, 2008 cover. Even when the topic is less meta and more mundane, as with the brief rash of garage vandalism against multiple elected officials last fall, the Strib has shown a tendency to play Coleman’s plight most prominently in words, pictures and placement.

The Star Tribune gets a specific call-out:

For example, on the Star Tribune site, www.startribune.com, you not only have the option of posting your own comment on any story that has to do with Senator Coleman or the recount — but you can vote on whether or not you like the comments others make about the story.

All you have to do is open the story, and see the reader comments on each story. A simple log in and registration, and you are on your way to making your voice heard!

An email to Al Franken’s campaign, asking if they’re planning a similar mailing, has not yet been returned.

Full text of the Coleman campaign email:

Dear Friend,

As you know, the contest phase of the Minnesota Recount started yesterday. Already it is clear that the Franken Campaign will continue its effort to block every valid vote from counting. His attorneys have made it clear that they have one goal, and one goal only: To stop every valid vote from counting, and to prevent every valid vote from counting only once.

More and more people are realizing that this election is far from over. And, more and more people are recognizing that if this contest phase is done correctly it is very likely that the results from election night will be the same at the end of this contest: A re-election of Norm Coleman to the United States Senate.

You’ve been so much help already, but, now we need your help even more. As the Franken legal team ramps up its efforts to block every valid vote from counting, the collective efforts of the national Democratic machine, combined with the Franken Campaign, are doing all they can to influence public opinion.

Whether it’s the blogs, or the newspapers or talk radio, we need your voices to be heard. A letter to the editor. A post on a blog. A call to a radio talk show. Or, even a post to places like the Star Tribune reader comment section on stories about the trial are critically important.

All it takes is a computer, and a minute or two of your time each day to let your voice be heard. We’ve all worked so hard to make sure Norm Coleman was re-elected on Election Day.

We’ve got to keep working hard to make sure that he is re-elected…again.

Below, we’ve listed a number of links that you can access online from your computer and the internet. Each and everyone of these publications gives you an opportunity to have your voice heard. And, now, more than ever, we need your voice to be heard.

Please take the time to log on, and link in and give your voice the sound we need to hear! The sound of victory and the sound of all valid votes being counted – and all valid votes being counted only once.

For example, on the Star Tribune site, www.startribune.com, you not only have the option of posting your own comment on any story that has to do with Senator Coleman or the recount — but you can vote on whether or not you like the comments others make about the story.

All you have to do is open the story, and see the reader comments on each story. A simple log in and registration, and you are on your way to making your voice heard!

It’s a great way to have your voice heard — and make sure that someone else isn’t getting in the last word!

Thank you for your help and commitment!

- Team Coleman

Team Coleman

LETTER TO EDITOR LINKS

http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php?opinion=1

letters@pioneerpress.com

MN NEWS

www.pioneerpress.com

www.startribune.com

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/

http://www.minnpost.com/

http://www.kare11.com/

http://wcco.com/

http://kstp.com/

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/

NATIONAL NEWS/BLOGS

http://www.politico.com/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/

http://thehill.com/

MN BLOGS

http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/index.php

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/

http://blogs.twincities.com/politics/

http://minnesotaindependent.com/

http://mnpublius.com/

“I fully expect, that when the election contest is completed, if it is done fairly, with no votes counted twice, and with all voters treated equally, I will win this election. Thank you, and God bless.”

Al Franken (Photo: Aaron Landry) and Norm Coleman (Photo: WDCpix.com)

In separate e-mails sent almost simultaneously this evening, Al Franken and former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman offered takes on President Obama’s inauguration as diametrically opposed in style as the Senate contenders are opposed in their rival campaigns. Franken’s is an unadorned, even bland two-paragraph statement about the honor he felt at attending the inauguration and the need to work together to face our challenges — with no mention of the vicious election contest. Coleman’s, by contrast, is titled “The Difference Between Obama and Franken” and caps off slams against Franken and the State Canvassing Board with a plea for cash, replete with links to the contribution page at his campaign Web site.

But earlier in the day Coleman’s blog carried his own bland statement, and on Monday Franken issued his own fundraising plea. Full texts of both e-mails and both earlier messages after the jump.

Norm Coleman message, datestamped 5:11 p.m., Jan. 20, 2009:

Dear Friend,

Today marks an historic occasion for each and every American, from all backgrounds, all political philosophies and all walks of life.  We all wish our new President well, and we will support him when we agree with him and be the voice of the loyal opposition when we do not.

Unfortunately, the kind of change that President Barack Obama brings to Washington is worlds apart from the kind of change that Al Franken is seeking here in Minnesota.

Barack Obama won a majority of our nation’s votes fair and square.
Al Franken had to change the rules of the game to overturn our victory.

Barack Obama was elected based on the principle of one person – one vote.
Al Franken’s lead exists because some votes were counted twice, while others weren’t counted at all.

Franken’s coordinated attempt to silence voices must not stand.  But it might, unless I hear from you soon.

Click here now to contribute $15, $25, $35, $50, $100 or more — up to $2,300 per person — to the Coleman for Senate Recount Fund.

The amount you contribute is important, but even more critical is your immediate reply.
In less than one week, a three-judge panel will begin to consider our legal challenge to Franken’s outrageous power grab.

We can’t be a day late or a dollar short in providing them with all the information they need to see that the latest results of the Canvassing Board are patently unconstitutional and inherently undemocratic.  With George Soros raising millions for Franken’s Recount Fund, I need your generous continued support.

Please let me hear from you soon.  Can I count on you to go my website now to get the latest news on our legal challenge, and to support our recount fund with your best contribution?

Yours truly,

Norm Coleman

Al Franken message, datestamped 4:59 p.m., Jan. 20, 2009:

It was a great honor to join so many hopeful, excited Americans in Washington today to witness the inauguration of our new President. Franni and I congratulate President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families on this momentous occasion, and like all our fellow citizens, we celebrate with both incredible joy and the solemn recognition of today’s place in our nation’s history.

Today, President Obama made clear what we all know: the challenges we face are significant, and change won’t happen overnight. But today, we are one nation united and ready to get to work, with a President ready to lead us. Like so many others, I have been inspired by our new President to look towards the future with optimism, and with the knowledge that there is nothing we can’t accomplish together. The next few years will call for bold action and courage on the part of our leaders and our citizens. And I know that, with all of us working together, we will meet that call.

Al Franken

Today marks an extraordinary moment in the history of our country. Watching Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States will forever be etched into the minds of so many of us as one of those moments for which you remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened. This is a great day for all Americans to come together for the good of our country. Laurie and I join the millions of Americans in congratulating President Obama and our thoughts and prayers are with he [sic] and his family as he assumes the office of the President of the United States.

The lawyers estimate that the court would find more than half the 12,000 had been wrongly rejected. And unlike the rejected ballots that favored Franken, the Coleman forces say these 6,000 or so ballots would be more evenly distributed among the candidates.

Compared with Franken’s forces, the lawyers in Coleman’s camp are late converts to the belief that a plenitude of rejected absentee ballots in Minnesota’s Senate election need to be reviewed. Yet their new-found ardor is arguably twice as strong as their rivals’ — they want the court to review ballots that election officials have by now twice rejected:

[W]e intend to vigorously … request that the 3-judge panel allow for the possibility that the roughly 12,000 rejected absentee ballots be opened.

That’s from a statement on Coleman’s campaign Web site, in which attorney Fritz Knaak openly baits the Franken campaign and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to challenge Coleman’s blanket request to review every rejected absentee ballot:

We expect that Minnesotans will share the same stunned disappointment we do to learn that the Franken campaign may actually oppose this fundamental act of fairness.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has expressed dismay over the number of rejected absentee ballots in the election, and the state Legislature has taken up the issue for possible reforms this session.