Mitch McConnell

Al Franken envisioned himself becoming President of the United States a decade ago in his book, “Why Not Me?” And today, for a time, he was president — of the U.S. Senate. It’s a temporary task that’s rotated among the senators, and Franken’s turn happened to come this afternoon at a historic moment, just as [...]

Updated: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar woke up today to a colleague’s voice on her clock radio, sounding off against the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor because of “the empathy standard.” On the floor of the Senate she told of her reaction: “I kind of put the pillow over my head.”

“We’ll support Norm to the bitter end,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn last March. This month, Norm Coleman’s end as a U.S. Senator became a bit less bitter for Cornyn when the Texas Republican took Coleman’s old spot on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The U.S. Senate took an hour Thursday to honor former Sen. Norm Coleman. Here are clips of the complete tributes to Coleman from 10 senators (seven Republicans and three Democrats, including Amy Klobuchar), as well as transcribed highlights of their remarks — with particular attention to what they had to say about Coleman’s future.

Here’s another open admission that the court challenge to the statewide recount that Al Franken won last month is as much about current political advantage for Senate Republicans as it is about any hope of Norm Coleman actually regaining his old seat. This is what Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who is also chair of the [...]

For all their Gandalf-versus-the-Balrog declarations that former Sen. Norm Coleman “will resume his seat,” Senate Republicans have all but admitted that Al Franken will be joining the Senate soon. From CQ Politics:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have reached a tentative agreement that would give Democrats a three-seat advantage [...]