Al Franken: Slow-motion victory?

It looks like Sen. Norm Coleman’s “last shot” at retaining his seat is an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, said Marc Ambinder in The Atlantic. Democrat Al Franken leads Coleman by 225 votes in a hotly contested election recount, and judges overseeing the recount trial said on Tuesday that they would only review 400 ballots. That means it’s all but impossible now for Coleman to erase Franken’s lead.

Sure, using the cockamamie, conflicting standards the state has used to determine which ballots to count, said Ed Morrissey in Hot Air. “The recount invalidly began opening absentee ballots and admitting invalid ballots.” That left Coleman in the unenviable position of having to argue that more invalid ballots should be ruled valid, so now Coleman’s best hope may be arguing in federal court that opening invalid ballots “tainted the whole recount process.”

Sure, said Ryan Tate in Gawker, Coleman could lose his state appeal and “keep appealing, maybe forever, at the federal level.” But "everyone who didn't detest him for the state appeal will then begin to hate him.” The bottom line is that Franken has won—but it’s anybody’s guess when he’ll get to take his Senate seat.

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