Al Franken's long wait

It's time to stop the re-count nonsense in Minnesota, said Richard L. Hasen in the Los Angeles Times. The state Supreme Court on Monday began hearing oral arguments in Norm Coleman's challenge of comedian Al Franken's narrow victory in Minnesota's Senate contest. It must be hard for Coleman to let go—the Republican led by 206 votes after the initial count—but the Senate should seat Franken if the state's high court upholds the rec-ount, even if Coleman "vows further legal action."

Norm Coleman has a beef "tailor-made for a federal challenge," said Ed Morrissey in Hot Air. He could make an "equal-protection argument" over the way absentee ballots appeared to have been unfairly handled, especially during the re-count. But "a lot of people in Minnesota want this embarrassing chapter closed." The only certain thing right now is that Al Franken's wait will drag on at least a few more weeks until the state Supreme Court has its say.

No matter who wins, said Nick Gillespie in Reason, the 200-plus-day re-count fiasco has provided Americans with an important "civics lesson." The nation can get by just fine "with just one senator from Minnesota. So fine, in fact, that in this century of constant cost-cutting and rising unemployment, the federal government should do its share by immediately downsizing the World's Greatest Deliberative Body by 50 percent."

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