This past Monday, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Republican Norm Coleman's appeal of Senator-elect Al Franken's victory.  Some estimates put the release of the Court's decision at around two weeks from now.  Election law experts are unanimous in their expectation that the Court will affirm Senator-elect Franken's victory, as the state Canvassing Board and the three-judge panel both have previously.

What is unclear is whether Coleman will appeal to a federal court after losing at the state level for the third time - and whether the federal appeal would or could delay the seating of Senator-elect Franken.  No doubt that Coleman would need to rely on funds from Washington D.C. Republicans to keep his appeal going to the federal level.  Republicans have to decide whether it is financially and politically worth it to continue funding Coleman's appeals.  With the state Supreme Court's decision expected soon, we can provide a knock-out punch. Thanks to the "One Dollar a Day to Make Norm Coleman Go Away" effort at NormDollar.com, progressives across the country have provided Republicans with disincentive from funding Coleman's endless appeals.  Due to Coleman's obstinance, progressives have raised over $140,000 to put toward assisting progressive candidates for Congress against the very Republicans whose Party leaders and funders are keeping Coleman's appeals going.

Getting the NormDollar.com effort over the $150,000 mark in advance of the Court's decision would provide a nice exclamation mark on Republicans' hesitation to continue financial support for Coleman's appeals.

If Republicans tell Coleman that they will not fund his appeals any longer, Coleman will be unable to continue his appeals, and we can finally get Senator-elect Franken seated.  A contribution to the "One Dollar a Day to Make Norm Coleman Go Away" effort will encourage Republicans to send that very message to Coleman.  (Adam Green offers further thoughts on the topic.)

For daily news and updates on the U.S. Senate races around the country, regularly read Senate Guru.

There's more...

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been making the rounds on cable news today, no doubt working to raise in his profile for 2012 in the wake of his decision not to run for re-election in 2010.  During these interviews, he has suggested that he would not delay the seating of Minnesota's next Senator.  Election law experts appear unanimous that the Minnesota Supreme Court will affirm the victory of Senator-elect Al Franken.  The reason I don't trust Pawlenty is that he is leaving himself too much wiggle room.  Watch the exchange in the video below, from Pawlenty's appearance today on Fox News:

Now take into account this report from MinnPost.com's Eric Black back in April:

In a series of email exchanges with Pawlenty's spokester, Brian McClung, I sought to clarify what level of discretion the guv was claiming over the issuance of the certificate. At first, McClung pointed out that there is no deadline in the law for the issuance of the certificate after the conclusion of the Contest Court process and state Supreme Court appeal. It sounded as if Pawlenty was claiming the right to indefinitely postpone the certificate.

Superficially, Pawlenty is telling us not to worry, that he's happy to sign on the dotted line.  But he also throws in the caveat "and there's not an appeal or some other contrary direction from a federal court" which makes me wonder.

Having watched the state Supreme Court's proceedings on June 1 when they heard oral arguments from both campaigns, I have a very positive impression of the Court and of the Justices' attention to detail.  Expecting that they affirm Senator-elect Franken's victory, it would be proper of them to include an order for Pawlenty, in his role as Governor, to prepare and sign an election certificate.  But, given that his staff has noted that there's no time requirement attached, Pawlenty could very easily slow walk the certificate while Republican Norm Coleman seeks a stay or an injunction on the certificate from a federal court in advance of a federal appeal.  University of Minnesota's Professor Larry Jacobs explains:

But Jacobs still sees wiggle room here. "Signing it -- and how quickly you sign it -- those are two different things," Jacobs explained. "If Norm indicates that he's going to be filing in federal court, the Governor may just say, 'you know, I am gonna sign it, I'm just waiting to hear from my legal counsel that this is appropriate.'"

Further, if the state Supreme Court affirms Senator-elect Franken's victory but doesn't add in the explicit order to Pawlenty to prepare and sign the election certificate, then who knows!?  At the very least, Pawlenty's reassuring words are not all that reassuring, nor should they be given the wiggle room those words leave for Pawlenty.

Of course, if Pawlenty deliberately obstructs and delays after the state Supreme Court rules in Senator-elect Franken's favor, the U.S. Senate is still empowered to seat Senator-elect Franken (and Pawlenty's delay would likely give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid the political impetus to move forward with Senator-elect Franken's seating), but that move still faces the threat of filibuster from Republicans.  If that were to happen, Democrats would likely need a couple of Republicans to buck their Party in the name of supporting the democratic process.  Hopefully this issue will be moot, but it's never too early for Democrats to reach out to more responsible Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Dick Lugar about their willingness to support Senator-elect Franken's seating should the eventuality arise.

For daily news and updates on the U.S. Senate races around the country, regularly read Senate Guru.

There's more...

Before Arlen Specter's Party switch announcement yesterday, the Senate's Democratic caucus stood at 58 members.  Senator-elect Al Franken represented Democrats' 59th vote toward cloture, still short of reliably ending Republican filibusters.  But now, with Specter joining the Democratic caucus, Senator-elect Franken represents the big 6-0, which is why Republicans will redouble their efforts to delay Senator-elect Franken's seating - and why we in the netroots must redouble our efforts to send obstructionist Republicans a message and also provide them with adequate disincentive from delaying Senator-elect Franken's seating any further. Since the "One Dollar a Day to Make Norm Coleman Go Away" effort started just a couple weeks ago, about $40,000 has been raised to remind the Republicans funding Norm Coleman's endless appeals that, for every single day that they delay the implementation of the will of Minnesota voters, progressive voters will raise money to use against these Republicans on Election Day 2010.

Your support will strengthen that message!

For daily news and updates on the U.S. Senate races around the country, regularly read Senate Guru.

There's more...

Two new polls makes it clear that Minnesotans want Republican Norm Coleman to give them back their second Senate seat that he is holding hostage with his endless appeals.

Poll number one:

Nearly two-thirds of Minnesotans surveyed think Norm Coleman should concede the U.S. Senate race to Al Franken, but just as many believe the voting system that gave the state its longest running election contest needs improvement.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll has found that 64 percent of those responding believe Coleman, the Republican, should accept the recount trial court's April 13 verdict that Democrat Franken won the race by 312 votes.

Only 28 percent consider last week's appeal by Coleman to the Minnesota Supreme Court "appropriate."

Large majorities of those polled said they would oppose any further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Should Coleman win at the state Supreme Court, 57 percent of respondents said Franken should concede. And 73 percent believe Coleman should give up if he loses at the state's highest court.

"I voted for Coleman, but this thing has gone on way too long," said Mike McCombs, 50, a Lakeville furnace and air conditioning salesman. "Obviously, the Republican Party is trying to keep Franken's vote out of the United States Senate. We should get another [senator] in there." ...

Although 57 percent of Republican poll respondents approve of Coleman's appeal to the state Supreme Court, the same portion of Republicans want him to quit should he lose there.

Poll number two:

A new poll from Grove Insight Research shows that Minnesota voters want Norm Coleman to concede and Gov. Pawlenty to sign the election certificate that will allow Al Franken to be seated -- finally -- in the U.S. Senate.

The poll, commissioned by Alliance for a Better Minnesota, showed that 59% of surveyed voters believe Coleman should concede to Al Franken, while just 34% believe he should keep his legal challenge going. Those numbers fit with the 61% who believe the recount and challenge process has been fair and impartial, against just 24% -- the true dead-end of the conservative rump -- who still question the process.

54% now believe that Franken won in November fair and square, while just 26% believe Coleman actually won. Among the remainder, 14% are unsure of who actually came out ahead and 5% believe the two candidates actually tied.

As for Governor Pawlenty, there are some potential landmines waiting for him should he decide that he, and not the state Supreme Court, is the Decider:

What ought to be of concern to Governor Pawlenty is the fallout should he refuse to sign a certificate of election. A clear majority (58%) believe that failure to certify Franken after the Minnesota Supreme Court rules raises at least "somewhat serious doubts" about Tim Pawlenty. This number grows to 64% when voters are told that the governor is legally required to sign an election certificate. In fact, even four in 10 (40%) self-identified Republicans say they would have "serious doubts" with their Republican Governor should he fail to sign an election certificate after the Minnesota Supreme Court rules.

A strong majority of Minnesotans think that the election and post-election recount and trial were properly conducted; a strong majority of Minnesotans think that Senator-elect Al Franken won fair and square; a strong majority of Minnesotans want Coleman to concede and release the Senate seat he is holding hostage.  Only about one-quarter of Minnesotans think that Coleman won and that he should press on with his appeals.  The will of the voters, for which Coleman keeps saying that he is fighting, is clear in its desire for Coleman to concede.  Help put pressure on Coleman to concede by joining the One Dollar a Day to Make Norm Coleman Go Away effort.

For daily news and updates on the U.S. Senate races around the country, regularly read Senate Guru.

There's more...

Al Franken has scored 2 important victories in his fight to make sure every vote is counted in Minnesota, per Politico:

The Minnesota Canvassing Board unanimously recommended that all counties include the absentee ballots that were unfairly rejected on Election Day in the recount.

There's more...