Franken Declared the Winner in Minnesota

The Minnesota canvassing board has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the hotly contested Senate race there. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) filed a suit with the state Supreme Court but the court threw it out yesterday. Coleman vowed to contest the election with another suit, but the chances of him prevailing in the state courts are slim. Even if he gets most of what he is asking for, that is unlikely to produce enough votes to overturn Franken's margin.

The suit will claim that since each county counted and recounted its own votes without statewide guidance, different standards were used in different counties, thus violating the constitution's equal protection requirement. Of course, lack of statewide standards applies to all state and federal elections in all states, so that is hardly unique to this case. Thus it seems that his real game plan is to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and get a 5-4 decision in his favor as in the Florida 2000 election. Only then, the Supreme Court stopped the counting. Now the counting is finished. It is not clear what the court could decide--maybe force a recount of the entire state?

Second Round of Voting for Top 10 Ideas for Change

"Transparent election systems" made it to the second round at change.org. If you want to support the idea of fixing the election machinery so every vote counts, please go there and vote for transparent election systems.

Caroline Kennedy's Support Collapses among New Yorkers

Maybe Caroline Kennedy peaked too early, but a new poll shows state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo leading Kennedy 58% to 27% as the person they would like to see Gov. David Paterson appoint to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. Of course, it is not known if Paterson is paying any attention to the polls. Still, as someone who must face the voters himself in 2010, making an unpopular appointment won't help is own election campaign then.

First Hot House Races for 2010 Listed

The Hot house races link on the menu has the first few House races that are likely to be competitive. The list of Senate races is already complete. These will be updated over time so check them once in a while.

Could Panetta Go to Commerce?

Political Wire has a rumor that yesterday's announcement of Clinton Chief of Staff Leon Panetta as director of the CIA has annoyed Sen. Diane Feinstein, incoming head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. It is possible that Panetta might move over to become Secretary of Commerce, a slot now vacant due to Bill Richardson's sudden withdrawal. Panetta has no experience in the spy business so his choice was surprising in the first place. Probably it surprised Feinstein a bit too much.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, at least a slow down. This site has been faithfully updated every day for over a year. With the election of Al Franken now almost certain, all the 2008 races are now finished and the real world is calling, so the update rate will now drop to maybe once a week or so, depending on when there is news about the 2010 races. So check back maybe once a week and use the "Previous report" link above to see if you missed anything. In 2010 the update rate will probably increase as news about the midterm elections picks up. One good site to look at for up-to-the-minute political news is Political Wire.

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