TPM reports that the Al Franken camp is now genuinely optimistic about their prospects for coming out ahead in the Minnesota senate recount, once all challenged and erroneously rejected absentee ballots are tabulated. Sound familiar?
The fact is, Democrats tend to gain votes in recounts, regardless of the jurisdiction or the party running the elections office, because the Democratic Party tends to overly represent the extremes of society—the youngest, the oldest, the poorest, the wealthiest, the least and the best educated—and four of those six groups tend to have more trouble casting ballots than the average voter.
There are Republicans who argue that voting should be difficult, and if you can’t follow instructions and fully fill in an oval or connect a line, your vote shouldn’t count, but that’s not the way the law is written in most of the nation. Both Washington and Minnesota are “voter intent” states, and when conducting a hand recount it is the obligation of the canvassing board to determine the voter’s intent, when possible, even if the optical scanner can’t. So if more voters intended to cast their ballots for Franken, then he should ultimately be declared the winner.
So knowing what I know about recounts, I think Franken has good reason to be optimistic.
One should assume that Al won. He’s a Democrat and since we so completely and utterly destroyed the GOP candidates in most races, it’s only reasonable to assume we won Minn too!
And the republicans ONLY chance is if people DO NOT VOTE! The republicans hope for a failure in democracy just like they hope for a failure of our entire country. It’s all they have left. They were devastated by a nationwide tidal wave of rejection. Their piss poor candidates like Dino Rossi up to the traitor Sarah Palin were a miserable excuse for politicians. America rejected them. We embarrassed them. We ridiculed them. We bent them over and fucked them in the ass. No reason not to assume Al isn’t the winner.
“There are Republicans who argue that voting should be difficult, and if you can’t follow instructions and fully fill in an oval or connect a line, your vote shouldn’t count …”
This is only 1 step away from arguing that people who don’t vote their way should be rounded up and put in concentration camps, and maybe even executed. Oh wait, their hussy mouthpiece did make that argument …
As everyone knows what’s in the challenged ballots, it’s possible to figure out what the final count is likely to be. The Franken campaign figures they’ll win by 4 votes. The AP analysis, as I read it, puts Franken about 100 votes ahead. When all is said and done, this result is the will of the voters.
The Minnesota Republican Party (GOP Party) should call Stephan Sharkansky for the proper way to express outrage at a properly counted election.
If anyone knows, it is he of the sucky little blog.
Aside from being a liberal and favoring any generic Democratic senator over a generic Republican, I’m really enthusiastic about Senator Franken.
In a body which consists of dry, often humorless men, Franken would be something different.
A background in comedy jives nicely with the news media that often merges with entertainment and the 30-sec soundbite culture. Franken can be a very effective communicator for progressives.
re 5: Exactly. I hope he calls Bill O’Reilly every day to remind him that he (Al Franken) is a Senator because he’s good enough, smart enough, and — gosh darn it! — the voters like him.
And after listening to his AAR show it’s clear. He’s a smart little bugger.
The Republicans tried to construct a “straw man” with Al Franklin, attempting to portray him as a raging liberal hollywood comedian.
The problem was, a few minutes of listening to Al Frankin talk demonstrated him to be a highly intelligent, moderate and reasonable man, albeit with somewhat of a dry sense of humor. He obviously sees the humor in a lot of the posturing that goes on in politics (both left and right), and can’t help but chuckle at it.
Although Republicans were certainly fighting against a tidal wave of anger in the last elections, I think the more his potential constituants saw of Franken, the more they liked him.
The Republicans represent the extremes of society as well: the greediest, the most stupid, the most fearful, the most selfish, the most conformist.
Those groups have a simple rule in the voting booth: anything with an “R” next to it.
Look at the schmucks who voted for Will Baker in 2004: over 840,000. Scary.
@9
Tsk, tsk, YLB. For someone who screams at the slightest hint of a Dem/Leftwing stereotype, you sure don’t mind throwing a few out there yourself, do you…
And just to keep things in perspective:
Source: US Deficit would top $1 trillion with new method
Demons to the Right and Demons to the Left
OK
Bush was the ultimate failed President. He topped Harding, Nixon, Andy Johnson,and his won Dad.
That said, lets hope (and believe that BHO is a lot better president than Clinton was.
Clinton:
a. failed to redefine American foreign policy in an era where we had a great chance to take advantage of our world status.
b. continued the precipitous declines in American eduction and American savings.
c. screwed up a real chance at healthcare reform.
d. set the basis for the great leverage failure that enabled the bush economic debacle.
I think the folks joining the new admin are at least 20-30% a lot brighter than the Clinton cabinet. This may mean some reforms that displease doctrinaire leftists and repricans. E.g.
a. reform of corporate dividence and capital gains taxes.
b. merit based scholarships.
c. national service.
d. national identity cards.
e. realistic carbon taxes, incl a tax on imported car fuel.
f. ceding Taiwan and Japan and Korea to the new Co-prosperity sphere.
10 – Can’t argue with the behavior I-Burn.
840k sheep voted for the “international man of conspiracy”. Can’t have been for any other reason than the “R” next to his name.
The name-calling right wing ghouls who pass through here confirm my suspicions as well.
I-Burn: I think yelling loser boy has Tourette’s syndrome. He squawks, he bwaaks, he squeaks… yet nothing of any substance appears except hate.
His incendiary personality lights up HA with his burning cowpies.
Now regarding Franken, it’s the old Donkey any means necessary method…
re: 12
I agree on Clinton. Part of the reason he failed to become a great president was the fact that Republicans mastered the politics of scandal. One distraction after another made him too politically weak to deliver major reform. That’s what they’re trying to do Blago scandal and Obama.
I-Burn: name-calling ghouls like in 14.
any means necessary method…
with a sprinkle of that old wingnut paranoia.
@5 Yeah, if Franken wins, then all we gotta do is send Tina Fey to Alaska to replace that phony up there.
@10 I don’t see any stereotyping in #9.
@14 A wingnut complaining about “hate” is like Ted Bundy complaining about crime.
Not that anyone is genuinely surprised that liberals can’t follow directions. They go through their entire life not following directions and then blame someone else when the clusterfuck known as “their life” is in shambles.
Nothing new under the sun here.
20 – Poor little Rickie Dumbass. Been following orders handed down from right wing bosses all his pathetic life – brainwashed by Limbaugh and all the other right wing bullshit.
Where has it led him? Nov 4 2008..
Welcome to reality.
Little Rickie Dumbass.
Whatever the outcome, Minnesotans will be getting what they deserve.
Umm yeah, it wasn’t Clinton that generated all of those scandals in his 8 years of failure culminating in using a Whitehouse intern as a humidor and decorating her blue dress with his semen while cheating on his wife and nationally embarrassing her and his teenage daughter.
Nope, It was all made up and carried out by the vast right wing conspiracy, of course.
Pervert boy @ 21~ you still peeking in windows for a cheap thrill Yearns4 Little Boys?
You sick little pedo you.
24 – Perversion is for your sick party’s politicians Dumbass and of course the rank and file like you.You’re the one who keeps harping on the eye, the eye that’s fixed on your worthless right wing bullshit. Here’s the irrefutable documentation of your party’s sickness:
http://republicansexoffenders.com/
Every day new Republicans are being busted left and right. You guys are criminals and no way will the people trust any more of your schlock deceptive sales pitches.
You’re so sad little Rickie Dumbass.
Fuck! This one was just today!
http://newsfeedresearcher.com/.....19.54.html
Sick, sick Republicans like..
Little Rickie Dumbass.
Ooops! That link was bad. This is better:
http://timesunion.com/AspStori.....yID=729313
Hey SJ, don’t deny Clinton’s pioneering push into new cigar markets.
Rickie Dipshit @20 You wouldn’t know what a “clusterfuck” is even if one named George W. Bush burned a hole in your bank account.
@23 “Nope, It was all made up and carried out by the vast right wing conspiracy, of course.”
Nope, it’s a vast, vapid, vacuous army of fools and useful idiots, plain and simple.
27. YLB/Yearns4LittleBoys spews:
Ooops! That link was bad. …
…can’t post a link correctly so probably has problems filling in that oval correctly on your ballot too. Proving just what I said above about liberals not being able to follow instructions. Dumbasses
31 – Little Rickie Dumbass – you’re head is so full of right wing bullshit all you can see is an “R” when you fill out the ballot.
No wonder Rossi Lossi. The dumbass coward had “prefers GOP Party” next to his name.
This threw the right wing sheeple for a loop!
During the Clinton presidency, Clinton (and most of us Democrats) didn’t fully appreciate the extent to which the right-wing would attempt to crush him and his administration. Most of us assumed that they would play the role of the “loyal opposition”, much like the Democrats did during the Reagan/Bush I years.
Instead, the Republicans engaged in a series of multiple fishing expeditions for the entire term of his Presidency, seeking to destroy his influence, ultimately only being able to prove a single case of a daliance with an intern, and lying about it. To understand the source of these attacks, remember that Ann Coulter was on the team trying to find people like Paula Jones who would cooperate in making attacks which would cripple the President politically.
In the meantime, Republicans who were professing outrage over Clinton’s behavior, such as Newt Gingrich, were involved in worse behavior themselves.
We won’t make the same mistake twice. The internet has allowed us to respond to such tactics much more forcefully and effectively.
@31: Ricky D.
Proof positive that rightwingnuts can’t think.
Ricky, if I added up all the false statements, stupid things, undocumented and unverified things you have written – that accounting would show how ignorant and biased you are. You don’t let the facts get in the way of your “opinions” – no matter how stupid and far-fetched they are.
If you are the best the right wing has to offer – no wonder they are on a losing streak of epic proportions.