The Franken campaign claims Coleman's lead is under 100 votes. The basis to that claim is based on Coleman's challenges not being otherwise equal to Franken's challenges. That would gain Franken 40-50 votes, which he could certainly use.
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at November 21, 2008 02:12 PMRevenge of the Lizard People. I love it! Thanks, CAPJ, great stuff!
Posted by iamcoyote at November 21, 2008 02:43 PMThe Uptake shows us what happened in Fillmore County, where the Coleman campaign challenged 27 ballots to Franken's 3. They were challenging ballots with
- clear votes for Franken who also voted for McCain
- 2 clear undervotes in the Senate race who also voted for McCain
I don't know why these weren't dismissed out of hand as frivolous.
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at November 21, 2008 03:05 PMLike most things in American public affairs, this has turned into another Full Employment Act for Lawyers.
Posted by joel dan walls at November 21, 2008 03:16 PMWell, I admit that a McCain/Franken voter would definitely be in the tiny minority -- however, those ballots were very clear and the challenges obviously frivolous.
I one had a very nice, very good boss who voted for Bush/Boxer in California. I still have no idea why. I could have seen Bush/Feinstein, or Kerry and the Republican -- but that was like voting for Jeckyll and Hyde.
Posted by Anonny at November 21, 2008 07:30 PMToday doesn't appear to have been a very good day for Franken. Both candidates are pouring it on thick with the frivolous challenges, clouding the situation greatly. I understand the arms race in the attempt to be ahead after the recount, but it's getting ridiculous on both sides. After today's challenge escalation, I'd say 95% of the challenges are frivolous. Around 90% of the challenges are of ballots for the other candidate. If Coleman is above 90% of his challenges and Franken is below, as the Franken campaign claimed, Franken still has a shot.
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at November 21, 2008 08:15 PMHey Capj, Are you getting the numbers to add up? The Strib lists a percentage of ballots counted (64%) that is different from what is shown on the Secretary of State's web site.
Posted by peter at November 21, 2008 09:35 PMIt isn't that hard to imagine a McCain/Franken voter. How would a white appalacian Dem vote if he found himself in rural MN? What about a still-bitter Hillarian? It's quite clear that those voters existed in large numbers.
Leave aside the (majority?) of voters who vote 100% on "personality" and "character" (as gleened from 30 second attack ads) and 0% on issues. Anything is not only possible, but likely, with pinheaded American ticket-splitters.
Coleman's decision to challenge such ballots shows he is simply attempting to game the recount---Gee, what a surprise from a good gub'mint Repub lizard person.....
Posted by euzoius at November 22, 2008 06:39 AMpeter, the Star-Tribune seems to have more recent numbers than the Secretary of State in some counties. Maybe the counties are slow at reporting to the state, but the Star-Tribune gets a first hand account.
I didn't keep a running total today (Saturday) since I have better things to do on a weekend, but Franken lost ground. The current margin (Coleman +180) is a bit misleading since Coleman has more challenges now, but the spreadsheet is projecting Coleman to be ahead 89 votes at the end. Unless the nature of the challenges is fundamentally different between the candidates, though, that is probably too much deficit to overcome from the challenges.
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at November 22, 2008 07:44 PM