The merger between MN Campaign Report and mnblue is almost complete. There will be few if any updates here at mnblue. At some point tonight or early tomorrow, w When you surf to mnblue it will roll over to www.mnprogressiveproject.com. Joe Bodell and I have been talking about this and working on this for a while now. Grace Kelly, TwoPuttTommy and our newest regular writer Holly Cairns are excited about the change as are the contributors from MN Campaign Report. We've even added a few new regular contributors. Also, Aaron Brown from Minnesota Brown will continue to contribute.

Our coverage of Minnesota politics should be better because of the number and quality of the writers. Plus, we've got loads of new features.

Since we're in the roll-out phase throughout the month of December, be sure to post comments or email me about things you'd like to see us do at MNPP. Both Joe and I built community blogs ... and we want MNPP to be yours, too. We want you to rant, rave, analyze and question. We want you to post about what's on your mind.

It's a bigger, better community. I hope you'll help. The future starts now.

The Minnesota Senate race recount gets stupid today. First, the challenges are simply out of control. At the current rate, we'll break 7,500 and possibly approach 8,000, but each day the rate increases so do I hear 10K? Secondly, the Recount Canvassing Board punted the decision on the rejected absentee ballots to the courts.

Norm's lead range: 84 to 238.

6,400 rejected absentee ballots yet to be resolved.

This is 86.04% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th. The recount is on holiday until Monday.

(Updated: see below)

Anyone wonder about the Avista Partner's Star Tribune bizarre recount math? It has been clear that they were backing Norm Coleman from way, way before they actually got around to endorsing him. They always slant their coverage conservatively. Aaron Landry has the goods on that. They first post the AP's lede, then alter it to a more conservative title. Avista Partners are basically oil men and they hire conservatives to run their papers.

Their poor coverage due to too few political reporters left after budget cuts (another classic Avista move) kept any good news for Al Franken during the DFL endorsement race out of the paper. They had one reporter covering the Senate race, the Governor and the Legislature until this June. This isn't coverage, it's neglect. Not to mention their inaccurate coverage when they tossed a story to someone who knew little about the race.

They front-paged any bad news about Al or good news for Norm. Furthermore, they minimized Norm's controversies as much as they could while front-paging his defense against the various charges. For example, they never wrote about Norm's ties to the Myanmar dictatorship.

Now they have this exclusive math which they don't explain. It certainly can't be from journalists doing hard work. There are just too few political reporters left at the paper. Are they just pulling it out of their *** the air?

While Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate race (MN-SEN) has been reduced to 84 votes according to the Franken campaign or has increased to 231 (according to the mystery math at the Strib), that's a statistically meaningless number. The Franken campaign identified 6,400 rejected absentee ballots that the Canvassing Board will adjudicate. What are the chances that they'll find lots of uncounted Franken votes among them? With the Coleman campaign challenging absolutely any ballot they possibly can, how many will be deemed frivolous and counted? MN Secretary of State Mark Ritchie wants a process established so that the frivolous challenges will be resolved before the Canvassing Board meets on December 16th. Good luck with that.

With the increase in challenges, we could now even hit 6,000 challenges. I'll show the math after the break.

This is 80.62% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th.

I'm off to the Wild game to see Alexander Ovechkin's Washington Capitols. Maybe the Wild can find a way to score. It might be as exciting as the recount. Ahem.

I'll post the numbers once I get home, but Jeck Fecke's analysis at Blog of the Moderate Left cuts to the quick of where this race is headed -- The courts.

Updated

Norm leads by 172. We're on pace for ... sweet Jebus ... possibly 5,000 challenges? We're nearly at 100 challenges per percentage point.

This is 74.18% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th. The gonkulations follow...

A few counties worked this weekend in the Minnesota Senate recount. The Al Franken and Norm Coleman campaigns challenged ballots at an even higher rate yesterday. As a result of increased Republican challenges, Norm's lead increased from 115 to 167. At this rate I calculate that we'll reach 4,000 challenged ballots. There was even less controversy, but that didn't stop the media from trying to gin one up.

This is 65.65% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th.

The third day of the Minnesota recount was even less exciting than the first two as Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken reduced by 5 to 115 votes. Not that the Minneapolis Star Tribune was looking for attention grabbing headlines ... or anything. The challenges increased dramatically which reduced the gains for Al Franken. This may be due to Ramsey County Election Director Joe Mansky being told to "punt" any and all challenges to the canvassing board. My very own 8th Ward in Minneapolis may hold the key to a Franken victory. Finally, Norm flip flops on his election night comments that he would concede if he was trailing in the recount.

This is 60.86% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th.

Less drama, more counting was the word today in the Minnesota Senate recount. Al Franken gained 43 votes to cut Norm Coleman's lead to 129 votes. I expected the Coleman campaign to challenge more ballots, but the challenges are about even. Franken volunteer turnout has continued to be awesome. The Coleman campaign has been paranoid. And finally today's tempest in a teacup, Norm accuses Al of trying to delay the recount to get the US Senate to decide the race once the new Congress is seated and has a large Democratic majority.

This is 42.33% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th.

(Update: see below)

Here's what happened on the first day of the Minnesota Senate race recount. Al Franken's lawsuit to gain access to rejected absentee ballots was granted. There was another tempest in a teacup, a dust-up at the Ramsey County recount caused by a Republican activist. Most importantly, the recount began.

This is about 15.68% of votes counted out of 2,885,502 votes cast on November 4th

If we can stay at a pace of 15% per day, we're done in early December. However, the bigger counties of Hennepin and Ramsey will be recounting for a long time and the rural counties will finish sooner. Almost half the state lives in these two Twin Cities counties. Once the rural counties are done, our rate will slow down.

Update

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com declares that recounting cut Norm's lead of 215 down to 172.

According to data just released by the Minnesota Secretary of State, Al Franken has gained a net of 43 votes on the first day of that state's recount process. Norm Coleman had a lead of 215 voters over Franken in Minnesota's certified, pre-recount tally; that margin is now 172 votes.

Minnesota reports that it has thus far re-counted 15.49 percent of its ballots. If the first day's results are indicative of the pace that the candidates will maintain throughout the recount process, Franken would gain a net of 278 votes over Colmean, giving him a narrow victory. For any number of reasons, however, the results reported thus far may not be indicative of future trends.
(FiveThirtyEight.com)

The importance of Ramsey County Judge Dale B. Lindman's ruling is that this may uncover many uncounted Franken votes. Ramsey County knows Norm and voted overwhelmingly for Al. We don't yet know how many ballots were rejected in Ramsey County nor do we know if the Franken campaign will try to see Hennepin and St. Louis counties' rejected absentee ballots.

As to the ruling's implications for Franken's case before the State Canvassing Board, Lindman wrote: "With each passing hour, the Franken Campaign is irreparably harmed in its efforts to ensure that each valid vote is properly counted and to prepare for the procedures that will decide this election."

Franken recount lawyer Marc Elias said in a post-decision briefing that Lindman's opinion "is helpful to us" in relation to the Canvassing Board.

For his part, Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak wasn’t reeling from the decision. He said Wednesday afternoon that he and the Coleman campaign are focused on the recount and reported it was going “exceptionally well.”

Knaak called the Data Practices case and Lindman ruling a “side issue” and “not of any particular relevance to the count itself.”

But, clearly Elias will use Lindman’s opinion to urge the State Canvassing Board to allow rejected absentee ballots to be part of the count. That would run counter to an opinion offered earlier this week by the Minnesota attorney general’s office, but Lindman’s words – “irreparable harm” -- are sure to be heard over and over again.
(MinnPost)

Check out the ruling here.

At a Ramsey County recount location, a Republican activist, Bob Murray, was challenging far too many ballots for County Elections Director Joe Mansky's liking. On the AM950's Mark Heaney Radio Show, Mike McIntee of The Uptake said that Mansky told the Murray to quit making frivolous challenges and when the activist objected was told (and I'm paraphrasing) "this isn't a campaign, you can't do that and if you've got a problem with it, sue me."

One dustup came when Coleman observer Bob Murray questioned Ramsey County elections manager Joe Mansky on all the people jamming in the room as well as how ballot stacks were being counted. When Murray challenged a handful of ballots in which voters appeared to mark Franken clearly, Mansky said they were frivolous challenges, something state law prohibits.

“If you want to deal with it, take me to court,” Mansky said.
(Star Tribune)

Grace Kelly, who was there all day, said that Murray got louder and louder each time he didn't get his way. Mansky stayed calm the entire time. McIntee commented that Murray later apologized. I"ll post the video from the Uptake once they post it. Noah Kunin had this comment on the Strib's article

The quote from Mansky is slightly inaccurate as posted here. Consultation of video from the incident produces the following exact quote:

MANSKY: If you want to deal with them, you can take my determination to court.
Slightly more politic, I’d say…

Noah Kunin
Senior Political Correspondent
http://www.theuptake.org

Update

Here's Grace Kelly's video, produced by Noah Kunin:

On Republican Fox News, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) embarrassed herself again. She now claims she never said what so many Americans have heard her say. Now we've got two more years of her embarrassing our state until we have another chance to take her out.

Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Crooks and Liars)

In Princess Sparklepony land, denying reality is as easy as ... well ... watch for yourselves to find out. Here's the reality that Princess Sparklepony cannot evade:

Transcript of her appearance with Alan Colmes after the fold...

Minnesota Majority continues to try and suppress votes in the 2008 election. They were making calls in the run-up to intimidate voters and now they want to contest voters who had someone vouch for them. This is typical Republican strategy -- work hard to disenfranchise voters in Democratic-leaning areas.

Minnesota Majority's motto is "Standing Together for Traditional Values." Funny how traditional Republican values include vote suppression. Funny that they'd be lashing out at the MN Secretary of State Mark Ritchie after he began investigating their suppression efforts.

At a news conference, Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis said the group is filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice contending that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie had failed to verify voter registrations as required by federal law.

The group is also seeking records from the Secretary of State's Office and county officials under the state's Data Practices Act on registration procedures, such as verification postcards returned as "undeliverable" and voters who registered by having someone vouch for them.
(Star Tribune)

I'm sure Jeff Davis and Co. won't trying to suppress votes in Stearns or any other conservative counties. I'm sure he'll be targeting Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Let's just imagine that I'd spent the last year campaigning for Norm Coleman's reelection. Furthermore, suppose I'd repeated all of the Team Coleman talking points. Let's pretend I was willing to repeat every lie about Al Franken that Norm wanted me to especially the worst ones. Let's further imagine that Norm had put me onstage with him frequently as an example of a Democrat who strongly opposes Al.

What would happen if I were to go to the next SD60 meeting? What would happen if I were to somehow dupe everyone and become a delegate to the next DFL state convention? Would you forgive me?

In the cozy environs of the US Senate, Joe Lieberman's lying, demagoguery and actively campaigning for Grandpa McSame is not worthy of denying him the powerful Chair of the Homeland Security Committee. They always protect their own and at all costs. These Democrats go along with the Patriot Act, torture, Military Commissions Act, and warrantless wiretapping because they can get away with it.

Accountability? Rarely. Business as usual? Definitely.

Still waiting to hear from Sen. Amy Klobuchar on how she voted and why.

Update I

Here's Sen. Klobuchar's statement:

"The political season is over and the season for governance has begun. I appreciate that Sen. Lieberman has acknowledged he regretted some of the things he said in the heat of the electoral battle, and believe that the time has come to move forward - not out of revenge, but with a spirit of reconciliation and a focus on the future of our country."

Update II

Think Progress perfectly sums up how the Senate operates with their post entitled:

Lieberman: I’m ‘Grateful’ Senate Democrats Changed The Rules So That I’m Not Singled Out For Punishment

It is not unprecedented to strip a Senator of his Committee Chair when they endorse and actively campaign for a candidate from another party:

But Lieberman is not facing potential punishment because he has criticized his own party or failed to uphold its agenda. As Jamie points out, that is common behavior, and it would be highly unusual for Lieberman to be sanctioned for it. What Lieberman did was to endorse and campaign for the other party's presidential nominee. What has further upset Democrats is that, in their view, Lieberman promised to confine his role to praising McCain, but went beyond that to attack Obama.

For a Senator to endorse a member of the opposing party is extremely rare. The last instance I'm aware of is 1964, Mississippi Representative John Bell Williams and South Carolina Rep. Albert Watson, both Democrats, endorsed Barry Goldwater for president. After the election, they were stripped of their seniority. Doing the same to Lieberman would be following this precedent, not some unusual retribution.
(The Plank)

Not much has happened in terms of the recount. Several tempests in teacups. A number of pairs of Republican underwears got severely wedged over non-issues. It is all about positioning at this point.

The Republicans have deployed their lawyers and lobbyists in case they need to stage a Nieman Marcus Riot if Norm loses the recount. The Republican activists on Fox News and elsewhere have been repeating the lies they've been spoon-fed ... and unsurprisingly ... despite these lies being debunked.

I'll begin with the silliest debunking. Republicans have been relentlessly attacking MN Secretary of State Mark Ritchie as biased. Ritchie is a Democrat. The problem is Governor Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, won't play along:

"That five-person Canvassing Board ... will run a fair and appropriate process, and they will render a fair and appropriate result,'' Pawlenty said. "It's in nobody's best interest, whether you're a Republican and Democrat or something else, to be taking shots unless there is some reason to do so. ... Unless there is evidence, let's not be throwing gasoline on the fire until we actually have some proof."
(Star Tribune)

He repeated this on Sunday's Fox News programs as well. So ... Timmeh's not playing along. Bill O'Reilly is, though:

Around 1,000 people gathered in Minneapolis to protest California's passage of Prop 8. This protest was organized swiftly and mostly via email. It might have seemed colder than it actually was as we gathered on the north side of the imposing Hennepin County Government Center. This was also a personal landmark ... this was this was peanut's first protest.

Thousands upon thousands of protestors turned out in cities across the nation today to demonstrate against the passage of Proposition 8 in California. From Ground Zero in San Francisco comes this report:

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/AP) -- Thousands of protestors converged upon San Francisco’s City Hall Saturday morning to speak out against California’s controversial Proposition 8.

"And sometimes it feels we felt our whole lifetime digging out the lies that other people tell about us, but the truth is this: we are a movement based on love," said Reverend Dr. Penny Nickson who spoke during the rally.

The backlash over the passage of Prop 8—a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and woman in the state of California—has been enormous across the country.

On the opposite coast, an estimated 5,000 demonstrators turned out in the rain "to express anger over the passage of Proposition 8" in DC.

Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and scores of cities in between have seen grassroots demonstrations erupt at city halls and in public spaces.
(Daily Kos)

Rumors are spreading in the halls of the State Capitol that Minnesota's budget deficit for the upcoming biennium might approach $6 billion. I blame the many Republicans who have taken no-new-taxes pledges. Republicans have reduced taxes on the wealthy resulting in less money coming in and borrowed money to cover expenses. Except they call it bonding. To make up for it Governor Pawlenty has increased many fees that Minnesotans have to pay so he can remain technically true to his pledge.

The most painful part of the Republicans no-new-taxes pledge are the cuts in Local Government Aid (LGA - the portion of our own taxes our local government units get back). Our counties and cities have been forced to cut basic services like police, firefighters and schools to the bone. To cover basic services, they've been forced to raise property taxes ... their only means of raising any money. This has hit people on fixed incomes the hardest. Here's analysis from the Minnesota Budget Project:

• Minnesota's state and local tax system is regressive — that means that Minnesota's low- and middle-income taxpayers pay a larger share of their incomes in taxes than the highest-income Minnesotans do. Minnesota's tax system is becoming more regressive — that is, less fair — over time.
• A greater reliance on local taxes — especially the property tax — has contributed both to the rise in taxes since 2002 and the erosion of tax fairness. Rising income inequality has also contributed to greater regressivity in Minnesota's tax system.
• How Minnesotans pay their taxes varies with income. Lower-income Minnesotans pay a larger share of their incomes in sales and property taxes, while higher-income people pay more of their incomes in income taxes.

Now facing a deficit which one-time account tricks and fudging the numbers can no longer cover, what will Gubnah Timmeh do? More bonding borrow-n-spend? More one-time gimmicks? More cuts that hurt the elderly, disabled and poor the most?

Fiscal responsibility? Well ... not that.

Norm Coleman cannot stop lying. He lied about his record being fair game, he's lied about being a moderate, he's lied about oversight and he lies when claiming he brought people together to get things done. Norm is the Senator you can count on when it doesn't matter.

With his political career hanging in the recount balance, he and his minions are lying like rugs in an effort to position all the lawsuits he'll be filing if anything doesn't go his way. Get ready for a Neiman Marcus Riot from the hundreds of expensive Republican suits who have descended upon MN to protect Norm's interests.

He proclaimed victory the day after the election despite leading by 700 out of 2.9 million votes or 0.007% winning percentage which automatically triggers a recount. He claims that 32 ballots were found mysteriously in a car. He claims that a 246 vote discrepancy in Two Harbors, MN favoring his opponent Al Franken was suspicious. He claims that Franken's vote gains during the vote tally canvassing that normally goes on was 2.5 times that of Obama's vote gain. He called the Franken vote gains in the canvassing "improbable and statistically dubious." On 11/10/08 he proclaimed victory again after the canvass totals indicated he was winning by 206 with the recount yet to start.

Lies debunked ahead...

As Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) faces a recount in his reelection bid, he also faces legal questions. Two lawsuits allege that long-time donor and friend Nasser Kazeminy intended to send $100,000 to Norm. Kazeminy's company ended up getting $75,000 to Norm through his wife. The lawsuits allege that Deep Marine Technologies (DMT) paid Hays Company (Laurie Coleman's employer) 3 $25,000 payments and that neither Hays nor Mrs. Coleman provided any services for the money.

Yesterday, a watchdog group, Alliance for a Better Minnesota asked the FBI and the Senate to investigate. Norm answered back with an interesting press release:

TwoPuttTommy and I will be guest hosting the Mark Heaney Show on Air America (AM950) tomorrow from 5:00 - 7:00pm. Among topics like Norm Coleman's scandals, the recount, Bachmann/Tinklenbert/Anderson race in MN-06, Aaron Brown's book about the Iron Range "Overburden" and a couple of recently elected DFLers, we'll be interviewing Paul Thissen who recently declared he is running for MN Governor.

Paul is known for being a healthcare champion and his work ethic. Paul represents 63A which has a bit of Minneapolis and Richfield. Paul is an attorney who works for Briggs & Morgan. He is married with 3 kids.

Check out MPR's Vote Tracker. His wikipedia entry has plenty on him, too. However, his gubenatorial campaign website, might have the best info on him, yet ... duh? Here are his top 4 issues:

Minnesota’s Education Advantage

Minnesota’s recipe for success has been simple. Well-educated, highly-skilled people live in the state. To continue that success for another generation, it is time to update the recipe. We need to invest in education earlier and later - in our youngest children and in adults returning to school for retraining or further education. And we need to continue to provide educational choice so all children have the same chance to succeed.

Keeping Minnesota Healthy

Minnesota has a long and proud tradition of high-quality, innovative health care. But more and more Minnesota families and businesses find health care unaffordable. With forward-thinking, pragmatic leadership, we can make affordable, meaningful health care available to all Minnesotans. Our success in the next decade depends on it.

An Innovation Economy For Everyone

We live in a competitive, global and fast-moving economy. The next generation of jobs and wealth will belong to those who innovate. Minnesota is well-positioned to prosper in this new economy, but it needs imaginative leadership that is willing to do things in a new way and build new partnerships that benefit everyone. It also needs leaders who recognize that Minnesota only prospers when the winner’s circle is expanding and we are using all our resources and every Minnesotan to his or her fullest capacity.

An Agenda For An Aging Minnesota

Minnesota is growing older. In the next few decades, the number of Minnesota residents who are 65 years and older will double to about a quarter of the population. This trend will demand that we think in new ways about health care, housing, transportation and taxes. And we must start acting now - and saving now - to make sure that our parents and older neighbors live independently, with dignity and in their community as long as possible.

The US Senate's Democratic caucus will be meeting soon to decide the leadership and committee structure for the 111th Congress. While I hope they dump the ineffective and weak-kneed Harry Reid as Majority Leader, it is imperative that we remove John McCain's BFF and campaign surrogate Joe Lieberman as Chair of the powerful Homeland Security Committee.

There is absolutely no reason to consider Lieberman a Democrat any longer.

Joe promised to abide by the primary in '06, but switched to an independent once he lost. He lied that he needed to be in the Senate to help end the war yet has been reliable as any Republican in supporting it. He became an advocate for attacking Iran. There hasn't been a Republican talking point he hasn't been glad to use to beat his "fellow" Democrats with.

But speaking at the Republican National Convention? Speaking at Republican rallies throughout the summer and fall? Correcting McCain when he misspoke? Asking if Obama is a Marxist? Never once voicing any concern that when McCain and Palin called Obama a terrorist sympathizer and rednecks yelled out "Kill Him" and "Traitor"? What kind of Democrat is that?

Senator Klobuchar, please kick his neo-con butt out of the Democratic Party.

Please?

Keith Olbermann used his platform on MSNBC's Countdown to ask the fascists, homophobes, bigots and ignorant ****s who voted for this mistake a few questions. He's really upset about this. It looked like he was close to tears at several moments. Once again ... thank you, Keith.

Transcript below the fold (h/t The News Hole):