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WASHINGTON (AP) - Finally joining the Senate, Democrat Al Franken envisions playing the "people's proxy" during Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court hearings. Franken, awaiting "an awfully emotional" Tuesday when he is sworn in, is joining the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is to begin hearings next week on President Barack Obama's first nominee to the high court. "..I kind of see myself as people's proxy, not that the other senators aren't, but certainly that's the kind of role I want to play," he said.

The comedian Al Franken will be welcomed by fellow Democrats at a lunch on Capitol Hill today after he has been sworn in as senator, taking the party’s Senate vote bank to the magic threshold of 60. His arrival makes the Democrats the first party in three decades to attain the fabled super majority, allowing them – in theory – to override Republican filibusters and implement their legislative agenda. A week after Mr Franken was declared Senator of Minnesota, however, doubts are growing as to how politically useful a super majority will be when the hard bargaining over controversial issues...

Here is video from yesterday of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introducing Al Franken as the newest member of the U.S. Senate. Franken was finally declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race from November 2008 after a long recount and legal battle over the close and disputed race with Republican Norm Coleman. I know Minnesota is a great state, but you have to wonder about their decision-making in electing someone like Al Franken to be their Senator. Franken will provide plenty of material for bloggers over the next six years! . . . . (Watch Video)

Al Franken -- the former comedian who won a bruising, eight-month vote recount and court battle in Minnesota -- arrived on Capitol Hill on Monday, a day before he was to be sworn in as a new Democratic member of the Senate. But Franken immediately downplayed the importance of his vote in the Senate. "A lot has been made of this number 60," Franken said. "The number I'm focused on is the number two.

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006 when Democrat Mark Ritchie defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer to become Minnesota secretary of state. It was Ritchie who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Franken a lead some...

Consider first an op-ed article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times by Martha Nussbaum, a well-known professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago. The article was headlined “Terrorism in India has many faces.” But one face that Nussbaum fails to mention specifically is that of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamic terror group originating in Pakistan that seems to have been centrally involved in the attack on Mumbai.

The Wall Street Journal’s editors weigh in on Al Franken’s Senate win: The ‘Absentee’ Senator. The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year’s disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman’s gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don’t need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.

After all the votes were tallied Nov. 4, incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota led socialist Democrat Al Franken by 725 votes. The mandatory recount reduced the margin to 215. And then the lawyers took over. They won rule changes in the middle of the game that allowed election officials to add previously disqualified votes to Mr. Franken's total and subtract valid votes from Sen. Coleman's. They unearthed thousands of heretofore missing absentee ballots, all from counties that had gone overwhelmingly for Mr. Franken, and suddenly their boy was up by 312. Then the lawyers got the courts to...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged?Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006...

Less than a week before Sen.-elect Al Franken (D-Minn.) is set to be sworn into office, a new national poll shows that 44 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of the former comedian and liberal radio host. A Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday found that 34 percent have a favorable view of Franken, who defeated former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman to win the seat. Another 22 percent are not sure what they think of him. The poll revealed that Franken generates strong feelings among his detractors. Twenty-nine percent said they had a “very unfavorable” impression of Franken, compared with...

As a political writer and blogger, I applaud the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court that effectively made Alan Stuart Franken the junior senator from Minnesota for the next six years. Of course, it’s not such a good thing for Republicans, considering that the Democrats have added another body to their already huge majority. But Franken in the Senate will pay dividends for both the party and us bloggers far into the future, as long as he remains above ground and has the ability to open his mouth — all the better to stick his foot in it. Al Franken...

Al Franken is going to the Senate. From The Chicago Tribune: After a fierce legal battle and a vote recount that stretched on for seven months, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified as the winner in the state's U.S. Senate race. Norm Coleman has conceded. And here's the thing: Franken's victory gives the Democratic caucus 60 votes in the Senate, enough to overcome Republican filibuster attempts. There is a lesson here for detached/oblivious gun owners. Particularly since Franken won by a mere 312 vote margin. And especially because Coleman was rated "A"...

Back in the 1950s, when Republican "red" Wisconsin was represented by the lamentable Alexander Wiley and the reprehensible Joe McCarthy in the U.S. Senate, the state's most enlightened citizens adopted Minnesota Democratic Farmer Laborite Hubert Humphrey as "Wisconsin's third senator." Humphrey embraced the role, spending a good deal of time on this side of the Mississippi and developing a network of allies and associates in the state's burgeoning Democratic party. It wasn't enough to win him the 1960 Democratic presidential primary contest with John Kennedy, a defeat that Humphrey once told me broke his heart. But to the last days...

WASHINGTON -- The Minnesota Supreme Court has now ended months of vote fraud and other assorted acts of skullduggery to pronounce Al Franken winner of the state's 2008 senatorial race over Republican Norm Coleman. The process was unseemly, and it is conceivable that the court's justices merely acted out of civic pride. They did not want Minnesota's U.S. Senate races to attain the sort of notoriety attached to aldermanic elections in Chicago or presidential elections in Iran. Mr. Franken is an admitted clown. As such he will be the only admitted clown in the United States Senate, though he will...

WASHINGTON -- The Minnesota Supreme Court has ended months of vote fraud and other assorted acts of skulduggery to pronounce Al Franken winner of the state's 2008 senatorial race over Republican Norm Coleman. The process was unseemly, and it is conceivable that the court's justices merely acted out of civic pride. They did not want Minnesota's U.S. Senate races to attain the sort of notoriety attached to aldermanic elections in Chicago or presidential elections in Iran. Franken is an admitted clown. As such, he will be the only admitted clown in the United States Senate, though he will be seated...

How Cool Is Franken? by Eric Alterman Not only does Al Franken’s hard-fought victory give Democrats a magical 60 seats, it gives the Senate its first genuinely funny ex-comedian. Eric Alterman shares memories of his friend and former neighbor. Senator Franken? As long as it has taken, it’s still pretty hard to believe my friend and former neighbor is due to be sworn in early next week. He’ll be “Senator Franken” to the press and the lobbyists, and “my distinguished colleague” to the rest of that esteemed body. But as for the rest of us, I think we can safely...

Democrat Al Franken, right, with his wife Frannie Franken smile as they meet the media at their house in MInneapolis Tuesday June 30, 2009 after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democrat in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. (AP Photo/Andy King) Al Franken, the newest member of the U.S. Senate, will be the guest speaker at Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry Sept. 13. Franken, who is expected to be seated in the Senate next week after winning recounts and court challenges in his upset of Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, will headline Harkin's 32nd...

Like an oasis in the desert, the 60-vote Democratic supermajority is a mirage. Yes, former comedian Al Franken is now Minnesota's senator-elect -- thanks to the state Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday -- giving Democrats enough members in the Senate to hit a filibuster-proof majority. This is no laughing matter. But that's on a really, really good day. For all intents and purposes, Democrats don't truly have 60 votes in the Senate. With the addition of Franken, they technically have 58. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., caucus with Democrats but don't define themselves that way. Sanders, a socialist,...

Not a whole lot to be happy about with this win by Franken but at least now they own everything. They have a filibuster proof Senate. Either everything they have whined about for the last eight years gets fixed or they are outright liars. Scott said it best in the comments: DEMS OWN IT NOW. What’s it? IT is EVERYTHING. 2010 midterms: if unemployment is still worse than when Obama took office, it’s their faultif GDP is still falling it’s Democrats’ faultif every American-EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN and most illegal aliens-don’t have the same high-quality/free medical coverage as Barack Obama…it’s their...

Just when you thought things couldn’t get more farcical in our nation’s capitol, the Al Franken Circus heads to town. Franken was declared the winner yesterday of the long-contested Senate race by the Minnesota Supreme Court with a razor-thin margin of 312 votes out of over 2.9 million votes cast. Norm Coleman chose to bow out of the race rather than continue the contest taking the fight to the federal courts. It is estimated the two camps have spent more than $1.7 million in legal fees through March, the end of the last FEC reporting period. Rumors abound that Coleman...

Franken wins by changing the rules. The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year's disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact. ... Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern...

A district judge who held another ACORN worker for trial Monday on election law violations urged prosecutors to go after the real culprit, the organization that employed him. "Somebody has to go after ACORN," Senior District Judge Richard H. Zoller said about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "It's happening all over the country. All you have to do is turn on the television," he said, referring to voter registration fraud charges brought recently against ACORN and its workers in Nevada. "We will," Allegheny County Detective Robert F. Keenan promised as he wrapped up his testimony. A spokesman...

This is a very disturbing picture..... http://younggunconservative.com/2009/06/30/congratulations-democrats-heres-your-new-senator/

Franken Declared Winner of Minnesota Senate Election, Giving Dems Filibuster-Proof Majority After the Minnesota high court rejects a legal challenge from Norm Coleman, the Republican concedes to Democrat Al Franken in the state's Senate race. Democrat Al Franken, right, with his wife Frannie Franken smile as they meet the media at their house in MInneapolis Tuesday June 30, 2009 after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democrat in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. (AP) Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the state's vacant Senate seat after the state's high court ruled that Republican challenger...

Minnesota Court Confirms Razor-Thin Election Win, but Party's Filibuster-Proof Majority Is Vulnerable to Internal Fissures. WASHINGTON -- The Minnesota Supreme Court cleared the way for Democrat Al Franken to become Minnesota's new U.S. senator, ending a festering eight-month election dispute and giving the Democrats a 60-seat voting majority in the Senate. The court on Tuesday unanimously upheld Mr. Franken's margin of 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast in November's election, giving him the seat that had been held for one term by Republican Norm Coleman. Mr. Coleman conceded at a news conference at his home two hours later, saying...

After the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit today, Republican Norm Coleman graciously conceded the bitterly disputed contest over the second U.S. Senate seat for Minnesota. None of this changes the fact that as a senator Al Franken is not legitimate. The election was stolen at the precinct level, during the recount, and during the post-election litigation. Never forget the role that ACORN played in this. As ACORN-aligned Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a former community organizer, presided over the vote-counting process, Coleman's original lead dwindled. The morning after the election, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes. Over the...

Comedian Al Franken was declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race today after the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected all of Sen. Norm Coleman's legal arguments that the recount had been unfair. Coleman conceded the race in the video below . . . . (Watch Video) . . . . The victory gives the Democrats 58 Senate seats, with two independents who virtually always vote with the Democrats. That equals a 60-vote super majority in the Senate if they all stick together. Sixty votes are enough to invoke cloture, which allows legislation to be brought to the floor. . ....

“I am deeply disappointed in the decision made by the state Supreme Court, and I share the frustration of Minnesota’s voters. At the core of our democracy lies two concrete principles: No valid vote should go uncounted and all votes should be treated equally. Sadly, those principles were not adhered to during this election. While I would have proudly stood behind Norm Coleman had he chosen to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, I know that his decision to withdraw from this race was not an easy one, but one that he felt was the best decision for the people...

There is absolutely nothing to stops a single party from turning this country upside-down. Nothing. If we have any patriots in the Dim side at all, they must be getting worried. Can you imagine the pressure that will be put on them? This is going to get interesting very quickly because if radical changes are to be made, then it must be before an election.

In a 15-minute news conference, looking relaxed and upbeat, Norm Coleman congratulated Al Franken, reminisced about his 6-year term and the "longest election in Minnesota history" and didn't discuss the details of the rejected legal challenge. "We have reached the point where further litigation damages the unity of our state," Coleman said. "I congratulate Al Franken in his victory in his election." "The bottom line is that's history. I'm not looking back… We are a nation of laws, not men and women. The court has spoken.".... Moments later, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office issued the following statement: "The Minnesota Supreme Court...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight. Coleman conceded at a news conference in St. Paul, a few hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator should be certified the winner..............

While many will touch on the humor of “funny man” Al Franken now taking his shtick to the Senate, and MSNBC will likely be apoplectic tonight at the concept of 60 Democrat senators now moving forward Barack Obama’s deficit-spending, big government policies through the upper chamber, I submit that the punchline may be at the cost of “conservative” Democrat senators, including Arkansas’s own Blanche Lincoln, who will now have a target painted on them to be the 60th vote on such things as card check, cap and tax and Obamacare.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Al Franken in the disputed U.S. Senate race, according to Franken's attorney.

June 30, 2009 BREAKING: Minnesota's highest court rules for Al Franken Posted: 02:25 PM ET (CNN) — Minnesota's Supreme Court has dismissed former Sen. Norm Coleman's challenge to the state's November election results and declared Democratic challenger Al Franken the winner. The unanimous opinion ruled that Franken "received the highest number of votes legally cast" and is entitled "to receive the certificate of election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota." The former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer had declared victory in the disputed race after a recount ended in January, but Coleman — a Republican who...

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled Al Franken the winner of last November's Senate race, putting the former "Saturday Night Live” star on the brink of becoming a United States senator and Democrats on the cusp of holding a dominant supermajority in the Senate. In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the court upheld a three-judge panel's April 14 ruling that Franken defeated Republican Norm Coleman in the race by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast....

Al Franken confirmed to MN senate by MN supreme court.

Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) said Sunday he has no plans for further delay in certifying the results of the state's disputed U.S. Senate election so that Republican Norm Coleman can pursue a federal court challenge. Pawlenty told CNN that he would abide by whatever ruling the Minnesota Supreme Court makes in the contest, where Democrat Al Franken appears to have an upper hand. "I'm prepared to sign [the certification] as soon as they give the green light," Pawlenty said. “I’m not going to defy an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. That would be a dereliction of my duty."...

Al Franken is now their president.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent almost $1 million last month on Republican Norm Coleman's attempt to win last year's U.S. Senate race. Coleman is attempting to overturn Democrat Al Franken's slender lead. The former senator's appeal of a trial court's decision that Franken won is awaiting a ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court. That ruling could be issued any day. Last month, the NRSC spent $937,917 to help Coleman in that effort. Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney, home to Coleman attorney Jim Langdon, received $350,171 of that and Washington, D.C., law firm Patton Boggs, Coleman legal spokesman Ben...

PIM has now heard from two sources on different sides of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount scene that the final Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is expected to arrive tomorrow, Thursday, June 18th

GOP activist and blogger Michael Brodkorb has asked for copies of rejected absentee ballots from areas where for the most part Republican Norm Coleman ran strongly in the disputed November election for U.S. Senate... Statewide, local election officials rejected about 12,000 absentee ballots on Election Day for failing to meet legal requirements. Nearly 1,300 were eventually deemed legal after reconsideration by the officials, representatives of Coleman and fellow Senate candidate Al Franken, and judges who heard the U.S. Senate trial. But the rest remain excluded because the judges said they lacked evidence they were cast by registered voters or met...

Minn. court orders Coleman to pay $95K to Franken 18 hours ago ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republican Norm Coleman must pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs for his appeal of Minnesota Senate election results. A Ramsey County court administrator entered the judgment Wednesday. It results from the two-month trial that ended with Coleman 312 votes short of Franken.

Senate Republican leaders appear willing to go to the mat for former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), but it's unclear whether Coleman wants to go to the mat for himself. The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to rule within weeks on whether Democrat Al Franken bested Coleman in the long- contested 2008 Senate race. Republicans said they were ready to protest any Democratic leadership attempts to seat Franken — if the court rules him the victor — until Coleman either exhausts his appeals process in the federal courts or decides to throw in the towel. Cornyn and Senate Republican Conference Vice...

And now, again, we wait. This wait, though, is different. This time, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is in the hands of five state Supreme Court justices. The state has grown uncomfortably accustomed to waiting in the nearly seven months since voters went to the polls. And voters, who have been represented by just one senator since January, still don't know for sure if Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman will walk those hallowed Senate halls. But in a race that has lasted weeks past its expected expiration date, Monday was a big day.

Republican Norm Coleman's legal team on Monday faced a skeptical audience of five Minnesota Supreme Court justices, who could be his last lifeline to prevent Democrat Al Franken from being seated as the state's junior senator. During the one-hour proceeding, the five justices peppered Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg with pointed questions on whether the campaign had provided enough evidence to prove that Coleman would have won the election if additional absentee ballots were included. Justice Christopher Dietzen, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty who is considered to be the court's most conservative judge, said during the hearing that Coleman's...

Republican Norm Coleman called on the Minnesota Supreme Court today to reverse a victory for Democrat Al Franken, and several justices sharply challenged Coleman's argument for counting more ballots. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg said thousands of additional absentee ballots should be tallied under looser standards adopted by many local officials on Election Day. He said local customs led to counting ballots in Democratic areas that were similar to those rejected by officials in Republican areas applying a stricter standard. But several justices said he failed to provide proof that such practices were widespread or affected the outcome. "You're offering little...

Put William Mitchell Professor Raleigh Levine in the list of Minnesota legal and political experts who think Al Franken will prevail in the Minnesota Supreme Court and that Norm Coleman has little chance of getting his case heard in federal court. Professor David Schultz of Hamline University, Professor Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey Institute and Professor Steven Schier of Carleton College also say they believe the Supreme Court will uphold the three-judge panel's ruling in favor of Al Franken. And all think this matter won’t go anywhere in federal court. Furthermore, I have been unable to find any independent expert...

Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown will center on the state Supreme Court today. In Courtroom 300 in St. Paul's Judicial Center, an attorney for Republican Norm Coleman will tell five justices why he believes the case must be sent back to the trial court. An attorney for Democrat Al Franken will tell the justices why he thinks the trial court's April 13 decision that Franken won the race was correct. For Coleman, there can be no outright win at this stage. His best hope is that the court's decision — which may be weeks away — will send the case back...

ST. PAUL, Minn.—A group of conservatives sued Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and 25 county election officials Thursday over allegedly incomplete voter records. Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis said the counties failed to post voter history updates as required within six weeks of the November 2008 election. His lawsuit also alleges that Ritchie's office has yet to update voter records to reflect all those who voted. Davis said the lawsuit was filed Thursday with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Ritchie, a Democrat, said the attorney general's office will respond to the lawsuit.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has this piece of advice for Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine: Butt out of Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. In a letter, Pawlenty has pointedly rebuffed Kaine's request this week that he prod fellow Republican Norm Coleman to abandon his fight to regain the state's vacant Senate seat. For either Coleman or Democrat Al Franken to be seated, Pawlenty must sign an election certificate. In his letter, Pawlenty replied: "Some of your Democratic colleagues and members of the media have inaccurately stated that an election certification is being withheld," Pawlenty wrote. "That is not the case."