Is it Spring time in Minnesota yet?

I love political dramas. As a honorary Minnesotan, I have been watching the drama unfold between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. To sum up my opinion of Norm in two words is easy. Sore loser.

The Politico reports today that Norm filed an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding 4,400 rejected ballots. However, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified Franken as victor on January 5, 2009 and the lower court upheld this certification. This is not the first loss for Norm, who appears to lose to anti-political candidates. In '98, he lost a bid for Governor of Minnesota against former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura (aka my dad's lookalike) and now, the former comedian. I doubt that the Supreme Court will revise the lower courts decision. There is nothing new that is being presented before the court. Ultimately, 2.9 Million Minnesotans voted and more preferred Franken or the third party candidate, not Coleman.

What is the precedence for the length of time for Minnesota to have only one representative in the Senate? Is that even legal?

What everyone should take away from this political drama is that every vote counts. FDR says it the best:

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

I'm not the only one that thinks that Norm should concede. The Politico reports that "Democrats, Minnesota media and even some Gopher State Republicans for [Coleman, have asked him] to concede." As my dad says " justice, just like the Spring thaws, works slowly in Minnesota. But by the end of April, usually the ice comes off the lakes, or as Aunt Priscilla said, it sinks...and Minnesota moves to a new season." Spring has arrived for D.C. and I hope that Minnesota's spring will come early for Minnesotans. Norm is a resilient person so he will never sink to the bottom, but he should concede so that Minnesotans can receive the representation that they deserve in the Senate.