A brutal 50 degrees overnight here in Delray Beach, so the dog-walking neighbors are in double windbreakers, turned up collars and hats.
More madness in the Coleman-Franken trial but they let out early being Friday. Franken leads +225. General feeling is Coleman is still trying to swim directly to the beach against an outflowing riptide (instead of sidestroking parallel to the beach for awhile and then coming in on the diagonal.) Their legal flailing is getting kelp-covered.....
Election Contest Court XVI
Remember that group of 64 absentee voters (the "Nauen" group) that also filed with the ECC to get their votes counted? (Team Franken provided legal & $ support.) Team Coleman has tried to use them as a vehicle for dragging all 11000 (legally) rejected absentee
ballots into court.
Well the group of 64 is down to 61-- a couple voters dropped out and at least one was informed their vote actually HAD been counted. There is concern Team Coleman isn't fighting these very hard so they can make some whiny claim (you know, let Coleman campaign manager, co-contestant and all around fingernail-on-chalkboard screecher) Cullen Sheehan speak in court) that "Well, you let THOSE ballots in, you have to let OURS in too or its not fair!"
Not to worry. Kibosh administered here with a dazzling use of the phrase "Statistical innuendo"!:
There's a clear difference between the 6[1] and Coleman's equal protection claim. They are being offered on a case-by-case factual basis. Coleman doesn't want a case-by-case determination, he wants relief for classes of ballots, with no facts supporting the conclusion that any individual ballot except statistical innuendo. The difference is that the 61 deserve de novo review, while Coleman needs to prove that equal protection was violated first.
The only sad note would be if when the ECC rules against Coleman on this (again; and again 3-0) that they WON'T either use "statistical innuendo" or quote Uncle Scar from "The Lion King": "Life's not fair."
Bits & Pieces
Jay Weiner at MinnPost has a fine round up of week one (How to explore the universe without leaving your parents' basement)
http://www.minnpost.com/...
The elegantly dancing backwards in high heels Grace Kelly reports in all the testimony by Joe Mansky over the Coleman jock-itch about "duplicate/double counted" absentee ballots there STILL has been NO EVIDENCE presented that this occurred! (Joe Friday: "During the Recount n Tuesday, Nov. 19, in the Warroad, MN precinct 3 at about 5:45pm election judge Sigrid Torkelson did deliberately double count both an original and a duplicate ballot for candidate People, first name Lizard.")
http://www.mnprogressiveproject.com/...
Everybody of the reality based comminuty seems to think Marc Elias (turning 40 this weekend; way to go kid!) of Team Franken is really earning his rep and struttin' his props:
The difference between a good attorney and a great one is that the great attorney will only deal with the issues needed to be dealt with, and will ignore the fray. Elias is a great attorney.
OK hope that will hold you a bit longer. Back to MamaWineRev's house for lunch at Applebee's and a movie.
Will stick around for a few comments and chaff from all of you who are not yust THIS FAR SOUTHEAST of Lake Wobegon.
Shalom.