MN-SEN: Coleman finally concedes

One hundred forty-seven days after Minnesota's Senate election, and 86 days after the certification, it's finally over: Norm Coleman has thrown in the towel and conceded defeat.

Daily Kos has learned that Coleman made his concession in a telephone conversation with Al Franken, who expects to be seated later this week.

Via Politico, here's a roundup of some reaction to the news:

DSCC Chairman Charles Schumer publicly accepted Coleman's concession for Senate Democrats. "I never fucking thought that idiot would concede," Schumer said, "but he did."

RNC Chairman Michael Steele hailed the concession as a victory for the GOP. "This opens up a fresh new Senate seat for us to target in 2014," Steele said.

Mark Halperin at TIME echoed Steele's thoughts. "This gracious act by Norm Coleman clearly means that John McCain won the week -- I don't see how you can argue this turn of events any other way."

David Broder saw the potential for a more a bipartisan triumph. "It would be really smart politics for Franken to join the Republican Party," Broder said. "It would be a grand gesture recognizing that a lot of people voted for the guy who got less votes. As a former Democrat, a Republican Al Franken would be uniquely positioned to achieve the bipartisan status quo that marked the eight years of Bush's presidency."

For his part, Coleman said that by conceding he was finally making good on his election night promise to accept the judgment of voters. "I now accept that when voters chose change, they meant change in the Senate, not that they wanted someone to change their votes."