Senate Republicans Admit The Obvious: Franken Is The Senator From Minnesota

Partisan Republican obstructionists are still doing all they can to prevent Al Franken from taking his seat in the Senate-- even if it costs Minnesota much needed representation in Washington, and even if most Minnesotans think Coleman should forget about his ambitions and graciously accept the reality of defeat. Coleman is determined to drag out the process for as long as he can and thereby prevent Al Franken from taking his seat-- and Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is going along with the charade. Franken is asking the state Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf.

The inability to seat Franken has caused a major problem in the Senate in terms of committee assignments. The ratio between the two parties on committees is determined by the overall number of seats each party holds in the Senate. Until yesterday, the Republican leadership refused to accept that Coleman had lost. Yesterday McConnell threw in the towel, agreeing to the reality of a 59- 41 split and giving the Democrats a 3 seat advantage on each committee.