Is Cornyn Coordinating Years-long Obstruction of Minnesota Senate Seat?
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Related subjects: Judicial Rulings, Opinion, U.S. Elections, U.S. news, U.S. Politics, Vote 2008, Webb Tisch Comments (4)
This is not news, but it’s worth repeating: Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, has in the past suggested that the Republican challenge to Minnesota’s seating Al Franken as its junior senator could last for “years”. Coleman has challenged every single court ruling so far, despite losing every one of them and losing more ground in the vote-count with each examination of new votes. The last court to rule found that there was no evidence of any legitimate votes still uncounted, and ordered that Franken be certified the winner and Coleman pay court costs.
His final appeal to the state courts is now before the Minnesota Supreme Court, which is expected to rule any day. The day before the new Senate was to be sworn in this January, Cornyn threatened that his party would filibuster if Franken were seated. At the time, there was no “valid certificate” declaring Franken the winner, though state election officials had finalized their count. The Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, had refused to sign an election certificate until Coleman had exhausted his appeals.
In March, Cornyn threatened “World War III” would ensue if Franken were seated. It was then that he suggested the challenge process could take “years” to resolve. Cornyn heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, charged with winning seats for members of his party, and the Republican party is fighting to hold onto its last significant Constitutional clout in the present Congress, an as-yet unsecured 41st seat.
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Observers from both sides appear to agree Franken is much more likely to emerge as Minnesota’s 2nd senator, but Cornyn clearly sees a party interest in delaying that eventuality. Coleman’s loss would further shift the Republican party to the right, which even some conservative members of the party believe will make winning elections still more difficult. Franken could also be of use to Obama in achieving important reforms that could establish his record as a transformative president in a time of crisis; this would make 2010 and 2012 difficult years for Republicans.
A blog at Rabble.ca suggests this could be the beginning of a “Franken decade”, in part because the Republican party is battered, in part because Franken’s politics line up to a large degree with the general trend in electoral and demographic shifts, toward a more activist and progressive Democratic agenda. Such speculation has the Republican party scared of getting “lost in the wilderness”, not only out of power, but not convinced about the emerging vocabulary of electoral politics in general.
There is also the fundraising issue: fewer senators means fewer high-profile fundraisers for the party. And Washington realpolitik might mean that big donors will be a little less ideological and a little more pragmatic about who they support as candidates for office. Franken’s win could help moderate Democrats across the country win fundraising where out-of-favor conservative Republicans are likely their opponents.
So it’s worth asking: is John Cornyn, for reasons of party priority, actively seeking to orchestrate a Republican blockade against Minnesota seating its Constitutionally prescribed second representative in the United States Senate? If so, how much of his party’s funds is he willing to devote to this struggle, which will likely put a bad face on the party and embolden progressive opponents of his party’s legislative goals? And will such opposition to Minnesotans’ Constitutional right to representation undermine future Republican candidates across the state?
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