Judges Deal Norm Coleman A Huge Setback

It's gotten bleak for Norm Coleman as that clown Al Franken gets closer and closer to swiping a seat in the Senate:

A special court on Tuesday ordered further review of 400 absentee ballots in the Minnesota Senate race, dealing a crippling blow to Republican Norm Coleman's legal challenge against Democrat Al Franken's lead.

Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said the small amount of remaining ballots made it difficult for Coleman, who had asked to include 1,360 ballots, to erase Franken's current 225-vote lead. Within two hours of the ruling, Ginsberg warned of an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, arguing that the panel's ruling tolerated differing standards from county to county between the general election and the recount.

"You never give up hope but it becomes a much longer shot," said Ginsberg, who was part of the legal team that helped George W. Bush win the presidency in the 2000 Florida recount battle.

The judges were ruling in an election challenge filed by Coleman after a recount showed Franken with a 225-vote lead.

A Franken victory in the Senate race would make it easier for Democrats to advance President Barack Obama's agenda.

With Franken, the Democratic caucus would have 59 seats, including two independents, just one short of the 60 senators needed to overcome filibusters by the Republicans, a legislative maneuver to prevent measures from coming to a vote.