Norm Coleman, Al Franken Arguments Heard In MN Supreme Court

Pretty much the last chance for Norm Coleman and so far it's not looking good:

Republican Norm Coleman’s legal team on Monday faced a skeptical audience of five Minnesota Supreme Court justices, who could be his last lifeline to prevent Democrat Al Franken from being seated as the state’s junior senator.

During the one-hour proceeding, the five justices peppered Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg with pointed questions on whether the campaign had provided enough evidence to prove that Coleman would have won the election if additional absentee ballots were included.

Justice Christopher Dietzen, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty who is considered to be the court’s most conservative judge, said during the hearing that Coleman’s argument was filled with “legal theory” but had “no concrete evidence to back it up.”

While Franken attorney Marc Elias also received tough questioning over the fact that some counties used different standards in counting absentee ballots, the fact that Coleman was aggressively questioned by Republican-appointed judges, doesn’t bode well for his chances, according to legal observers.

“If this isn’t a 5-0 opinion for Franken, I would be totally surprised. You got the sense that the justices were very unpersuaded by the Coleman arguments,” University of Minnesota law professor David Schultz said. “What [the judges] were saying is Coleman didn’t provide the sufficient evidence to either overturn the lower court decision, or sufficient evidence to show why the additional ballots should be introduced.”

Even if Coleman loses, thus making Franken a senator, the idea of Democrats having a super-majority (and being able to avoid filibusters) just doesn't phase me only because I know trust conservative Democrats like the Blue Dogs, Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and yes, even Arlen Specter are not going to just sit back and let Barry bulldoze his liberal agenda through Congress and onto the masses. It's the principle of the thing that we stand for, screw the rest.