It seems to me that there are only two possibilities with respect to the GOP's continued support of Norm Coleman, especially after the most recent court ruling making his chances of prevailing ever more unlikely. The first is that they think Coleman is innocent of any wrongdoing (possible, though unlikely) and they think he'll hold this seat for the GOP for a long while (very unlikely, for a man whose only victory in major office came against a man who lost 49 states in a presidential run and has lost races against a former professional wrestler and a former Saturday Night Live comedian). The second is that they don't really want Coleman to win, but they just want to handicap Al Franken. The latter is actually a far more likely probability to my way of thinking, and a much sadder one. It basically confirms what we all suspect: that the Republican Party is all about its own power and could give a damn about principle, let alone democracy. It is absolutely fascinating that the party machine that insisted that we couldn't let the legal process work out in Florida in 2000 now insists in letting the process wend its way through the system now in Minnesota, despite the fact that provisionally seating Franken while the process plays out doesn't really disenfranchise anyone, and it is precedented: Republicans allowed Mary Landrieu to be seated after she was first elected and challenges were being sorted out.
I tend to think that the Republicans will eventually end this charade, but it's not as though they have anything to lose. Of course, if Coleman somehow pulls out a victory and then gets hauled off in handcuffs from the Senate floor the Republicans are not going to hold the seat, but Minnesota is an uber-Democratic state. It seems to me that having Al Franken to deal with instead of a potentially stronger Democrat bodes well for the chances of the GOP ever retaking the seat, and having someone like Mark Pawlenty as a candidate instead of a tired and unpopular commodity like Norm Coleman would also be an advantage. But ascribing, you know, thought to the party that thinks that there are political points to be scored over census battles is a bit too farfetched.
