Republican Senators are already pushing for a pardon for convicted felon Ted Stevens. That's how they roll in the Culture of Corruption.
Georgia: Politico offers its "Five things to watch in Georgia's runoff." I'll be posting more on the run-off tonight.
Florida: In the hours since Republican Mel Martinez announced that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his current term, Florida's Republican Attorney General, Bill McCollum, made it clear that he is considering a 2010 Senate bid. Also, much to my surprise, Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, may be reassessing the situation after saying yesterday (before Martinez's announcement) that she would pass on a Senate campaign. The aforelinked story also notes that Marco Rubio, Republican former state House Speaker, has "an interest in running for statewide office."
Minnesota: While the running public tally of the recount deficit between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken stands at over 300 votes with 92% of the votes recounted, the Franken camp says that their count puts the difference at closer to just 50 votes. The Franken camp also just e-mailed this out, suggesting a breakthrough in the effort to make sure that all valid ballots are counted:
In a major development toward counting improperly rejected absentee ballots, the Secretary of State's office today directed county auditors and county and city election officials to review all previously-rejected absentee ballots and determine whether they fall under one of the four legal reasons for rejecting a ballot. The absentee ballot review will begin on December 8.
The communication, from Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann, lays out the four legal reasons for rejecting an absentee ballot:
1. The ballot was rejected because the voter's name and address on the return envelope are not the same as the information provided on the absentee ballot application.
2. The voter's signature on the return envelope is not the genuine signature of the individual who made the application for the ballot and the signature is required under applicable Minnesota law, or the certificate has not been completed as prescribed in the directions for casting an absentee ballot.
3. The voter was not registered and eligible to vote in the precinct or has not included a properly completed voter registration application.
4. The voter had already voted at the election, either in person or by absentee ballot.
Previously-rejected absentee ballots that do not fall into one of those four categories will be placed in a fifth pile. ...
The Secretary of State has said there are roughly 12,000 absentee ballots rejected this past election. The Secretary of State has also estimated that 500 of them were wrongly rejected -- a number greater than the likely difference between Coleman and Franken at the end of the hand count. The Franken campaign actually estimates this pile is even larger -- up to 1,000 ballots.
That "fifth pile" could be key. On top of that, as if more intrigue was needed in the recount, 171 uncounted ballots have been found in Ramsey County, their oversight due to a replaced optical scan vote counting machine. In a separate e-mail, the Franken camp points out that the ballots "were found in Maplewood's Precinct 6, which favored Franken over Coleman, 45 percent to 39 percent on Election Day." The recount should end this week, and the fight will shift to the Canvassing Board's review of challenged ballots. Stay tuned.
Alaska: You think Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Sarah Palin get along? Murkowski is pre-emptively working to back off Governor Palin from potentially challenging her to a Senate primary in 2010. When it looked like there was a chance that convicted felon Ted Stevens might win his Senate re-election bid (which would have effectively created a Senate vacancy), it was discussed that Palin might go for the Senate seat as a way to maintain a national profile in advance of a possible 2012 Presidential run.
Remember, it's not like primaries are so foreign in recent Alaska politics. Palin's Lieutenant Governor ran in a very close primary against scandal plagued Republican Congressman Don Young. And, don't forget, to originally win the Governorship, Palin successfully challenged Lisa Murkowski's father, former Senator and then-Governor Frank Murkowski, in a primary. Could we see a Palin for Senate primary challenge spring up with the slogan "Like Father, Like Daughter"? Though she eventually did win the seat by election in her own right, the junior Murkowski was dogged by charges of nepotism when her father originally appointed her to the Senate seat he vacated to become Governor. Also, Lisa Murkowski has her own scandal to deal with. Another Palin-Murkowski primary may be just what the doctor ordered. |
