NRSC Aids Coleman Recount Effort: The National Republican Senatorial Committee has committed $750,000 to former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman to help cover the vast legal expenses incurred during the former incumbent's lengthy challenge to the election results of his race against Democrat Al Franken. Sources familiar with the move said it should not be read as a down payment for a prolonged Coleman legal battle at the federal level if he loses his ongoing challenge before the Minnesota Supreme Court but rather a good faith effort to keep him from going into massive debt.
Speaking of Minnesota Senate...Kaine Ups Pawlenty Pressure: Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine (Va.) has sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) urging him to call on Coleman to concede the race against Franken ... Barring an immediate call by Pawlenty for Coleman to end his legal challenge, which ain't happening, Kaine urged the Minnesota governor to agree to signing the election certificate for Franken if Coleman's ongoing appeal at the state Supreme Court level falls short. "To allow this to process to continue into the federal courts for no other reason than to deny for as long as possible the seating of another Democratic Senator would make what has been a bad situation for Minnesotans even worse," writes Kaine. This letter is part of a coordinated effort to pressure Pawlenty into taking sides rather than sitting on the sidelines. Pawlenty continues to debate whether to run for a third term as governor or to retire and begin planning for a presidential bid but either way he has an eye on his political future and Democrats want to [sic] his life as difficult as possible in the short run.
The financial numbers flying around this legal process are dizzying -- but I look at it this way. The more the NRSC is spending on keeping Coleman's challenge going, the less they're going to have to spend on protecting their vulnerable seats in 2010 -- of which there are going to be several.
