PROTECT AND DEFEND...

Norm Coleman won’t give up. Why should he?

It’s too easy for those who support Al Franken to question Coleman’s motives, to wonder what his “end-game” might be, or to assume that some kind of Republican conspiracy is at work here to deprive the Senate Democrats of another seat and to limit the citizens of Minnesota to a single sitting Senator.

Says who? If there is proof of Coleman’s insincerity, let’s have it!

However, if Norm Coleman really believes he won the election last November – and also believes the recount is laden with errors, omissions and misinterpretations – and if he also believes that by following the rules and laws set-up to provide candidates like him access to the courts, he will emerge victorious once all legal proceedings have been exhausted – If he really believes all of these things, who is to say he ought to give up, give in and concede?

If you had run and thought you had won, would you?

It’s a fair assumption that most of Franken’s supporters (who were old enough) supported Al Gore for President in 2000. They no doubt also supported John Kerry in 2004. Papa wonders how those people would have felt about Gore and Kerry showing the same determination to “win” that Norm Coleman exhibits. Haven’t you ever asked yourself why Al Gore acquiesced in a “stolen” election, or why Kerry didn’t use every legal avenue open to him to challenge the Ohio vote count?

If you were upset with John Kerry for not persisting, how can you be critical of Norm Coleman now?

We can’t have it both ways. We can’t pick and choose which elections we’ll fight to the bitter end, and which we’ll just let slide.

A Senate term is 6 years. Al Franken’s missing vote isn’t making the difference on a single piece of legislation. If the United States is a nation of laws, not of men, shouldn’t we all support Coleman’s right to use those laws?

And, Papa has a word of advice for the eventual Senator Franken.

When you do win – when you take your oath of office – when you stand on the floor of the US Senate representing the people of Minnesota – you will do so with greater honor and without any reasonable detractors if your opponent has exercised the full scope of his legal rights under our Constitution.

Isn’t protecting and defending the Constitution what a US Senator pledges to do?