Franken Picks Up 87 Votes in Minn. Race

GOP divided over lessons of former governor's exit

(NEWSER) - Now that Tim Pawlenty is no longer eyeing the White House , could his new target be a Senate seat? The head of the Minnesota GOP hopes so. “I think he'd make a heck of a candidate,” Tony Sutton tells Minnesota Public Radio . Pawlenty earlier rejected the idea of running against incumbent Sen. Amy Kobuchar next year, but that’s probably because he was still seeking the presidency at the time, says Sutton. “If you asked him today he'd probably say he wasn't thinking about it,” he notes. But “I think his future's bright.” More»

Alaska candidate should realize it's time to quit, former senator says

(NEWSER) - Norm Coleman knows a thing or two about fighting close elections, and he has a message for Joe Miller: Give up. "I think that race is over. I think the counting’s been done. I’m not sure there’s anything that would change that," the former Minnesota senator and fellow Republican—who lost his seat to Al Franken after a 7-month battle—told C-SPAN in an interview that will air this weekend. More»

Teams of lawyers, flacks ready to roll anywhere

(NEWSER) - With races from Alaska to Nevada to Florida looking to go down to the wire and beyond, Politico reports that both parties have been readying SWAT teams of lawyers, PR people, and political operatives for quick dispatch to any number of recounts. While recounts can drag on for months, experts say the real battle—including the PR battle—is often won within the first 48 hours, and Republicans in particular are learning the lesson of Norm Coleman: “A lot of people feel that the Coleman seat was lost in the hours after Election Day, not in the days and weeks after Election Day,” says an RNC spokesman. More»

Senate minority leader not amused by funny faces

(NEWSER) - There was too much of the funnyman about Al Franken for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday. The comedian-turned-senator was presiding over the Senate as McConnell made a speech opposing Elena Kagan's confirmation to the Supreme Court . Franken appeared to be shifting in his seat and making faces, which McConnell took as mockery. "This isn't Saturday Night Live, Al," McConnell told Franken. More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - With all the focus on the House, the GOP has been quietly laying the groundwork to take back the Senate and stun the Democrats. The GOP needs to win 10 Democratic Senate seats while not losing any of their own. A tall order in anybody's book, but tossup races in several states that were thought to be Dem safeties—Wisconsin, Washington, and California—bring the possible seats the GOP could capture to 11. More»