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About frickin' time.
I'm not one to rush the election system. After 2000, I became a disciple of the "take all the time you need to get to the true result" camp. This delay, however, has been excessive. It's June 30 -- almost eight months since the votes were cast in Minnesota. In those eight months, the residents of Minnesota have been served by one Senator, Amy Klobuchar, when they've needed two. Beyond that, we've been one senator down in the Democratic party since January, too -- and there have been a few times when Mr. Franken's vote, and voice, would have been extremely valuable. I'm sure the GOP has felt the same way about Sen. Coleman.
How long should it take to settle an election? Why is voting such an inexact science? It seems simple enough, doesn't it? But fairness often requires complexity. It requires provisions. It requires absentee ballots, hand-counting, re-counts, hand-wringing, and, apparently, lawyers and 61.3 million dollars. The question before us, again, is whether there's a time at which you must call a full stop and go with the winner you have. How long can a state go without a senator before they're being more poorly served than they would be by having the wrong man in office? In the Franken case, I think we've butted right up against the limit.
In a way, this is a reminder of how broken our election system really is. My iPod can pinpoint my location on a map within a few yards; my Blackberry brings me real-time updates of worldwide news; my computer could probably cook me breakfast if I asked it nicely. I'm pretty sure any of these devices could have been configured to count votes in Minnesota with as much accuracy as this 238 day process has provided us. In fact, I think perhaps my vacuum cleaner could've done it. For a country that runs on high-tech devices, our low-tech solutions for voter registration, vote counting and re-counting, and even for establishing what a vote means, seem to leave quite a bit up for debate.
In another way, though, maybe there's a bright side to this. We're a country willing to wait for real results instead of rushing to those that seem most convenient. We're willing to spend $11 million on a recount. And we're (finally) being rewarded with the Senator that the people of Minnesota have chosen.
Welcome, Mr. Franken.
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Redstocking Grandma
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Kathy Riordan
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Comments
LOL... So, do you have a Dyson or a Roomba?
In any case, I do think that even a "low-tech" method, such as counting by hand, could have been completed in fewer than 238 days!!!
I agree, too. It could've taken much less time -- but hand counting also opens things up to "human error," which extends the time. Sometimes that's for the good -- computers can't make judgment calls like humans can, and sometimes it's good that voters get the brief benefit of the doubt. But the more room for error, the more room for courtroom drama and foot-dragging, I think.
I'll believe it when he's sworn in.
PS - T.S., have you actually met Franken in person? I have, and found him to be gracious, warm, attentive, hysterically funny, and far more knowledgeable about government and the Constitution than many other elected officials I've encountered.
Just saw him the other day in a bit part as a dumb baggage handler in "Trading Places." I'm sure he'll be a better senator....
now they will be out of excuses, and i wonder what will happen then?
"When I met with him it was on what was to be a pleasure trip. The man had a book out at the time and all he could talk about was Rush Limbaugh. I'm sorry, he is just a sad commentary on our societal and governmental ills."
What I like about you T.S. is that you never let reality stand in your way. Did he have a requirement to talk with you? On your subject of choice?
Grow up. (And I mean that in the nicest way possible.)
Still, with >$61,000,000 in legal fees, I guess "free & fair" elections has become an either/or proposition.
"We're a country willing to wait for real results instead of rushing to those that seem most convenient."
We're a country held hostage by corrupt politicians. Norm
Coleman and the Republicans are more interested in winning at any cost than in democracy.
Cleo, I do think you may a good point about how long people should go without representation. Coin-flipping does sound good, and in fact is still used, I believe, in many lower seats (county seats, city offices, etc.) around the nation. But for higher offices I guess we allow longer disputes, because the power is greater.
Stacey -- I'm stumped. Where's that from?
Tickled to see your Saturn car ad!
even Phoebe can run the dyson, so I'm guessing that it might be able to count the election results better than a human. At least it could suck up all those hanging chads and then that wouldn't matter, right?
How was the beach?
For God sakes Joan...hire this woman!
Stacey -- it's a great quote, wherever it comes from. I can't find an original source either, so now I'm giving it to you.
Beach was great, great, great, and just what I needed, L&P!
Ha, thanks, Glenn. You're very kind.
I hear he only takes tips.
On the other hand, when the race was decided in Franken's favor and Coleman, as he is entitled to, filed appeal after appeal, none of those right wing nuts said a damn thing.
Hypocritical sons of bitches.
Naw. That's just how we riot up here. Can't risk showing any emotion, yanno. Someone tried that at the Wellstone memorial and that's what started this whole fiasco. Coleman wouldn't have won without that.
I voted for Franken. I have never thought much of him as an actor or a comedian but, listening to his radio show and reading some of his books I was mightily impressed with the quality of his thought and reasoning which was always backed with thorough research. I only ran across him once on the campaign trail and he was distant. If he had run up and thrown his arms around me, given me a big kiss and treated me to dinner it wouldn't have influenced my vote. I don't vote for these people to be my buddies.
Now we have to deal with Norm running for governor. Wait and see.
It may have taken a long time but look at what we have vs what is happening in Iran. We don't have 1000's of people in the street. We don't have women gunned down in cold blood.
Yes, it took the courts, not the the two of them, a long time to get things worked out. They played by the rules. When the courts finally made their final decision, Coleman said you won and is going on. While I may not like the outcome, it is what it is and we got there peacefully and it's now over.
Our system may not be the fastest, but it works more often than not.
Herein is the problem with our system. There is no system standards.
The issue is that there are no national standards for elections, counts, recounts etc. I am willing to believe that, in fact, your vacuum cleaner could have done a credible job counting votes. What I am not willing to accept is living in a place that allows the CEO of DIEBOLD to guarantee a Bush "win" with his money ($1mm) and his machines. And then we are told we cant verify crap because the software is proprietary.
What we need is open source software that can be tested by every little 14 yr old weirdo in his bedroom with a computer. Hack away. Fix the holes. Make it secure.
So I for one have no problem with hand counting 3 million Minnesotans votes over the course of 8 months to get it right, given the sorry state of equipment most jurisdictions work with. But at some point we need to change the whole damn system.
What I originally meant to say was that there is no single system. Apologies to all my English professors..... Mea Culpa.
Apparently being a sore loser is a traditional family value.