The Franken-Coleman spin war

From NBC's Mark Murray and Harry Enten In a conference call with reporters, Al Franken attorney Marc Elias said that after today's absentee ballot count in Minnesota -- in which Franken built on his 225-vote lead -- there is no doubt that the Minnesota Democrat won last November's Senate contest. Elias also said that Republican Norm Coleman would have to consider whether appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court would "be the right thing to do." At the beginning of the call, Elias noted that after seven weeks of a legal contest that Coleman initiated, Franken ended up increasing his lead -- from 225 votes to 312 votes. He added that while the three-judge panel handling the legal contest still had to decide a couple of more matters, neither would alter the outcome. "The final result is no longer in doubt," he said. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer , who served as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, released this statement: "When you contest the results of an election, ... (link)