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Paying Dividends
Talking Points Memo — ... There aren't a lot of investments paying good dividends these days. But the Republicans have definitely found one: funding Norm Coleman's hopeless court suit to try to find some way to let him be senator again. As a matter of principle, I don't really like when people try to shame candidates into throwing in the towel. Elections are important; candidates and supporters put immense energy, money and effort into winning them. So as long as a candidate thinks he or she won, they should be free to pursue whatever remedies and legal avenues are available. That said, it's worth ...

It's All So Confusing, So ...
Talking Points Memo — ... The Post's Shailagh Murray has apparently decided that it's so hard keeping track of all of Norm Coleman's lawyers nonsensical arguments about why he shouldn't have to leave the senate that the only reasonable answer is just to hold a whole new vote. Now, bear in mind, that's not me saying they're nonsensical. It's mainly the judges shooting him down right and left. ...

Don't Look Now, But ...
Talking Points Memo — ... If you haven't been following Eric Kleefeld's bang-up coverage of the Minnesota Senate election saga at TPMDC (come to think of it, this fiasco pre-dates the launch of TPMDC and dates back to our TPM Election Central days -- just another reminder that here it is almost March and the results of the Nov. 4 election are still unresolved), then you may not be aware of where things are headed. But there's been an ominous turn in Minnesota, so let me bring you up to speed. ...

Tooting Our Own Horn
Talking Points Memo — ... We've been following the endless Franken-Coleman Recount/Trial really, really closely over the almost four months since the November election. Wearing my hat as a publisher, you just can't get enough of the endless stream of antic, nonsensical and hilarious posts this story generates. I mean, how couldn't you with a race pitting a professional comic against a professional clown? ...

re: Minnesota
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — I largely abandoned this story when it exited the recount phase and entered the legalistic quagmire phase. But Eric Kleefeld hasn't over at TPM, and I ...

Latest Outta NY-20
Talking Points Memo — ... Obviously, reasoning from location and party affiliation only gets you so far. But using a conservative methodology and a minimum of debatable assumptions, you can make some rough approximations about who is in a better position. And after running the numbers through the Kleefeldizer that proved to have such a good track record in Minnesota and the absentee ballots point to ... ...

Why I've Been Ignoring the Minnesota Recount
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — Simply put, while there's been plenty of news coming out of Minnesota -- see Eric Kleefeld at TPM for the gory details -- little of it has been of much consequence. Norm Coleman has every right to seek relief through the courts. But it's been quite clear for some time that Al Franken was overwhelmingly likely to be declared the winner in Minnesota. I have little interest in covering legal minutia when there's so much else going on in Washington and around the world. ...

MN-Sen: Money for Nothing?
Daily Kos — ... This strategy is crucial to understanding the GOP's gambit in the Minnesota Senate race. When that issue is decided, the Senate will have 100 members, and if Franken is declared the winner (as is widely expected) the Republicans' 40 votes will no longer be enough on their own to mount a filibuster. ...