Minnesota is about to certify Democratic Challenger Al Franken as the elected Senator in Minnesota, and even though Republican incumbent Norm Coleman has a number of challenges left to exercise, it's unlikely that he'll do so. Here are a few of the reasons why he won't.
No matter who wins, either party can lodge a legal challenge, potentially pushing the election results out quite a period of time from now. In 1969, Minnesota was unable to certify their Senator until well in to March.
But this isn't the 1960s, and Norm Coleman surely knows that.
Just because he challenges the election, which is something he's well poised himself to do, it doesn't mean the outcome will change. If he fights tooth and nail to the death, and he loses, it will surely spell the end of his political career.
Conversely, if he simply accepts the results, however inexact and detrimental he may consider them, he can poise himself to capitalize on the failure of the democratic swing-to-power from 2006 and 2008.
Basically the promises expected by the incoming Democratic regime are so great that they can't possibly be fulfilled. Even if things work out "pretty good," he'll have reasonable grounds to reclaim the seat from the freshman Franken in 2014. But if things don't work out like the Democrats have promised, which is extremely likely, he'll be all but guaranteed to retake his seat.
In the mean time, what could he possibly do to occupy his time? He could write a million dollar book or two, go out on the speaking circuit to earn untold fortunes while sharpening his stumping skills, or just lay back and make connections with party loyalists who will help him make his future fortune all but assured.
If Al Franken is named as the victor, regardless of the narrow margin that may have brought him to that seat, any contest by Norm Coleman and his crew will only be seen as sour grapes. The vote in the senate is not going to be a party deal breaker, nor will it assure a filibuster-proof majority, so smart money says he should take the moral high road, bow out, and be the gentleman in the equation.
The truth is that he probably did lose the election, even if just by a handful of votes, so fighting the will of the masses (even if it's just a slim and ignorant majority of them,) wouldn't do anything but shoot one's self in the foot.
