Recount trial: Panel denies reconsideration of earlier decision

Norm Coleman's legal team tried so hard to convince the three-judge panel in his election recount trial that they had made a stupid decisions last week, but the judges weren't having it. The panel deemed 12 categories of rejected absentee ballots illegal and said they would not be counted in the final tally. Coleman's team was upset because they claimed some ballots that fit into those categories were already counted during the recount and therefore should set a standard for more ballots.

Too bad, so sad.

More from the Pioneer Press:

That (decision) barred Coleman, who trails Democrat Al Franken by 225 votes, from bringing about 1,000 rejected ballots to the trial.

The team argued the decision exacerbated existing "inconsistencies and inequities."

As Coleman's hopes of winning continue to dwindle, Republicans continue to find ways to prop up his campaign with more donations. Winning is expensive after all.

According to Politico:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee last week held a fundraiser to help Coleman's court challenge... And since then, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee each donated $10,000, while Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has contributed another $5,000, according to a person familiar with the contributions.

The fundraising is a sign that Republicans are willing to keep the battle going for as long as possible in order to keep Franken from being the 59th Democrat in a chamber where 60 votes are needed to pass controversial pieces of legislation.