Former Sen. Norm Coleman used his Facebook page last night to say he has no intention of running for Minnesota governor in 2010, citing bad timing, commitments to his family and a desire to change the nation's paralyzing partisanship without holding public office.
Coleman, who lost his Senate seat last year in a bitter recount battle with DFLer Al Franken, has loomed large in the governor's race, even though he never announced his candidacy. Last week a Rasmussen poll showed him drubbing all other GOP contenders for the office, with 52 percent support. The nearest competitor, Marty Seifert, had 9 percent.
Rasmussen Reports is out with a new poll that says former Sen. Norm Coleman leads among Republicans in the race to replace retiring Gov. Tim Pawlenty, even though Coleman isn't even officially running -- yet. Meanwhile, another former Senator, Mark Dayton, now leads the Democratic field.
Prompted by Al Franken's squeeky-tight recount victory over Norm Coleman in last year's U.S. Senate race, KSTP-TV requested access to all of Ramsey County's rejected and unopened absentee ballots. The county refused the request, the station took the county to court, and on Tuesday it found a friend in Judge Dale Lindman.
Does that mean the election results could be in dispute again? Some of the rejected ballots remain unopened, and what they reveal is anyone's guess at this point. But the news is part and parcel of a seemingly never-ending battle over the disputed legitimacy of Franken's victory.
Picture this: Norm Coleman and Al Franken. Naked. In two separate bathtubs set on a bucolic hillside overlooking Capitol Hill. Can't do it. MAD Magazine can help. With Democra-Cialis.
The venerable satire magazine that brought us Alfred E. Neuman and Spy vs. Spy is set to publish a "MAD 20″ issue, celebrating the "dumbest people, events and things" of 2009.
No. 12: "The Land of 10,000 Recalls."
"When the time comes to concede defeat, will you be ready?"
As we watched Gov. Tim Pawlenty rise to national recognition this last year, we have to admit our No. 1 concern was whether he had any chance to bring in the Jewish vote. He's got a mullet! It's a tricky tight rope of politics, but former Sen. Norm Coleman came to the rescue and assures us that Jews will have no problem liking Pawlenty. Thank you for calming our fears. He's Pawlenty's "main man" in the Jewish community, apparently.
In an interview for The Jewish Week, Coleman talks about Pawlenty's values that are so incredibly Jewish:
Pawlenty's main man in the Jewish community is former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), whose 2008 defeat at the hands of Sen. Al Franken was in the courts for many months.
"His appeal to Jewish voters will be the same as for voters across the board," Coleman told me last week. "He is thoughtful and smart, he understands that our party has to unite and reach out rather than divide. He knows how to get things done. The qualities he has I wish more in our party had."
"What Tim has is appeal to center-right voters," Coleman said. "And I believe that more and more in the Jewish community see themselves as center-right. That doesn't mean you abandon the most conservative in the party; they're part of the mix. But the ability to draw independents is critical."
Aren't politics fun when you can dump an entire religion and community into one political leaning? It just makes the world so much easier to understand! Labels make the world go round.
Former Sen. Norm Coleman was been diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a condition that led to temporary paralysis on the left side of his face. The paralysis occurs when nerves leading to that part of his face become inflamed.
Coleman broke the news in an exclusive video on BringMeTheNews, a new online news source created by former KARE11 anchor Rick Kupchella. The full video interview will be posted on Sunday when the site officially launches.
Coleman says his doctors expect a full recover, which can take up to eight weeks. He first noticed it on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Minneapolis on Sept. 2. He realized something was wrong when other passengers would come up to talk to him and he was only able to smile out of one side of his face.
"It puts a lot of things in perspective -- my smile is a part of me. I love to smile, and to all of sudden -- part of your face isn't working as it used to -- the good news is it will," he said.
Former Sen. Norm Coleman must be thankful that the many complaints and lawsuits related to his campaign are slowly disappearing and making his life more peaceful.
The complaint came from the Alliance for a Better Minnesota when they said he was using his campaign funds to help defend himself personally against allegations that one of his buddies and donors was trying to funnel him money. Coleman was not a party in the suit and he said at the time he had not used any of his campaign money for legal fees related to that case.
The election commission voted 5-0 on the issue over the summer, concluding there was no evidence to support the claim that he violated campaign finance laws.
The lawsuits in Texas and Delaware against Coleman's friend, Nasser Kazeminy, have been withdrawn.
If Norm Coleman planned on avoiding that whole "losing" a recount to a comedian thing, he's out of luck. The former Minnesota senator is going to be a Harvard visiting fellow in November at the Institute of Politics.
And what else does he really have to talk about? His days as a pot-smoking Democrat? Nope, he'll probably have to open the recount wounds for all of the students hoping to get Coleman to choke up a little.
We just hope he tells a good joke or two about his D.C. basement apartment.
Everyone wants to know if we'll have to endure more of Norm Coleman politics if he chooses to run for governor in 2010. But the former senator who just lost his seat by hundreds of votes to Al Franken wants to keep us waiting.
Coleman said he won't announce if he will be running for governor until March or April 2010. We're thinking he hopes we will have all forgotten this ridiculous recount by then and fall in love with his toothy grin once again.
Not so fast. KSTP calls him out for being a giant tease. So is he planning to run or not?
The FEC has ruled that it will let Coleman
use some of his campaign funds to pay his many legal bills, including
those from the FBI investigation into his campaign donors. Talk about robbing Peter to obstruct investigation of Paul.
Yesterday, a crutches-wielding Norm Coleman got punked by the Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away campaign. He thought he was meeting supporters, so he was happy to autograph what turned out to be a mock check for $90,000 to progressive candidates, raised thanks to Norm's refusal to step aside. Stay tuned till 1:12 for the uber-creepy laugh at the mention of Al Franken, when Coleman realizes he'd been tricked.
How long ago was November 4? Long enough that we shouldn't still be pointing fingers and making ridiculous claims that have long ago been proven inaccurate.
Unfortunately Norm Coleman is on the losing side of an extremely long and dirty fight for a U.S. Senate seat that is still sitting open on Capitol Hill. So instead of looking forward, Coleman continues to look back and find people to blame for the embarrassing spot he finds himself in.
Coleman met with the Star Tribune Editorial Board Thursday morning to talk about the recount and answer other questions including those about the allegations against his buddy and campaign donor Nasser Kazeminy. Kazeminy is accused of trying to funnel $100,000 to Coleman's family through his wife's workplace. Coleman is not charged or accused of any wrongdoing.
But instead of answering the questions straightforward and continuing to assert his innocence, he took the opportunity to once again blame the Star Tribune reporters for doing their job: investigating allegations.
DNC Chairman Tim Kaine released a press statement encouraging Norm to step aside. Joe Scarborough aired his thoughts on air. Both join a host of others thinking the New Yorker should listen to the voters, the bi-partisan canvassing board, the three judge panel and, well, most anyone with common sense.
Yesterday, City Pages went Tweety-bird on the Coleman Campaign: We thought we saw a violation of a consumer protection law. With the help of various legal scholars in the state, including two at the University of Minnesota, it turns out we did... We did see a potential violation of a consumer protection law!
And judging from the way Coleman's campaign is addressing the various problems, Sylvester the Cat would have ran a better campaign.
If you haven't heard yet, former-Senator Norm Coleman's campaign donor list has been breached, allowing folks to obtain credit card information on thousands of donors. According to The Hill, the Coleman Campaign encouraged donors to cancel all their credit cards on Wednesday. Emily Kaiser has a write-up of the story and a follow-up story addressing the Campaign's lame attempt to spin the news. But as this thing moves along, more fissures appear.
In the latest in the Norm Coleman-Al Franken Senate face-off, Coleman has chosen a lawyer who, um, kind of gives him an image problem.
Coleman picked Joe Friedberg to lead the legal challenge to the recount that declared Franken the new senator from Minnesota.
Only problem is, Friedberg also represents Nasser Kazeminy, the donor who has been sued in Texas for allegedly channelling $75,000 to Coleman without reporting the donation.
No charges have been filed against either of them, but Sen. Norm Coleman and his wife, Laurie Coleman, both hired lawyers to defend them in case the lawsuit against his buddy Naser Kazeminy turns on them.
Kazeminy is accused in lawsuits of sending the Coleman's $75,000 in 2007 through Laurie Coleman's workplace. And how is he paying for the defense? Campaign donations.
We can't help wondering how much Sen. Ted Stevens and Sen. Norm Coleman have in common these days. While reporters this week tried to connect Coleman's story to that of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, we're seeing more weird similarities to Stevens's unreported gifts of contracting work on his home.
Fox9 News has an interesting story about Coleman's $414,000 renovation to his home. The fix-up ended up $86,000 over budget around the same time that donor and buddy Nasser Kazeminy was allegedly trying to funnel the Colemans $100,000.
It sounds like major speculation, but could prove relevant if the lawsuits against Kazeminy go forward. Coleman is not listed as a defendant in the cases.
Sen. Norm Coleman dropped out of the race for National Republican Senatorial Commitee chairman, according to Roll Call.
Coleman called Sen. John Cornyn of Texas this afternoon and told him he was dropping out to focus on the Senate race recount in Minnesota against Al Franken.
The Alliance for a Better Minnesota is the first organization to publicly request an investigation against Sen. Norm Coleman by the FBI and the Senate Ethics Committee, according to Politico. Coleman is currently under fire for his connections to several lawsuits alleging friend and donor Nasser Kazeminy funneled $75,000 to the Coleman family through his wife's workplace. Check out the Blotter archives for the back story.
Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman ran the most expensive Senate campaign in the country and they still seem to have a national cash flow. According to the New York Times, Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney directed $5,000 from his "Free and Strong America" political action committee to help Coleman win the recount.
The lawsuits involving Sen. Norm Coleman and his donor/friend Nasser Kazeminy keep getting dirtier. The lawsuits were anything but a last-minute attack, according to the Pioneer Press report today.
On Oct. 10, shareholders in the Texas company controlled by Kazeminy "served a legal letter on its officers alleging Kazeminy wanted to pay the senator directly in quarterly cash payments of $25,000."
Sen. Norm Coleman is in a nasty business and he is bearing the brunt of the criticism even after the election. The guy is just trying to win an election, OK?
Apparently people still remember those lawsuits filed last week that accuse Nasser Kazeminy of funneling $75,000 to Coleman through his wife's company.
Leave it to Norm Coleman to ignore the fact that the state does an automatic recount in tight races and start celebrating early. You might have won, Coleman, but hold your horses.
At a news conference this morning, Coleman declared victory and in classic school recess jabs, blamed Al Franken for the automatic recount.
We hope this is the last compilation of Sen. Norm Coleman's lawsuit mess. Whatever happens after the polls close tonight could very much change the importance of this issue.
One day before the election, Sen. Norm Coleman can't take his mind off the suits. MNPublius posted a video of the Senator taking a breather today for a little suit shopping in Rochester. We are beginning to wonder if he's got an addiction.
The irony! Coleman, you're a classic. If you lose tomorrow, you will be very much missed. We suppose he needs to spend that alleged Nasser Kazeminy suit donation cash before a judge finds it and takes it all away.
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