Joe Scarborough Takes Down Norm Coleman: 'Seriously ... You Lost ... it Is Over'

Posted by Sam Stein, Huffington Post at 8:01 AM on April 14, 2009.

The drumbeat is growing louder for former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman to drop his long-shot appeal of the state's prolonged recount.

In the wake of a three-judge panel declaring that Al Franken was the leading vote-getter of the U.S. Senate election, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough offered a preemptive and withering criticism of Coleman's likely appeal of that decision to the state Supreme Court.

"Seriously. Norm, I like you. You lost. Okay," he said. "Can we seat a senator so Amy [Klobuchar] doesn't have to do the job of two Senators? It is seriously not fair to constituents in Minnesota to drag this out any longer. It is over Norm, okay. It is over."

Ouch. Somewhere in the halls of the DSCC, people are cheering.

The problem, of course, is that Coleman has no incentive to drop his appeal at this juncture. His last-ditch effort is being cheered on by Republicans in Washington who are doing whatever they can - politically and financially - to work against the seating of Franken (who would be the 59th caucusing Democrat in the Senate).

"When are Republicans going to give up the ghost on this?" Scarborough asked before his mini diatribe.

Additionally, there has been scant political pressure put on Minnesota's Gov. Tim Pawlenty to actually sign the letter certifying Franken's election. That could change in the wake of Monday night's ruling. In all likelihood, however, Minnesotans will have to wait till the state Supreme Court weighs in.

Tagged as: minnesota, al franken, norm coleman, senate seat, joe

Sam Stein is a Political Reporter at the Huffington Post, based in Washington, D.C.