Wednesday, July 1, 2009

And then there were 60...

Eight months later:
Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate race, ending one of the longest Senate races in American history and clearing the way for Democrats to hold a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate.

Coleman’s concession, given from the front of his St. Paul home, came just a few hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled Franken the winner of last November’s Senate race. In a 5-0 decision, the court upheld a three-judge panel’s April 14 ruling that Franken defeated Coleman in the race by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast. The 32-page opinion was remarkably decisive, picking apart and rejecting one Coleman legal claim after another.

In its final line of the ruling, the state Supreme Court said Franken is “entitled” under Minnesota law to “receive the certificate election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the certification today, clearing the way for Franken to be sworn in early next week when the Senate returns from its weeklong recess.
And as Kos so eloquently put it after the ruling:
Psst, Harry? You've got 60 Dems
No more excuses.
If the Democratic party excels at one thing, it's perpetually minimizing the power they have to enact their own agenda. While the Republicans forced their unpopular legislative goals through with minimal majorities, the Democratic party seems content with perpetually moving the goalposts rather than actually attempting to get anything done.

First we needed the house and the senate.

Then we needed the Presidency.

Then Mitch McConnell was able to magically change the constitution in a way that forces a 60 vote threshold on nearly every bill.

Those days are over. We have the 60 votes to break the filibuster to pass major legislation. It's no longer about the Republicans. It's about Harry Reid, Barack Obama and their willingness to pressure the douche caucus to stop fucking up major legislation.

Time to get to work. No excuses.

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