Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Washington blog links Franken, Buchanan

Our Washington correspondent, Lesley Clark, sent us an interesting note this morning that's worth sharing. It also prompted us to search for her blog -- and get it reposted on Bradenton.com/news/politics/. We're lucky to share Lesley with the Miami Herald. If you have story ideas or questions for Lesley, please send her a note at lclark@miamiherald.com.

Here's her blog on Naked Politics:

Al Franken to follow in Vern Buchanan's footsteps?


As the Senate convenes today, one question is whether to seat comedian-turned-politician Al Franken whom a monthslong recount shows eked out a 225-vote victory over Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman.

Coleman is pursuing an appeal and Republicans object to seating Franken until the case is resolved. But a number of pundits suggest there is plenty of precedent for seating Franken -- pointing to Florida's own Rep. Vern Buchanan, who was provisionally seated by House Democrats in January 2007 -- despite a challenge from Democrat Christine Jennings who blamed her narrow loss on malfunctioning election machines and pursued a legal challenge.

She lost her appeal -- and a rematch against Buchanan last November.

No comments: