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.