As Coleman's lead shrinks, so do his chances for a leadership position -- and let's not forget the shady deal with a top fundraiser

As we've been reporting for the past couple days, Norm Coleman's lead in the Minnesota Senate race has been shrinking. So are his chances of taking a leadership role in the GOP's shrinking Senate caucus:

Sen. Norm Coleman’s cliffhanger reelection race in Minnesota has complicated his long-sought bid to take the reins of an influential Republican campaign committee, senior GOP aides said Monday.

The Senate Republican Conference is scheduled to hold votes Nov. 18 on key leadership positions for the 111th Congress, even though the outcomes of races in Minnesota, Alaska and Georgia have yet to be determined.

Coleman leads comedian Al Franken by just 201 votes, ensuring that the 2.9 million ballots will be recounted by hand and the outcome won’t be known until mid-December, weeks after the party wants to have its new leadership team in place.

It's hard to be in leadership if you're not in the Senate.

But, Norm Coleman's got other problems, too. Legal problems based on allegations in lawsuits against one of Norm's benefactors, via Politico;

We just received a PDF of the second lawsuit filed against Norm Coleman pal Nasser Kazeminy, who allegedly steered $75,000 to a Minnesota insurance company that employs Coleman wife.

Much of the new material echoes allegations made by its former CEO Paul McKim in a previous lawsuit filed in Texas.

Still, there are a couple of new nuggets in the Nov. 3 complaint in Delaware by investors in Kazeminy-controlled Deep Marine Technology.

The Texas lawsuit quotes Kazeminy saying he needed to get cash to Coleman because "U.S. Senators don't make [expletive]."

But the second lawsuit alleges — and it's breathtakingly stupid if true — that Kazeminy at first ordered DMT execs to pay Coleman directly.

"Our clients were advised that Mr. Kazeminy first sought to have DMT make quarterly cash payments of $25,000 to Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota," writes plaintiff's attorney Anthony Paduano, citing a "confidential" informant.

Another new allegation is that the payments made to Laurie Coleman's firm, the Hays Company, weren't needed because DMT, which services offshore oil platforms and port facilities, already used Aon for its insurance.

Coleman is a dirt bag. He's already starting to question the recount process -- the legally mandated recount process. That's why it's important for Minnesotans to know about these lawsuits. When Coleman questions the legality of the recount process, Minnesotans need to consider the source.