Norm Coleman can't win and GOP Governor says not having another Senator is hurting Minnesota

The Minnesota recount has been very complicated. Norm Coleman has done his best to make sure of that. But, one thing is clear: Coleman cannot win. At this point, it's looking more and more obvious he's working at the behest of the Senate Republicans to keep Al Franken from becoming the 59th Democrat in the Senate. Coleman knows the political press corps can't deal with complicated issues so he's playing to that. Witness the idiotic comments by one of the Washington Post's top political writers, Shailagh Murray about a "re-vote." Idiotic. But, Norm Coleman is now saying the same thing. Thanks, Shailagh.

Big shot Republicans are raising money for Coleman to keep this battle going and to keep Franken out of the Senate. Don't forget that Coleman has George Bush's election lawyer, Ben Ginsberg, tying up the legal process. But, for those paying attention, it's clear Coleman's lawsuit isn't going so well.

So, it's no wonder that Coleman's protracted effort has resulted in yet another example of the GOP in-fighting that already popping up in so many places. Think Progress highlights an intra-state battle between the Republican Governor, Tim Pawlenty, and the former Senator:

But the longer the seat remains vacant, the longer the citizens of Minnesota remain underrepresented. Indeed, today on C-SPAN, Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said that the lone representation in the senate is hurting the state:

HOST: [H]as it hurt the state not having a senator, a second senator available? […]

PAWLENTY: Yes, it has put Minnesota at a disadvantage when there’s only 100 senators total and you are missing one and it is one of two from your state, that puts you at a disadvantage. When you have big legislation being decided and you are trying to fight for your perspective, or your influence on a piece of legislation it puts our state at a disadvantage.

The Republicans are using the Coleman lawsuit to obstruct the Obama agenda. That's what this is really about, not that any political reporter, like Shailagh Murray, could ever figure that out. The Republicans don't want the Democrats to have 59 Senators. It's a whole hell of a lot easier to get to 60 from 59 then it is from 58.

And, one last thing, if a Democrat was stringing this out, the Republicans would have raised holy hell. The pundits would have been calling for the Democrat to concede. Democrats would have been calling for the Democrat to concede "for the good of the country." And, the Democrat probably would have already conceded. It's time for Norm Coleman to concede for the good of the citizens of Minnesota. But, Norm Coleman would never think like that. No Republican would.