Talk Elections

To the surprise of most political observers, former Republican senator Norm Coleman announced last night he will not run for governor of Minnesota.

"The timing on this race is both a bit too soon and a bit too late," he said in his written statement. "It is too soon after my last race and too late to do a proper job of seeking the support of delegates who will decide in which direction our party should go."

Recent polling found Coleman to be the heavy favorite in the Republican primary, and a candidate had even dropped out recently thinking Coleman was in. Left in the GOP mix are state representatives Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert.

Coleman's exit also lessens the chances of a former U.S. senator becoming governor -- a feat never accomplished in the state. Coleman lost a drawn-out election in Nov. 2008 to Al Franken, who wasn't seated until July 7, 2009.

Current Gov. Tim Pawlenty will not run for re-election. Instead he's expected to seek the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/2010/01/coleman_not_running_for_governor.html

Remember JC's "Coleman would win, Coleman would win..."?

Too bad. I was looking forward to beating him again.

You're running for governor?

Well my party beating him again.

This is a surprise. I'm not sure if it's pleasant, though, since Coleman is pretty tainted after suing Al Franken for 6 months.

Too bad. It's not like he would've won, though. I was pretty disappointed that Franken "beat" him.

"Beat" him?

Franken won the election fair and square until proven otherwise. Even Minnesota's Supreme Court (where most justices were either Republican-appointed or Indepenent-appointed) ruled in favor of Franken. If you say this election was rigged, then 2000 was definitely rigged as well. At least in Minnesota they counted all the legitimate ballots (against Coleman's wishes), unlike in Florida in 2000 where they stopped the recount halfway and declared Bush the winner.

My idea of a joke.

This improves Democrats' chances here quite a bit, doesn't it?

I wouldn't say so. Coleman is pretty tainted.

Senate bid in 2012?

Ha ha, Klobuchar would wipe the floor with him.

Coleman was an accidental US Senator. He only won because of the backlash of the Wellstone Memorial. He narrowly lost to a polarizing DEM challenger in 2008.

Yeah a guy who couldn't break 42% against Al Franken versus someone who got over 58%?