BuzzFlash's "Seat the Senator: Guess Franken's Swear-In Date" Contest Winner Announced: Congratulations, Quousque!

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by Alyssa Morin

^{Image courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio}

After months of counting and recounting, adjudicating and appealing, we at Buzzflash have finally confirmed a winner in our "Seat the Senator" contest. Congratulations, Quousque.

Author, comedian and Saturday Night Live veteran Al Franken was sworn in as Minnesota's senator on July 7, 2009, a staggering 239 days after the November 4 election last year. Franken declared victory on January 6 after the official recount found him ahead by 225 votes. The same day, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman filed a lawsuit with the district court disputing the results. The 111^th Congress convened with an empty seat where its junior senator from Minnesota would be.

When it became all the more painfully clear this winter that Coleman was not going to go quietly into the night, we at Buzzflash decided to hold a little contest to make the ensuing legal battle a bit more tolerable. In February, we asked our readers to "Seat the Senator" by guessing the day Franken would finally take his seat in Congress.

With all the optimism and faith in America that we have come to expect from our loyal following, and maybe with some hope left over from November, most of our readers made sunny predictions that Democrats would seat their 60^th senator in March or early April at the very latest. A few of you even suggested a late February victory.

Of course, the first lawsuit wasn't even resolved until April 13. The district judges found for Franken, and Coleman quickly responded with an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court that trudged on all spring and into summer.

Yes, it was BuzzFlash reader Quousque, who persevered with his June 30 prediction of the swearing-in.  Quousque rationalized his guess, saying it allowed enough time for the Supreme Court of the United States to have a go at the case, à la Bush v. Gore, if Coleman lost and appealed the Minnesota court's ruling. Instead, it took all spring just to get through the state court. But, lucky for Quousque, Coleman conceded after the June 30 ruling for Franken and announced that he would not seek a federal appeal.

Only one reader was more pessimistic (realistic?) than our winner; an anonymous entry speculated an October 12 seating for Franken. This may have been the time frame we were looking at had Coleman gone ahead with a federal appeal. Perhaps, with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R-MN) June 2 announcement that he won't seek reelection, Coleman is focusing on winning a new seat. Perhaps he realized he had spent enough of the GOP's money in legal battles without having to bother with SCOTUS. Perhaps the GOP helped him come to this realization.

After contributing almost $1 million to Coleman's legal fund, it would not be surprising if the Republican National Convention, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and individual senator contributors have decided to cut their losses on this futile contest. And the GOP is going to need all the resources it can get for the 2010 midterm elections.

So, congratulations, Quousque.  For your boldly prudent guess, you have won a Coen Brothers DVD Collection that includes Fargo, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing and Blood Simple to further your Minnesota appreciation. And congratulations, Sen. Al Franken. For your tenacity, you have won the legendary 60^th Democratic seat in Congress. Now, let's see what you do with it.

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