Senate Republicans today find themselves at the precipice of political relevance with the unanimous decision of the three judge panel in Minnesota to rule the Franken – Coleman election in favor of the Democrat, Al Franken.
The bottom line is that neither the MN State Supreme Court nor the U.S. Supreme Court are going to override this decision. The NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) has a decision to make… do you continue to place valuable resources on a seat that will not change the balance of power in this Congress or do you make pro-active plans to win seats in 2010?
According to the Cook Political Report, Republicans currently hold more toss up seats than Democrats including FL, KY, MN, NH, and OH. All of these states excluding KY have senators who have announced that they will not run for re-election. IF the Democrats keep their seats and pick up one or two of the seats in play, they will have over 60 votes and be able to invoke Rule 22 (Cloture) to end debate on any issue on the floor of the Senate.
My two cents: Let Coleman go and focus on the big picture. If Democrats are able to stop filibusters with the cloture rule, the 112th Congress is going to be a long two years of Republicans speaking loudly but having a very little stick.
Faculty, Department of Political Science, Towson University. Graduate from Liberty University Seminary.