Minnesota Senate Races? Yeah, This Ish is Bananas

First: if you've been reading up and expecting daily updates, sorry -- serious family issues took precedence here in P'Cola, but I'm back now.

The race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken is the most insane political race I've seen in quite some time.

1) It's not over yet -- the recount process continues and it looks like (as of today) Franken is ahead by a miniscule amount of votes. Minnesota law demands a well-organized system where votes are audited first, then recounted, and lastly finished by the entire judges-examining-the-ballots stage. This could take awhile.

2) Minnesota voters felt both candidates were complete assholes and as a result, their approval ratings have been extremely low throughout the campaign and now in this purgatory period where we figure out what to do. Perhaps it's because Norm Coleman is an ineffectual Senator who is as likable a public figure as Nixon, and perhaps people are afraid that Al Franken has simply done too much cocaine to do menial tasks, much less make important decisions on Senate votes. Who knows?

3) Florida all over again, minus the dimpled chads nonsense of 2000. Experts say the lead in the race could shift several more times before it's all over. There are questions about whether some absentee ballots were counted or not. As previously stated, this ish is bananas.

4) As pointed out by New York Times columnist Gail Collins, Coleman had the meanest ad in the campaign, but the most hilarious! He found really beat "Hollywood celebrities" to express their disgust at having to work with Franken! The ad included Stephen Baldwin, Pat Boone, former SNL cast member Victoria Jackson, and a slew of others who jumped at the chance for air time. That ad almost makes me want to vote for him, for who am I to disagree with a Baldwin brother?

5) Franken's essay in Playboy called "Porn-O-Rama" became a central issue in the race! Good lord, how did I miss this insanity? It almost makes me want to brave the bitter Minnesota cold if their political campaigns are all like this.

We'll see who wins, maybe by 2011. In the meantime, I hope both sides continue to keep it classy. I doubt it.