Here’s a bit of backstage banter between the FDL crew concerning a somewhat bizarre piece by Byron York (and yes, we know that’s a redundancy).

While we’re waiting for Norm to file his appeal brief, which is due today (I keep checking www.MNCourts.gov but it’s not there yet), I can’t help but think that the very fact that he’s waited so long to file what really should be a very simple restatement of the issues mentioned in the contest trial is itself more evidence that he’s under orders to drag this thing out.

Another reason for thinking that Specter will indeed vote more like a Democrat than a Republican: The Republicans sure seem to think he will. Otherwise, the pressure on both Norm Coleman and Tim Pawlenty from top Republicans to continue to block Senator-Elect Al Franken’s being seated wouldn’t have just increased another few notches. But as recent polls of increasingly fed-up Minnesotans show, it’s not just pressure from the Republicans that Norm and Tim need to worry about.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is allowing Team Coleman until April 30 to file their written brief in their appeal of the Election Contest Court’s decision in favor of Al Franken. Will they file it today, or will they drag it out until Thursday?

The Sacramento Bee reports that Iraq War veteran Anthony Woods is preparing to announce his candidacy for the Congressional seat now held by Ellen Tauscher (CA-10) who has been nominated to the State Department by Secretary Clinton.

Kossack evandmiller makes an interesting catch: “Breaking news – the National Republican Senatorial Committee has given up on Norm Coleman! For the past few months, the NRSC has been pushing their visitors to a donate page supporting Coleman’s efforts. Now, with the most recent court decision going in Al Franken’s favor, it seems that the GOP doesn’t want to urge anymore of their supporters to fund a lost cause.”

Nearly two-thirds of Minnesotans surveyed think Norm Coleman should concede the U.S. Senate race to Al Franken, but just as many believe the voting system that gave the state its longest running election contest needs improvement. A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll has found that 64 percent of those responding believe Coleman, the Republican, should accept the recount trial court’s April 13 verdict that Democrat Franken won the race by 312 votes.

Last week, when three trial judges ruled that Franken won last year’s Senate election, they also said Coleman should pay Franken’s costs, including attorneys’ fees, for the three-day delay. Those costs added up to $16,132, according to a filing from the Franken team. The filing also lists the hourly rate for Franken’s main attorneys.

BREAKING NEWS FROM WABC

Friday, April 24, 2009

Democrat Murphy wins Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York House seat as Republican Tedisco concedes drawn-out race.

On the one hand, Norm’s folks are backslapping themselves, at least in public, over the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to accept most of Team Coleman’s proposed appeal schedule. On the other hand, they’ve got to be seriously ticked off in private. The Minnesota Supreme Court looks to be continuing the Election Contest Court’s policy of making any Federal appeal — which in this case will likely be a stay request to Strip-Search Samuel Alito — very, very difficult to justify.