...

Long after most races had been decided, the bid of a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian to join the United States Senate remained uncertain Wednesday.

 

Al Franken's bid to unseat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota fell short by 571 votes, according to the completed unofficial tally. Coleman secured 42.03 percent of the vote, and Franken 42.01 percent.

 

Those numbers virtually assured a recount, which according to Minnesota law is triggered if the margin of victory is less than half of 1%, and so the result may not be known for days.

 

If Franken is able to pull out a victory, it would cap a remarkable transformation of a "Saturday Night Live" icon, famous for characters like the self-affirming Stuart Smalley, to one of the country's most prominent lawmakers.

....

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE4A48WH20081105

Franken suffers from the notion that he CAN'T lose. He did.

Endless recounts that only find "new ballots" for him (and Obama) fall in the "Yea, that's it" category.

 There have been hundreds of election recounts in recent years and there has NEVER been a case where all recounts add votes to ONLY one candidate. 

Sounds like how my brothers and I used to play Monopoly.  The banker, and nobody else, always seemed to get little surpluses.  ... Hmm... Yea! That's it !!

Maybe Franken really isn't good enough, smart enough and dog gonne it... a few more people DON'T like him than his opponent.   

Infix, just so you know it wasn't Al FRankens decision to recount, it's Minnesota state law. And hundreds of recounts in recent years? At the national level? Really? Have any been this close?

Recounts are often just a last effort to win but it's hard to argue with a recount in a margin so incredibly close, you might wanna make sure.

And, I'm not sure where Obama comes into play.

Al Franken is a smart dude but also pretty dang narcissistic and smug...kind of down the lines of Bill Maher but not as bad.

Whatever happened with this? Did they finish the recount?