How quickly they forget

Posted at 12:54 PM on January 20, 2010 by Tom Scheck (7 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. Senate, Campaign 2010

Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, is circulating a petition calling for Democrats to immediately seat Senator-elect Scott Brown. Massachusetts voters yesterday elected Brown to the U.S. Senate. His election breaks the Democrats filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. McCain, who was the GOP nominee for president in 2008, said in his petition that Brown should be seated immediately:

Last night, Scott Brown won a stunning electoral upset and will be the first Republican Senator from Massachusetts in decades. I congratulate him on his victory and thank each and every one of you who generously gave your time and energy to make this victory possible for Scott and conservatives across the country.

His victory sent a strong message that you and I have long known - Americans are furious with the liberal leadership in Washington. Their out of control spending and proposed takeover of health care are destructive to our country and we must continue to fight against it.

I look forward to welcoming Scott as a colleague when he comes to Washington to join our battle against runaway spending and government run health care. But, unfortunately, there is now talk of Democrats employing Washington D.C. political games to move their agenda forward regardless of the people's will.

The Democrats are determined to do whatever is necessary to move their big government plans forward. Today, we've put together a petition urging Democrats to seat Scott Brown immediately and I ask that you sign this petition right away.

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Republicans were urging patience when the State Canvassing Board declared Democrat Al Franken the winner over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Arizona Sen. John Kyl (from McCain's home state) warned against seating Franken until the entire process was complete. Cornyn said seating Franken would lead to a filibuster.

For those wondering, Senate rules say a Senator can't be seated until a proper election certificate is presented. The Secretary of State in Massachusetts said that could take 10 days.

Update: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said they'll wait for Brown before they take action on the health care bill.

Comments (7)

You mean when ACORN ally Ritchie flipped the election night results and declared Franken the winner.

Sorry, that is a completely different deal then Brown overwhelmingly defeating Coakley on election night.

Don't forget, had Coleman had, what was it, more then 1%, Franken wouldn't have been able to manipulate the ballots like he did. Where some ballots were counted one way in one area, but the opposite way in another.

You imply McCain has a faulty memory, I maintain you do.

Posted by AAA | January 20, 2010 1:54 PM

You're missing the point. Republicans held the process sacred in 2008. They now want to abandon it. In all honesty AAA, would you make your arguments if the party ID was reversed?

Posted by Tom Scheck | January 20, 2010 2:14 PM

Franken did no manipulating of ballots. Neither did Ritchie. Nor did Ritchie "flip" the results of that vote.

And if you're accusing Ritchie of being connected to the CROOKS who happened to be employed by ACORN, what's your proof? Otherwise, there's no reason to be embarrassed by a connection to ACORN (though, I've never heard about Mark Ritchie having any particular connection to the organization). The organization has done a lot of good for low-income people. A few bad apples have tainted the organization.

Posted by Jamie | January 20, 2010 4:45 PM

The Brown victory isn't being contested. Coakley conceded, and the margin of victory was decisive.

Coleman won the Minnesota Election, but even though he was the incumbent and the election-night totals indicated he'd won, he was blocked from voting during the recount battle. How quickly they forget indeed!

The late Senator Ted Kennedy himself was elected in a special election in 1962. He was seated immediately, even though official paperwork was still pending.

Representative Niki Tsongas, a Democrat of Lowell, won a special election in 2007 and was seated in the House before the vote was officially certified.

Democrats, at least, can be and have been seated prior to certification.

Ultimately, it is the Senate that determines it's membership. If they choose to seat a senator-elect, they may, regardless of the laws of the state that elected him. In this case, it appears they aren't in such a hurry.

Posted by Dan | January 21, 2010 10:52 AM

Oh. And I forgot to address the Ritchie/ACORN question. Yes. There is a definite connection. Ritchie's campaign website proudly lists ACORN's endorsement.

Besides taking money from the ACORN PAC, most of his individual contributions were from out of state and several of those were from ACORN leaders.

Upon his election in 2006, Ritchie thanked ACORN for their help in getting him elected.

Ritchie is also the poster-child for the success of the Soros-funded Secretary of State Project.

Posted by Dan | January 21, 2010 11:00 AM

Sloppy comparison shows reporter Scheck's personal bias. The Mass. Senate race was decided decisively before the ten o'clock news. The Minnesota Senate race was close, controversial and contested and only decided after months of litigation. (we see if Minnesota's Secretary of State acts to fix the system that failed in 2008-where is THAT story, reporters?)

Posted by Jhwellik | January 21, 2010 11:39 AM

It has nothing to do with the closeness of the election. It has to do with the process. Republicans argued for letting the process take its course. Now they want a Republican immediately seated.

Again, if the roles were reversed, would you be making the same argument?

Posted by tom scheck | January 21, 2010 12:06 PM

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