New Low For Al Franken Campaign... Recount: The Movie

I knew we would all live to regret Obama's after school special from the last week of the campaign. Now we have Franken putting out a web ad, presumably to influence the canvassing board, regarding rejected absentee ballots.

In case anyone is unclear, these people are referring to absentee ballots that were legally and duly rejected on grounds established by the State of Minnesota. Franken is exploiting the elderly, the infirm, or the cripplingly liberal with this wanna-be tear-jerker because he wants the opportunity to cull more votes from what he views as an untapped resource, and because he has an apparent affinity for the macabre.

You know, I've seen some pretty low moments in politics, but Franken seems to determined to break all records. As Power Line points out, the effort is largely futile. I can only speculate that Franken is lobbying not the canvassing board, not the judicial process, not even the people. He's laying the groundwork, as he has been for some time, to get the Senate to anoint him in contravention of the will of the voters.

There is a low probability the canvassing board will find in Franken's favor. He will certainly go to court, but his prospects there are dim as well. With Chambliss' Georgia victory sealing the fate of a 60 seat majority, there will be low interest in the Senate to expend capital on installing Franken as the 59th seat. I'm sure Franken knows this. The best he can hope to do is try and set a tone in which his anointment won't cost so much political capital. Being a Democrat and a Hollywoody (but I repeat myself), Franken did what comes naturally. He put together a schmaltzy appeal to emotion. Michael Moore would be proud.

The Minnesota recount is a drama, that's certain. It's also a tragic comedy. With the addition of Franken's unbearably tone-deaf weeper video, it has reached a new high in low. Congratulations Al Franken, you've convinced me you're a comedian after all, because as last-ditch desperate moves go, this one is laughably horrid.