Norm Coleman is suing to challenge Al Franken's recount victory in Minnesota's Senate race, delaying a resolution of the contest for weeks or possibly months. At a news conference filled with cheering supporters, Coleman said he won't accept an electoral board's determination yesterday that the Democrat won by 225 votes.
Coleman shrugged off the idea that he might concede the election to avoid a protracted fight that could leave Minnesota with only a single senator in Washington for months. "Something greater than expediency is at stake here," he said. "Democracy is not a machine. Sometimes it's messy and inconvenient, and reaching the best conclusion is never quick because speed is not the first objective; fairness is." (More Norm Coleman stories.)