Nate Silver reports that, depending on whether you believe the Minnesota Secretary of State or the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the first day of recounting the Senate ballots shrank Norm Coleman’s lead over Al Franken by either 43 or 41; in either case, it’s now under 175 votes (and they got through only 15.49% of the ballots yesterday).
“If the first day’s results are indicative of the pace that the candidates will maintain throughout the recount process,” Nate says, “Franken would gain a net of 278 votes over [Coleman], giving him a narrow victory. For any number of reasons, however, the results reported thus far may not be indicative of future trends. …”
Meanwhile, Minnesota NPR’s nice show-and-tell about the contested ballots not only invites us to decide which examples we’d count for whom but also indicates some support in Minnesota for the “Lizard Party” . . .
I’ve been a card-carrying member of the ‘Lizard Party’ for a long time and it’s nice to finally get some media attention. I just wish these pesky blogs would stop teasing us. Our motto: “It’s not over ’til the nekid old fat lady sings!” Mornin Lotus.
Mornin’, woo.
Mi-mi-mi-miiii. (Don’t worry now, I’m not fat or nekkid, just oldish.)