To those of us outside Minnesota, the aftermath of the Senate election there is beginning to seem a little like a "Saturday Night Live" skit. No sooner does a court declare former "SNL" player and Democrat Al Franken the winner than Republican opponent Norm Coleman vows to fight on. It’s like a carousel of political drama. And it shows no sign of slowing.

A three-judge panel ruled yesterday that Al Franken’s lead of 312 votes should stand and unanimously rejected Norm Coleman’s legal argument that the vote count had not been conducted unfairly. The judges insisted that Franken "received the highest number of votes legally cast and is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of the election."

The judges were very clear that they thought Coleman’s argument — that many rejected votes should have been counted — had no merit. They stated that Coleman’s position "would lead to an absurd result." 

That doesn’t mean Coleman won’t appeal. He will. And a decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court will come no sooner than May.
If they don’t rule in his favor, Coleman can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but at that point he’ll have to decide if that’s his best course of action politically.