The U.S. Senate recount trial moved out of the courtroom and squarely into the court of public opinion Thursday, as state DFL and Republican leaders aired plans to build public pressure to force concessions by the other party's candidate.
At a Capitol news conference, state DFL Chair Brian Melendez announced a new website, GiveitupNorm.com, that features a video urging Republican Norm Coleman to drop further legal challenges in the race and provide Minnesota "equal representation in Washington."
The website also offers a petition asking Coleman to "concede to Al Franken the election you lost fair and square."
Not to be outdone, state GOP Chairman Ron Carey held his own news conference to call on DFLer Franken to join Coleman in asking the trial judges to reconsider counting 4,400 absentee ballots that they passed on before allowing 351 to be tallied on Tuesday.
And Carey announced a petition of his own on MnGOP.com that encourages Coleman to "keep on fighting."
The 351 ballots that were counted Tuesday broke decisively for Franken, increasing his lead over Coleman from 225 votes to 312 out of 2.9 million cast in the Nov. 4 election.
The judges haven't yet rendered a final trial verdict, but Coleman attorneys say they expect to lose and plan to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Running out of patience