Politicians often choose holidays to dump press releases about their divorces or positions on controversial bills into a virtual news void in the hope that no one notices.
But Tom Emmer made a good-news announcement on the eve of Thanksgiving that deserves voters' thanks. In an interview with the St. Paul newspaper on Wednesday, the eve of the Black Friday blackout from any news that doesn't involve lines of shivering shoppers, Emmer declared that he won't be a nut about the recount.
Statesman-like pronouncements are in short supply these days, but Emmer came close to Elmer Andersen-like stature by committing himself to common sense and stating that he will not prolong the state's agony by challenging the results of the recount that begins tomorrow unless it dramatically closes the 8,770-vote gap.
"I don't want to put myself or others through a futile process," he told the Pioneer Press. He isn't throwing in the towel, he hastened to add. But if the manual recount -- due to be finished, with a declared winner, by Dec. 14 -- doesn't turn up evidence of major irregularities, and if Dayton's margin remains beyond reach, Emmer said, he will not go to court to prolong the uncertainty.
"If ... we're on the short end, we're done," he said.
A sentence that nearly declarative is a beautiful thing. Previously, Emmer strangely disassociated himself from Republican chair Tony Sutton's angry threats, presenting an appearance of reasonable Old Tom without committing to a reasonable course. Now, Emmer was promising that, absent evidence of fraud or irregularity large enough to change the outcome, he will forgo the kind of endless court challenge for which a nervous state has been bracing. That should bring a sigh of relief to everyone. It might even bring horn-blowing throngs into the street.
Minnesota can't afford to go through the wringer again, and the governor's office is more important than the Senate seat that was the subject of the Norm Coleman-Al Franken fight. Yes, Franken helped give the Democrats and President Obama a (short-lived) filibuster-proof majority. But the wangling over the seat didn't cripple Washington the way that a marathon recount fight this year could interfere with crucial work in St. Paul.
Emmer's assurance -- his "do the right thing" moment -- was badly needed after two days earlier in the week when Recount Fight Fever was on the rise and it looked as if crazy rhetoric had the upper hand. There were two battles involving haggling Minnesota Supreme Court justices, past and present, that amped up the volume and made it appear that each side -- already heavily lawyered up -- was ready to rumble.
