Al Franken to Be Certified Winner in MN; Coleman to Challenge

The Minnesota State Election Board tomorrow will announce Al Franken the winner in that state's contentious Senate race against incumbent Norm Coleman:

"The canvassing board on Monday will say a recount determined Franken won by 225 votes, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told CNN. However, Coleman's campaign, which contends the recount should have included about 650 absentee ballots it says were improperly rejected in the initial count, has indicated it will challenge the certification. Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said his team believes the recount process was broken and that 'the numbers being reported will not be accurate or valid.'... 'The effort by the Franken campaign, supported by the secretary of state, to exclude improperly rejected absentee ballots is indefensible and disenfranchises hundreds of Minnesota voters,' Sheehan said. After the results are certified, Coleman's campaign will have seven days to file a challenge."

Senator Chuck Schumer indicated that the Senate should seat Franken: "With the Minnesota recount complete, it is now clear that Al Franken won the election. The Canvassing Board will meet tomorrow to wrap up its work and certify him the winner, and while there are still possible legal issues that will run their course, there is no longer any doubt who will be the next Senator from Minnesota."

It's doubtful that will happen easily: "Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called Schumer's comments premature and troubling, since Schumer is the new chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which has jurisdiction over contested elections."

CNN's announcement, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Obama Sought Out Gay Bishop Gene Robinson During Campaign

London's Times Online reports that Barack Obama sought out gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson three times during his run for President:

"Bishop Robinson, in London as a guest of the gay rights group Stonewall for its annual 'Hero of the Year' awards dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum tonight, said that Mr Obama’s campaign team had sought him last year and he had the 'honour' of three private conversations with the future president of the United States last May and June. 'The first words out of his mouth were: ‘Well you’re certainly causing a lot of trouble’, My response to him was: ‘Well that makes two of us'.' He said that Mr Obama had indicated his support for equal civil rights for gay and lesbian people and described the election as a 'religious experience'. Bishop Robinson described his conversations with him as part of Mr Obama’s 'extraordinary' outreach to all religious communities, not just Christian groups. Mr Obama, although not a member of The Episcopal Church to which Bishop Robinson belongs, is a committed Christian with the United Church of Christ."

Added Robinson: “He is impressive, he’s smart, he is an amazing listener. For someone who’s called on to speak all the time when he asks you a question it is not for show, he is actually wanting to know what you think and listens...We’ve had eight years of someone who has listened to almost no one...To see the tears in the eyes of African-Americans, it’s just been a profoundly, I would say religious, experience, very exciting."

Robinson said they also discussed the place of religion in the state: "He and I would agree about the rightful place of religion vis-a-vis the secular state. That is to say, we don’t impose our religious values on the secular state because God said so. Our faith informs our own values and then we take those values into the civil market place, the civil discourse, and then you argue for them based on the Constitution. You don’t say to someone, you must believe this because this is what God believes."

Secret Service Blames Palin for Spike in Obama Death Threats

The Secret Service is now blaming this on a surge during the campaign in death threats against Obama.

"The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling 'terrorist' and 'kill him' until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric. But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further. The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks."

Palin seems to be taking the heat for this, but McCain was equally at fault.

A look back at the attacks which America soundly rejected, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Gay Men with Rainbow Flag Attacked by Republican on Election Night

Two gay men celebrating Obama's win and carrying a rainbow flag following celebrations on election night were attacked in Washington D.C. by a disgruntled Republican coming out of the hotel where the GOP was commiserating over its loss:

"As two men celebrating the Democratic victory passed the hotel, someone darted at them and attacked them, according to the men and witnesses. 'He seemed to be a little intoxicated and maybe he was a little upset because his candidate didn't win,' said Zack Pesavento, one of the two men who said they were attacked and filed a police complaint...Witnesses say it started when one man lunged at the other two and grabbed their rainbow flag, the symbol of gay rights. 'When I tried to grab it away from him, he started hitting me, trying to attack me,' said Steve Kensinger, the other of two men who reported the attack. 'He was very aggressive and very threatening and it definitely scared me.' Pesavento says his friend got the worst of it. 'It was really violent and it it was really frightening and it seemed like he was really trying to hurt him,' Pesavento said."

The attacker, who claims he did not know what the rainbow flag symbolizes, has been charged with assault.

ABC cameras caught the end of the altercation.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...