Minnesota's Lone Senator Works Overtime

(CBS)  Minnesota's solo senator in Washington has been doing double duty for more than five months now, while the election dispute between Al Franken and Norm Coleman drags on. And the overtime won't be ending anytime soon, as CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras reports.

Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar may be the most popular senator on Capitol Hill. She draws an overflow crowd of constituents at her weekly coffee klatch. But there's a reason the turnout now doubles that of last year - she's the state's only senator.

"I'm a mom like your mom; I can juggle a lot of things," the senator told a fourth-grade girl at one of the recent events.

"I'm the senior and the junior senator. I'm both at the same time," said Klobuchar, a freshman elected in 2006.

That's because almost six months after the election for the other senate seat, the contest between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat and former comedian Al Franken is still in dispute.

Following a statewide recount and trial, a Minnesota court declared Franken the winner by 312 votes. But Coleman is appealing to the state's Supreme Court, arguing that rejected absentee ballots should be tallied.

"There are 4,500 Minnesotans who have a right to have their votes counted," Coleman said. "Let them be counted."

Right now, they can only count on Klobuchar. Her Washington office gets five times as many phone calls than as it used to.

"You can have as many as 10 callers on hold and as soon as a free line opens up, they pop into that new line," said Greg Bohrer, a staffer in Klobuchar's Washington office.

Many of the calls are "People saying, 'I can't find my Social Security check' or 'The Veterans Administration won't explain why my benefits have changed,'" Klobuchar said. "These are people with real problems, especially when the economy is so difficult."

Klobuchar's schedule of meetings now numbers up to 17 a day. She says she survives on five hours of sleep a night - And apparently does so with plenty of good humor.

There are some advantages to being a single senator, she said. "For one thing, there's not a lot of bickering in our delegation. You know, 'How are you going to vote?' 'Oh, I'm voting the same way'!"

As for when she'll finally have a partner to work with - it's going to be a while. The Franken-Coleman case doesn't go back to court until June.

[7eight9]

I find it quite humorous that Coleman insisted those ballots to be counted and then it turned out to be to his detriment. Now he can't take that back.

I also find it humorous that when he was winning he told Franken to be a man and step down, but now that the tables are turned, he can't take his own advice.

He is the entertainer is this debacle, not Franken. How funny is that?

Coleman, IF he manages to get his way, will be considered a big whiner anyway. The way that the GOP is going, that seems to be how most Republicans are behaving. I find this humorous too.

[ayatoldya]

Minnesota's courts, controlled by Republicans, are delaying this case because they know Coleman has lost the election and are now trying to keep Franken out of the Senate as long as possible. Of course this is to the detriment of Minnesotans, but as Republican's have shown in the last eight years in their majority of the Senate, the GOP has become the Fundamentalist GOP and like the Taliban, will work every avenue of trickery and deceit to obtain their objective and any harm to their constituents is just the unfortunate cost of doing Republican business.

[cattlekate1]

Give it up, Norm. Be a gentleman. What would Paul Wellstone say?

[mrzerato]

So Libs have no problem with terrorists having their court proceedings but Norm Coleman can't.
Posted by jonesjep

I didn't know that norm's freedom was at issue. I thought it was his selfish instinct for personal wealth through the senators seat. To bad he will not do what is the best interest of the state of Minnesota and quit this stalling

[jonesjep]

So Libs have no problem with terrorists having their court proceedings but Norm Coleman can't.

[nearl451]

Coleman will never be seen again in Minn. Politics.

He has burned his bridges, lost his constituency, lost to a comedian.

He's done.

[tmn]

Coleman lost. That's the case now, will be the case when the legal exercises are done. Coleman lost.

[mrzerato]

I don't know you political views but just because dems and liberals like the outcome of the secound count does not make it the only count. There was two counts and the first had coleman winning. Like a I said I read an artical on CBS that showed the bailouts being couinted and rejected and it was a very questionable process led by a democrat. I can not find that article but as I said before with two counts and to different out comes I wouldn't roll over and just play dead either. Just as if it was the other way a round I seriously doubt franken would jsut give up either.
Posted by stimporksuks

The initial count was so close that it had an automatic recount. Then they had a election board with only one democrat on it and the rest were republicans and independents. That board took a month and found that Senator Franken had won. Then the litigious , norm Coleman appealed the count. He lost that count.

Now he has appealed to the Minnesota supreme court. And he is making noises like he will appeal again to the US supreme court. Enough is enough. If he had an attorney and not the GOP's attorneys, he would see the hand writing on the wall and quit this nonsense

[gca2]

The loser in Minnesota should pay the legal fees......

[Snowhare]

I will give my last nickle to Pelosi, Reid ,Tax crook Geithner, Kennedy and Bryd. They are a loving and thoughtful bunch.
Posted by specialty8

How nice of you!