Oh Norm...

Seems Norm already has a new gig lined up. At the same time Norm Coleman fights a protracted, and, lets be honest, losing legal battle for the junior senate seat in MN against Al Franken, he is taking a lobbying job with the Republican Jewish coalition (stop laughing). They claim he is just trying to pay the bills, but this, frankly, seems to be bullshit. Coleman has considerable assets from his time as Minnesota solicitor general. Not Mitt Rommney money, with most of it being tied up in his St. Paul home, but still well enough off to be considered upper middle class.

What Coleman is doing is classical political theater. Its known as de-legitimization, and it is a last ditch move to make the other sides win seem like it shouldn't have counted, and giving your side a boost come next election. It's something the republicans do very well, and the democrats very badly (see: Bush v. Gore). The republicans tried to do it this time with the whole ACORN business, and they would have succeeded if the election hadn't been a staggering blowout. 

The Republicans are a party looking for an identity at the moment, after taking two straight elections worth of beatings. They are a party looking for an identity, trying to accommodate Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal under the same tent roof as nut job figures like Gov. Palin and Rush Limbaugh. A common enemy to rally around is the best place to start, and Pres. Obama makes, believe it or not, a fairly bad one at the moment. If the wingnuts in the room try to demonize him, they're going to fucking lose. He's simply too popular. Al Franken, on the other hand, is a polarizing figure, and may be just the ticket they need.