The recount in the Coleman/Franken race will start tomorrow as planned.  The State Canvassing Board decided to move ahead with the recount plans while taking some time, perhaps a week to decide on rejected absentee ballots.  Franken attorney David Lillehaug said "every valid vote should be counted" and he was fine with the board taking some time, as was Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak who said they are "good and ready to start the recount process."

Coleman's campaign sent a press release immediately saying he was "confirmed as the winner" and that's not really true.  No winner was confirmed a recount was triggered with Coleman leading Franken by 215 votes.  Only the canvassing board can confirm a winner and that just didn't happen.  Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said "we do not know the winner."  The board didn't rule on Franken's request to add rejected absentee ballots to the count, it did not reject anything as the press released claimed either.  Franken's campaign may have been trying to slow or stop the recount in court, but before the Canvassing Board no attempt was made to stop the recount.  Media who were there will know that and know Coleman's campaign is not exactly telling the truth in this press release which many in the press corps thought went beyond spin:

COLEMAN RE-ELECTION CONFIRMED IN 2008 SENATE RACE

Canvassing Board Rejects Unprecedented Efforts to stop recount

ST. PAUL – United States Senator Norm Coleman was confirmed as the winner in the 2008 United States Senate Campaign.

Good thing there were plenty of media there to get the story straight and not swallow the press release with inaccurate info.  Not a partisan attack here, blog readers know I call it as I see it as neither a Democrat or a Republican personally.  I just don't like to be lied to (we didn't like it when Franken's campaign lied about the 84-year-old voter last week either).  The press are really tired of the campaigns giving them stories that just aren't true during this tense recount process (and both campaigns have been to blame). Members of the media were actually calling their "desks" back at their headquarters to make sure the press release wasn't reported verbatim by green staffers.

No wonder every group I talk to in various speeches are universally sick and tired of the campaigns' nasty tone and spin going on and on.  I've spoken before hundreds if not thousands of Minnesotans in the past weeks and Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are average citizens have told me in droves they have had it with these campaigns.  The audiences tell me this race lost its Minnesota sensibilities, our history of clean and accurate campaigning.

So today it was the media who packed the place along with campaign lawyers and staffers. There didn't seem to be too many just real citizens there maybe that is telling too.