I believe in late 2000, Gore was called a sore loser for much less than this. However, what this does is provide yet another opportunity for progressives and Democratic Party officials to show that the republican party is only interested in two things – holding onto power by any means necessary and obstructing the Democratic Party (and by extension the will of tens of millions of Americans across the country who voted for many of the policies that Congress is attempting to pass) with no real justification, alternatives or reasons other than because they can.

And therein lies the opportunity – the republican Party won’t even allow the lawfully elected winner of a Senate race to be seated, and are actively doing whatever possible to prevent it from happening – for the sole purpose of denying 60 votes (and that in and of itself is a whole other level of obstruction) for key pieces of legislation. They aren’t even trying to hide it, and as the Media Matters post indicates:

The strange part is that Coleman's getting that press pass even though some members of the Republican Party have been brazenly open in discussing the Minnesota case in terms of a blatant stall campaign specifically designed to thwart Democrats from securing the critical 59th seat in the U.S. Senate. (A quirk in Minnesota election law means Franken, the state's winner to date, cannot be seated in the Senate while Coleman's appeals process plays out in Minnesota courts.) "The battle in Washington is real. Every day in the Senate without Al Franken is a great day," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently told a Tulsa audience. Politico reported that Republicans back the idea of Coleman appealing his case indefinitely because "a long fight is worth it if it keeps Franken from becoming the 59th Senate Democrat, which would give President Barack Obama a huge advantage over the next two years."

Apply this across the board, and you have today’s republican Party. And while we can say that Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin or Michael Steele or whatever other one you want to choose is the "leader" or "represents" the republican Party – one thing is very clear. Sore loser Norm Coleman lost his race, as did so many other republicans. Sore loser Norm Coleman is going far and above anything reasonable in terms of a plausible argument to hold onto power – or to deny the rightful winner from taking his Senate seat. Sore loser Norm Coleman is doing just what Congressional republicans and their talking meatstick followers are doing – obstructing progress and an agenda that was overwhelmingly voted for a few months ago.

And both sore loser Norm Coleman and the sore loser republican party are doing it because they can, and without offering up anything constructive of their own.

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Unrelated but important update: Today is a special election in NY-20. Please phonebank if you have any time, so we don't have a blue seat turn red.