— Per Public Policy Polling (via the Minnesota Independent and USA Today):  Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Minnesotans want Norm Coleman to concede.  That number includes almost all of Franken’s supporters (obviously), but it also includes nearly all of those who voted for Dean Barkley (a sign that Barkley probably hurt Franken much more than Coleman last November), as well as a third of the folks who voted for Coleman.

— Long-time Republican consultant Craig Shirley thinks Norm should pack it in if he loses his planned appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court: "If this goes much farther, he will lose whatever goodwill he has remaining with the voters of Minnesota and he can kiss a political comeback goodbye. There is a fine line between toughness and obstinacy."

— Of course, not all Republicans agree with Mr. Shirley.  Jane told us yesterday that The Usual Suspects of Moneyed Douchebaggery — the Chamber of Commerce, the NFIC, et cetera — are promising to raise tons of money for Norm’s legal battles.

You know, I wish they would cough up tens of millions of dollars for Norm. I really do. Because coughing it up for something that is really starting to piss off even us normally-patient Minnesotans will not only NOT make Norm Coleman a senator again, it’s also just the perfect recipe for guaranteeing that Tim Pawlenty loses his bid to stay on as governor next year — which means that a Democrat gets to decide which of Minnesota’s congressional districts goes bye-bye after the 2010 census is done. (Hint: Michele Bachmann shouldn’t get too comfy.)  It’s also several million bucks that won’t be given to Republican candidates in 2010.  But it will stimulate the local economy — and a good chunk of it will be going straight to Al Franken’s legal team, thanks to the boneheaded maneuvers that earned Team Coleman not merely a Dismissal with Prejudice, but a big fat sanction for witness-tampering.