The Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously ruled Al Franken the winner of the hotly contested Minnesota Senate race this afternoon. Incumbent Norm Coleman had appealed a lower court's decision, primarily arguing that absentee ballots had been improperly handled by electoral officials. Coleman now has the option of appealing to federal courts. He has yet to indicate whether he plans to rest his campaign for the seat. ***UPDATE Coleman has conceded the race to Franken. He won't be lodging a federal appeal.*** On Sunday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told CNN he was prepared to certify Franken as soon as the ruling was handed down, but he added he would of course follow the direction of the Supreme Court should Coleman take his appeal further. 

Depending on Coleman's actions, Franken may be seated as early as next week, when Congress returns from Fourth of July recess. This would nominally give the Democrats a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority. But will Franken's presence in the caucus really change things for Senate Democrats? I'm inclined to think no. Why? Because the real 60th vote remains newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter, and it's still unclear to me the degree to which he will actually be a faithful caucus member. So far, he appears to be playing well with his new friends, but his loyalty hasn't really been tested yet. The most telling indicator of his intentions to date was his decision last week to support the inclusion of a public plan in health-reform legislation. This came after weeks of strategically applied grassroots pressure mobilized by pro-public-plan groups. Predictably, Specter is less concerned with the ideological or policy ramifications of his supporting a public plan than with his electoral viability if he doesn't. Specter is increasingly likely to face a serious challenger in the Democratic primary, so he needs to prove to Democratic primary voters that he can be trusted to remain true to his new party label. Franken will indeed add a (undeniably entertaining) 60th voice to the caucus room, but the real 60th vote is still in the hands of Pennsylvania primary voters.