The Minnesota Canvassing Board makes it official: Franken finishes the formal recount up by 50 votes. Still on the table? Challenges and lawsuits over 1,300 to 1,400 wrongly rejected absentee ballots. But at this point, Franken has the stronger hand, and looks likely to be seated temporarily when the Senate convenes in January. Did VDB’s whispered advice to the funnyman at the Democratic National Convention, to play Coleman more like a “patsy,” have anything to do with that slim 50-vote margin? Could be, grasshopper. Could well be. Let’s ask Senator Franken.