At the risk of seeming -- heck of being -- willfully naÏve and taking seriously the constant claims that this isn't about politics, it's about principles, why doesn't Norm Coleman make the following statement containing the following simple proposition:

"The Minnesota seat in the U.S. Senate does not have to remain vacant any longer. Al Franken can be sworn in tomorrow, if he and the Democrats in the Senate will make one simple and fair agreement.

Heck, I'm not stupid or blind. I'm even a lawyer! From where we stand now, I know that when all the legal processes are done, the odds are not great that I will be serving my second term. That's just good old-fashioned Minnesota realism and candor.

My chances of of prevailing in this contest are shrinking. But they are not gone. And, after all the time, effort and money that my supporters and I have expended trying to win this election, it's not reasonable to expect me to walk away while I still have a chance, even a small chance. And I'm not going to do that.

But I do understand how impatient the good people of Minnesota have become with the perpetual legal contest, and how frustrated they are at being down a senator. So here's my proposal:

I will pursue my appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and any further appeals or legal initiatives that my attorneys and I believe are reasonable and might yet bring me victory.

But I will also state today that, subject to the agreement that I am about to outline, I will endorse the immediate PROVISIONAL seating of Al Franken in the U.S. Senate. I will publicly and privately encourage my Senate Republican colleagues, who have been so supportive of my efforts to date, that they not block the seating of Mr. Franken.

And the only thing I ask in exchange from my friends on the Democratic side is a commitment that if, at the end of the legal process, when the last court that is willing to take the case has made its final ruling, I have been judged to have won the election, the Democratic majority in the Senate will guarantee that it will remove Mr. Franken and seat me in his place.

This commitment would have to be made in a public and binding way. Mr. Franken would have to agree to it and agree not to impede if that circumstance comes about. Majority Leader Reid would have to pledge to employ whatever Senate procedures were necessary and summon from his caucus whatever number of votes are necessary, to fulfill the letter and spirit of the agreement.

For the sake of completeness, I suppose we should add one more provision to our understanding. If the final judicial determination is that the election itself was invalid and has to re-run, the seat will be declared vacant. I pledge, as part of our understanding, that I will not seek nor accept to be appointed as a caretaker senator during such an interim, until a new election can be held.

By offering this arrangement, I hope to reassure Minnesotans that my continuing legal efforts are not about stalling the inevitable outcome, but that I am truly seeking a final determinative ruling that every vote of every Minnesotan that legally should have been counted has been counted, according to the highest principles of Minnesota and U.S. law and the state and federal constitutions, and that the person who got the most legal votes should occupy that seat for the remainder the term.

If my legal position is as weak some people say, if Democrats are as confident as they say they are that Mr. Franken won the election, they have nothing to fear from this deal. Harry, Al, what do you say?"

And, if you were Al Franken and Harry Reid, what would you say?