MATTHEWS: Let‘s start with that election that a bipartisan panel of appellate judges out in Minnesota have ruled it‘s time to stop, who ruled unanimously in favor of Al Franken over Republican Norm Coleman.  We‘ve got Virginia governor Tim Kaine, who‘s chairman of the Democratic National Committee.  Governor Kaine, Mr. Chairman, why haven‘t the Minnesota government, meaning your colleague out there, Governor Pawlenty, a Republican, signed a certificate saying this game is over?

GOV. TIM KAINE (D-VA), DNC CHAIRMAN:  Chris, you know, it‘s a mystery, but I got my thoughts about it.  Norm Coleman lost on election day.  He lost the recount.  Now he‘s lost a stinging rejection in court.  My sense is the only way—only reason anybody is prolonging this is they‘re trying to delay putting somebody in the Senate who will be willing to vote with President Obama to accomplish what‘s right for this nation.  It‘s time to stop disenfranchising Minnesotans, put a second senator in for that state, and set this behind us.

MATTHEWS:  Well, the court ruling was overwhelming.  It was a three-judge panel.  Quote, “The overwhelming eve”—in fact, “The overwhelming weight of the evidence”—this is their ruling—“indicates that November 4^th and—November 4^th, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately.”  What more is there to say, Governor?

KAINE:  There is nothing more to say.  It was a stinging loss.  The court even ordered the Coleman camp to pay some costs and attorneys‘ fees.  There was a full hearing, as full as could be, and the court found that the election was fair.  It‘s time for Norm Coleman to set aside his ambition and let Senator Franken be seated, and that‘s what Governor Pawlenty and the Minnesota secretary of elections should do.

MATTHEWS:  You‘ve got some wild charges out there already—I mentioned in the opening—against your party by the Republicans.  You‘ve got a member of the Congress out there whacking away at the Congress, saying you‘ve got, what, 17 socialists in your party, who know who they are and admit who they are.  Have you any idea what he‘s talking about, people who call themselves socialists?

KAINE:  I have no idea, and it‘s the kind of thing we‘re seeing from these guys, more and more desperate behavior at a time when Americans, in the midst of a difficult economic circumstance, want to get business done.  We‘ve got to put a hundredth senator in so that Minnesota‘s fully represented so that we can keep making progress on these issues—economic recovery, smart strategies in dealing with nations around the world.  The president‘s making progress.  The Republican Party should not block that progress by delaying seating the second senator from Minnesota.

MATTHEWS:  Well, here they are.  Texas senator John Cornyn, who‘s head of the campaign committee for the Republican senators, sent out a fund-raising e-mail today.  Here‘s part of it.  “It‘s frankly shocking”—these are his words—“that many of the same Democrats who so loudly decried voter disenfranchisement during the Florida recount in 2000 have so quickly run away from that principle when it no longer fits their political agenda.  Nonetheless, Republicans and the NRSC”—that‘s the campaign committee—

“in particular remain committed to a full and fair resolution of the election contest and stand firmly behind Senator Norm Coleman.”

Are you saying, Governor, that they‘re not trying to get this thing resolved, they‘re just foot dragging, they know it‘s over?  Are you saying they don‘t have hope, that a smart lawyer like Ben Ginsberg doesn‘t think he‘s got something up his sleeve here?

KAINE:  Chris, I think that they absolutely know it‘s over at this point.  They are going to delay as long as they can because they don‘t want another senator to sit in that seat and support President Obama‘s agenda for getting this nation back on track.  It‘s interesting to see.  They‘re using it for fund-raising letters.  They‘re using it for all kinds of political purposes.  What they need to do is focus on the business of the country, rather than being the party of no ideas and, No, we won‘t seat a fairly elected U.S. senator.

MATTHEWS:  OK.  Thank you very much, Governor Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.