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President Obama's Democratic Party |
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has secured the critical 60 seat majority in the US Senate |
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that can help it override any Republican obstructions on Capitol Hill. |
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This happened when the Democrats |
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won the last undecided senate seat from November's election |
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after the Supreme Court in the state of Minnesota |
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declared the Democratic candidate Al Franken the winner. |
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Richard Lister reports from Washington. |
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For almost eight months |
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the two candidates had been locked |
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in a bitter fight in the Minnesota Courts |
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over the result of November's Senate election. |
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Just a few hundred votes separated them |
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after the 2.8 million cast. |
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The initial count favoured the Republican Norm Coleman |
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but the recount gave the majority |
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to his Democratic Party rival Al Franken. |
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And the State Supreme Court is now upheld that verdict. |
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His victory gives the Democrats 60 votes in the senate |
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and the potential to overturn |
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Republican efforts to block legislation. |