Zack Stephenson, Eric Pusey and others have been covering the unethical pro-Paulsen, anti-Madia push polling in CD3. What gets me the most though is that paid Republican operative Michael Brodkorb decided to be dishonest about it in an attempt to make the playing field appear level:
Michael Brodkorb, who’s filling in as a spokesman for the Paulsen campaign, said Paulsen is not behind the calls, and countered that he also has heard reports of anti-Paulsen push polling.
“We’re both victims of these outside groups,” Brodkorb said, adding supporters told the Paulsen campaign that the AFSCME union was behind the anti-Paulsen calls. Brodkorb also noted that AFSCME has endorsed Madia, and called on Madia to “distance himself” from them.
The facts: AFSCME hasn’t been push polling in the slightest. AFSCME members were calling other AFSCME members simply urging them to support the candidate they endorsed. To compare this to push polling is wrong and incredibly misleading. To fabricate this excuse to avoid condemning the unethical push pulling is shameless. Michael Brodkorb and Erik Paulsen should be ashamed.
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If it looks like a dirty duck and quacks like a dirty duck guess what?! It’s PUSH POLLING!
People don’t sign sworn affidavits lightly.
Political operatives DO spread rumors and gossip to try and change the subject though, especially when they’ve been caught. And supposedly Brodkorb is being PAID to spread the lies.
How dumb — like we can’t see through it.
I would like Brodkorb and anyone else here to take sworn affidavits that AFSCME is push polling.
Brodkorb is very smart. I wonder what they’re paying him?
I’m no psychologist, but I think I know what is going on here.
The CD3 Democrats were split pretty evenly between Bonoff and Madia, and both camps were very bought-in to their candidates. When Madia won the endorsement on whatever ballot that was, his backers may have truly believed they had the diamond in the rough, that kid who came out of nowhere to give glory back to the western suburban Democrats. They truly believed this was one big grassroots effort.
Then, Madia had no choice to but actually run a competitive Congressional race against another worthy candidate. Now that Madia is playing the game like everyone else, his grassroots supporters don’t want to believe it. They still want him to be the unknown anti-establishment kid. Well, that label dropped the second he received his first $5,000 Labor PAC money.
Big bad Paulsen gets money from local businesses who want to continue to provide good jobs to the western suburbs, but don’t you dare talk about how Madia has gotten at least a quarter million from Big Labor. Big bad Paulsen has these high-end fundraisers around the metro area, but don’t you dare talk about the fact that way, way more of Madia’s money is coming from out-of-state, from people he’ll never represent. And please don’t talk about the fact that Madia has the national Democratic machine working on his behalf and is using techniques that national political machines use.
Madia is playing the game. Get over it.
I, for one, am absolutely thrilled that Ash Madia was intelligent and savvy enough to recognize that winning the endorsement required one ground game (the grassroots one) and another for the general election. I’m thrilled that he has hired excellent staff and has a professional and energetic campaign in place. He has energized his grassroots volunteers to get involved and work hard on his behalf while doing what needs to be done to fund this effort in order to win. Fundraising takes consistent and dedicated effort by many people. Madia is doing what he needs to do to raise the funds to compete with someone who is willing to attend fundraisers with the GOP fundraiser in chiefs (Bush and Cheney). I’m not concerned in the least that the majority of the funds don’t come from CD3. I’m not concerned that they don’t come from Minnesota. I would be concerned because of the purchased influence of the Bush Admin if they did come from big oil and large multi-national corporations. It’s a personal opinion. I’m thrilled that the DCCC and anyone else the Dems can find will jump in and help win this race. It’s the only way to compete in a district that has been bought and paid for by the GOP for 50 years.
I do disagree that the delegates were split evenly between Bonoff and Madia. Madia had the voters. Bonoff had the superdelegates. At the precinct caucuses the results were overwhelmingly Madia. It was truly a case where the system almost beat the common people. Thank heavens it didn’t work out that way.
As a Republican, I’m thankful we are not running against Bonoff.
Once again DTM tries to change the subject when it is very unflattering to his candidate.
As a “big labor” family, I am happy to have a candidate who will FINALLY support labor! Who do you think pays the bills?! In case you haven’t read the demographics, CD3 has a LOT of blue collar and is rich with diversity. Ashwin Madia represents that. I don’t want him to be the “unknown anti establishment kid”- I want him to be my Congressman. So do a lot of other people!
Back to the subject at hand. 3 affidavits that affirm push polling. One well paid republican operative trying to change the subject. And a troll trying to help the well paid operative so that the rest of us don’t get to discuss what is really going on in the 3rd — DIRTY CAMPAIGNING BY REPUBLICANS.
And DTM, Madia is running a FEDERAL CAMPAIGN. Too bad Erik can’t keep up.
“Who do you think pays the bills?! In case you haven’t read the demographics, CD3 has a LOT of blue collar and is rich with diversity.”
Blue collar is to Big Labor what small business is to Enron. I’m all for Blue Collar families thriving.
DTM,
Republicans have put Blue Collar families through the ringer for 7 years. Big Oil and multinationals come before country and citizens. To say you support blue collar families is insulting, dishonest, and crude. You support those who want to destroy the blue collar families in order to have a low wage cheap benefit labor force. Alec
next….. this time, with content.
As A BLUE COLLAR UNION FAMILY we will be voting for Madia. Erik Paulsen votes against our best interests in the state legislature, and that will not change if he gets to Washington.
Again, the subject of this discussion is the DIRTY PUSH POLLING THAT THE REPUBLICANS ARE CONDUCTING EITHER BY ERIK PAULSEN OR FOR ERIC PAULSEN. Trying to put out the possibility that a union is also push polling without any evidence really shows no support for that blue collar family DTM claims to support. If DTM really respected blue collar families, then he would be calling for proof that unions here are participating in such activities, and certainly calling for the push polling to stop. DTM might not like unions, but those union volunteers making calls to THEIR OWN MEMBERSHIP are blue collar family members. And last time I checked, calling your own membership and telling them about the candidate that their union endorsed is NOT PUSH POLLING.
I know DTM would LOVE to change the subject and have us all forget that there is nasty push polling going on in the 3rd, but I will keep reminding the readers otherwise.
Sorry, Alec. I owe you a better response than that.
My opinion is the “Big Oil” is a common refrain for people who think that Jeff Skillings and Ken Lay are a representative business person. The fact is that US “Big Oil” produces about 25% of the world’s oil supply, and they do it in the cleanest manner on earth. If you want to go after the oil cartels, look at the 75% of the oil supply that comes from state-run oil organizations in the Mideast.
If there is any collusion or price fixing going on among the 25% that comes from “Big Oil”, by all means, they should be investigated and prosecuted.
Labor Unions, in my opinion, raise prices for all consumers by artifically fixing the supply of a certain skill or trade. It happens with Cardiologists (the AMA) and it happens with Plumbers (UA). I think many, many, many people make a good blue collar living without paying Union Dues. For those invdividuals, Republican policies will protect them by letting them take home more of their paycheck to their family.
swd -
I’m going to let the facts sort out themselves. There are reportedly affidavits out there. Let’s see if that is real. Let’s see whom they came from. If true, let’s see who sponsored the polling and call for them to stop. I’ll be the first.
And let’s investigate the same thing on the other side. Where there is smoke, there is fire.
Good point, Dan The Man. Apparently signed affidavits were hand delivered to Paulsen HQ. These are apparently there for Paulsen’s staff to investigate. The courtesy of any proof of wrongdoing was not provided by Paulsen’s office - only innuendo. I would hope you would call Paulsen’s office tomorrow to ask for the verification of these signed affadavits and that the caller id’s of these polls came from ProMark Research - the same research company paid by Paulsen’s campaign. If he didn’t pay for these polls, then he should be the very first to come out and say he didn’t and to demand that this type of polling stop. If he has proof of push polling against his himself by Madia, he should also provide signed affidavits immediately so that they can be investigated, too. Otherwise, he should stop with the innuendo.
DantheMan, I agree 100%,
Thank you for defending big oil. If these moonbats want to go after the big oil cartels, I recommend they look the other way and blame the Muslin world. It is common knowledge that Texas has no connection to the Mideast.
Everyone knows the record profits US petrol companies are making year after year are because smaller Government, tax cuts, and the free market fixed their problems, and America is a better place now. US oil tried to keep our gas cheap, and failed, but that is a good thing. Anyone who disagrees hates business.
Great Job!!
@ DTM
Protecting families by letting them take home more of their paychecks?
I call bullshit.
For the amount of money union workers pay in union dues they more than make up for in higher pay, better benefits, and representation. For example I work in a union job that pays me 28.4% more than comparable non union jobs. And in this day and age of a continually rising cost of living, stagflation, and other economic factors it’s more than justified.
Wages in my industry haven’t risen much in years… not enough to keep up with the cost of living. But my wages at my union job have. I’m very fortunate to be so well represented.
The amount I make more than other people in the same field for the same type of job more than makes up for the cost of my dues (which btw run only $40 per month.)
To put that in perspective…
Bangbros Network porn access = $30 per month.
Basic Directv family package after fees = $40 per month.
The cheapest AT&T family plan (550minutes/2 lines.) = $60 per month.
The point is that these are expenditures that even the people on the lowest end of the earnings spectrum make monthly. So don’t give me the the crap about union dues breaking the backs of families across America… especially when the return on that investment is more than they would be earning without union support at all.
I look forward to your post tomorrow decrying Paulsen for the push polling. Go to his office in Eden Prairie and ask to see the affidavits for yourself. Then ask him why he has the Promark Company in his campaign finance reports.
Instead of a paid operative slinging innuendo, Paulsen should be coming to the media himself and resolving the issue.
Not doing that only confirms what the Madia campaign has claimed — push polling is being done in the 3rd to try and derail Madia’s successful campaign.
Madia must really be making the republicans nervous. Good!
Oh- DTM- we can’t investigate what isn’t happening. There are no affidavits from people claiming to have been push polled against Paulsen. But there are 3 signed affidavits that there has been push polling against Madia.
I know you are hoping for a different truth, but there is no smoking gun there. (of course there WERE smoking guns at the game fair — the ones a certain Marine was using in target practice!! and he hit every target!)
TFRWG - OK, let’s make laws so “Big Oil” can’t ever have “record” profits. Let’s make sure they have less and less profits each year. makes sense.
You’re still not going to solve the worldwide demand issue and the price of gas, as determined by OPEC, will still be $3.75 per gal.
Oh yeah, let’s invest in solar. Right now it is .1% of the equation. Aggressive investment will get that up to 1%. Woo-hoo!!
I couldn’t have said it better myself, DantheMan.
We are shocked, shocked, shocked that you would report that Brodkorb is dishonest.
We are shocked, shocked, shocked that you would report that Brodkorb is dishonest. The sun rising this morning is equally newsworthy.
DTM
Please address neighborly neighbor’s well written post.
They don’t call him FRAUDkorb for nuthin.
Great post by Cheryl P. If anyone remembers there were push polls tried against Madia in the endorsement process, too…and THEY DID’NT WORK! Brodkorb and the GOP spin doctors can try all the dirty tricks we’ve seen before and it won’t stop Madia. He’s a candidate of a lifetime, and boy am I glad he came along in my lifetime! Madia doesn’t need tricks and double speak to frame his message….it resonates with most voters in the 3rd because they’re tired of the “same old failed politics” and that’s all that Paulsen offers the voters. We are ready for change and Madia is the answer!