About

Welcome to our about page.  Here you can get a little background info about MNpublius.com’s authors (including individual emails), name, history, and those pesky disclaimers.  Feel free to scroll down or jump to a location:

The Authors
The Name
A Brief History
 Disclaimers

Matt Martin

(Yeah, I have crazy hair in the pic, but I got sick of looking for a pic)

Born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, I have acquired a strong (some might say over zealous) devotion to Minnesota.  That’s perhaps why I found my separation from Minnesota while in undergrad at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) so painful (although I absolutely loved my 4 years at Dartmouth).  So, reaching out for a way to remain connected to the state I love so much and the politics that I can’t get enough of, I logged on to Blogger in March of 2005 and launched MNpublius.  I won’t bore you with the history of the site since then, but suffice to say that it’s been an amazing journey from there to here.

Now in attendance at Law School at the University of Pennsylvania (in Philadelphia), I find myself once again temporarily separated from my home.  But, I’ll be back every summer from now until graduation (June 2010) and fully intend to (finally) return on a full-time basis thereafter.

Please, always feel free to contact me about anything at Matt (at) MNpublius.com

Zack Stephenson

I joined MN Publius in the summer of 2005 after Matt Martin called me crying one night.  Matt was heartbroken because he knew his political analysis wasn’t up to par.  He begged me to consider joining Publius.  Matt hoped that people wouldn’t notice that all of the brilliant writing on the site was mine and that he could surreptitiously take credit for my breathtaking insight.  Matt’s attempts have been largely unsuccessful (he is viewed as the unwanted stepchild at MN Publius) and his intellectual dishonesty has left him a broken and bitter man.  I, on the other hand, continue to prosper from our professional relationship, much like a beautiful girl prospers from having an ugly friend.

If you contact me at Zack (at) MNpublius.com I won’t necessarily be as sarcastic…

Sean Broom, Senior Correspondent

I’m the newest member of the MNPublius team and I live in Minneapolis with my wife, Mrs. Broom and a cat.

My hobbies include reading, cooking and napping.  Of the MNPublius contributors I’m is the most likely to post, say or do something injudicious, but I likes to think that adds to my roguish charm—all the same don’t be surprised if Matt or Zack disavow all knowledge of something I’ve has written or done, as they probably didn’t know and weren’t contacted first.

Occasionally I’m a college student at the University of Minnesota where I go when I have the time, money, patience and inclination.  I’m probably going to be History major because my lifelong ambition is to be a crotchety, but well read janitor and lord knows there is no better preparation for service industries than a liberal arts degree.  I am a fan of music and from time to time I’ll will post songs that remind me of a story—or whenever I want to, really.  My political and personal icons are Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey and Michael Collins.  If confronted angrily at a bar I’ll probably be drinking Miller Lite—I’m plebeian like that.  And finally I am one of 6 people who found the movie Club Paradise enjoyable.

Sean can be contacted directly at Sean (at) MNpublius.com

Aaron Landry, Senior Correspondent

I started getting involved with politics the same way many people do: a friend mentioned a campaign that needed help for just one weekend and then I got sucked in and volunteered through the rest of the cycle. I’ve volunteered with various campaigns over the last decade. I now generally prefer to research, write and report on campaigns instead.

I’m an online media and technology consultant and I work part-time for a brand consulting firm in Saint Paul. I’m also the Producer for the Heavy Table, an online magazine focusing on food and beverage in the Upper Midwest. I live in Minneapolis, am an amateur photographer, a hack pianist, and a licensed private pilot.

I met now-MNpublius writer Sean as I reported to him on a state senate campaign in 2005. We were at odds on almost everything and became good friends as a result. I still can’t believe that Matt and Zack let him write here, however. I met Matt and Zack at the DFL State Convention in 2006. I finally was able to persuade them to let me write here in the summer of 2008 to initially cover the Coleman-Franken Senate race… which turned into a much bigger project than I anticipated.

You can reach me here.

Jon-David Schlough , on sabbatical

Jon-David joined MNpublius.com in May of 2006.  In no small way, we owe much of our current success to his tenure here, but, alas, Jon-David joined the Al Franken for Senate campaign in February of 2007 and, since we don’t like to mix business and pleasure here, promptly quit blogging for the time-being.  If after November he returns to private life, we’ll gladly welcome him back with open arms; but until then, here’s hoping that the campaign life doesn’t crush his will to live (it’s been known to do that).

The “MN” part is simple enough: This blog is dedicated to the status of politics in Minnesota. The “Publius” part seems to cause a little confusion.

First of all, it is pronounced “poob-lee-us” not “pub-lee-us” or the worst, “pube-lee-us.” The reference is to the three gentlemen at the top of this page: (from left to right) John Jay , James Madison , and Alexander Hamilton . These three historic Americans produced and published a collection of 85 essays from 1787-1788 in order to rally support for the newly drafted Constitution. The essays, collectively known as The Federalist Papers are considered some of the most eloquent essays on government in the history of the English language. The essays were published in papers across the colonies under the pseudonym “Publius” in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola who played a crucial role in establishing the Roman Republic.

This blog is dedicated to continuing intelligent political discourse in the same vein as our forefathers (although we do not pretend to be as intelligent or eloquent).

• MN Publius was founded by Matt Martin (me) in March of 2005 while attending Dartmouth College in NH.
• Zack Stephenson joined the blog in the summer of 2005.
• Zack and I continued work on the blog through our senior years of college (Zack at Knox, me at Dartmouth).
• Jon-David Schlough joined Publius in late May of 2006.
• Zack joined the Klobuchar campaign’s communications shop in late June of 2006 and, as such, stopped blogging.
• I joined the Center for Independent Media in July of 2006 with the understanding that I could continue to blog on MN Publius with zero influence from the center
• I requested that I be given a more peripheral role with the center after the election and now merely provide occasional commentary.
• Jon-David joined the Al Franken campaign in mid-February of 2007 and, as such, stopped blogging.
• Zack came back to Publius in late February of 2007 while working for the House DFL with the understanding that he would not blog about anything related to the legislature while in that position.
• Sean Broom, former President of the MY DFL, joined MNpublius.com in June of 2007.
• Zack began Law School at the University of Virginia and Matt began Law School at the University of Pennsylvania in Fall of 2007.
• In May of 2008 we had a huge database crash and our extended archives have been damaged ever since.
• In June of 2008 Publius 4.0 (the site you see now) was launched.
• In July of 2008 Aaron Landry was added as our ‘08 Senior Correspondent.

This blog is the sole product of its authors (currently Matt, Zack and Sean) and is in no way affiliated with, funded by, or organized by any candidate, political action committee, party, or any other political organization.  In short, we don’t get any money from anyone other than the little that comes in via advertising.  And while we’re on that subject, ads are in no way a signal of endorsement of the ads’ message.  When we began running ads (to pay for hosting) we decided that it’s best not to pick and choose what we show at all; that way we can honestly say that the ad space is nothing more than a revenue generator.  What other items am I missing here… hmm… Oh, we are 100%  biased to the bone and have no qualms about admitting such.  Although we remain unconnected with any political organization, MNpublius is dedicated to helping out Democrats.  We don’t lie or misrepresent the truth, but we do select what stories to tell.  I think that’s it; so, enjoy!