It’s important to know that until the past few days, I’ve been strictly a volunteer, consulting for the campaign on interactive and IT-related issues. I made a decision at the outset of this experience that if I did decide to work full-time on the campaign, I would go on a 20 month sabbatical from MNPublius. I’d like to take a minute to talk about why I think this is important, and the right thing to do.

There is not enough time in the day to post with the consistency and quality readers expect from me. The amount of technology required to run an effective, efficient statewide campaign is overwhelming. From workstations, to the internets, to network, to phones, to security…well, you get the picture. As anyone that’s volunteered for a Senate campaign knows, the pace is extremely fast, the days extremely long, and getting time to eat and sleep can be a challenge - forget about taking two or three hours to research and write content that keeps readers coming back. This is an operational limitation, and taken alone, I might try to get past it - but there’s another, far more important reason to make this choice.

I believe bloggers should be independent voices. I don’t think anybody that’s read my work here has any illusions about the fact that I’m a liberal Democrat, and that I’m a strong voice for the party. I love the game of politics, and I’ve always been motivated by a singular goal - getting Democrats elected. That being said, I don’t believe it’s ethical to get paid by a campaign and continue to participate in the public debate taking place in the blogosphere. Bloggers have to earn their cred through reaching out, working hard, protecting sources and writing smart, compelling content. Through that process one builds an audience, relationships, and ultimately more sources that lead to better posts - and the cycle continues. In my mind, that’s real blogging. Getting paid by a campaign destroys that equation - the water simply gets too cloudy, and ultimately would damage both my ability to connect with sources and the credibility of my writing.

I’m going to miss MNPublius a lot. The 2006 cycle was truly an amazing ride, and I want to end this post by thanking some folks. Ok, there are too many - let me sum up - to sources, journalists and reporters, operatives, party luminaries, and everyone the played any part in the tremendous success of MNPublius in 2006 - THANK YOU. I could not have done this without you, and even if I had, it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.

Finally, I need to thank two great writers, astute strategists, and above all else - two guys that feel truly blessed to count as friends.

Zack Stephenson. Zack went on sabbatical when he was working on Amy’s campaign as I came into the fold, and while he proved ultimately completely useless for source information, his counsel and support throughout the cycle was invaluable to me. Simply put, when I was confounded or upset or angry or at a loss for words, Zack was always willing to pick up the phone, day or night, and talk me through whatever was happening. I know we often disagree on politics, but there’s nobody I like arguing with as much as you. Now suit up get your ass back in the game.

Matt Martin. What can I say my friend? It’s been a long strange trip. For those that don’t know, Matt founded MNPublius from Dartmouth years ago, back in the infancy of political blogging. Matt’s efforts can be summed up in one word - tireless. He’s been blogging on MNPublius consistently for years, and I’ve been lucky enough to come in and stand on the shoulders of his efforts. Matt, I’m going to miss our daily calls (voicemails), discussions (arguments), and meetings (drinking beer and venting). One thing I won’t miss at all is our friendship - because that’s never going to change. Do good work, keep your nose clean, stay on the ball, and good luck with Air America and law school. Thank you so much for everything, and godspeed in ‘08.

So say we all.

Melendez and Cassutt ran unchallenged, indeed, only one State Officer faced a challenge. The DFL Affirmative Action officer, Megan Thomas, is being challenged but sources tell me she’ll be re-elected without much trouble after the Q/A.

I think it’s safe to say that the DFL is on the right course. Having won most everything last cycle, in my opinion, our State Officers earned another term and then some.

A conservative blogger’s post revealing Kenney’s message ignited media coverage in which her colleagues criticized both her message and her use of University resources…”We don’t censor for content and there has not been a policy that electoral politics is forbidden,” she said, calling herself a “conduit for that kind of information.”…

In an e-mailed statement, Humphrey Institute dean Brian Atwood said he wanted to clarify that Kenney’s actions did not violate listserv rules…

“She also made it clear that she was looking for volunteers and that she was acting in her individual capacity,” he said. “Her interest was in providing an opportunity to our students.”

Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.

Bush has long maintained that he was unaware of attacks by any member of his administration against [former ambassador Joseph] Wilson. The ex-envoy’s stinging rebukes of the administration’s use of pre-war Iraq intelligence led Libby and other White House officials to leak Wilson’s wife’s covert CIA status to reporters in July 2003 in an act of retaliation….

Last week, Libby’s attorney Theodore Wells made a stunning pronouncement during opening statements of Libby’s trial. He claimed that the White House had made Libby a scapegoat for the leak to protect Karl Rove - Bush’s political adviser and “right-hand man.”

“Mr. Libby, you will learn, went to the vice president of the United States and met with the vice president in private. Mr. Libby said to the vice president, ‘I think the White House … is trying to set me up. People in the White House want me to be a scapegoat,’” said Wells.

Cheney’s notes seem to help bolster Wells’s defense strategy. Libby’s defense team first discussed the notes - written by Cheney in September 2003 for White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan - during opening statements last week. Wells said Cheney had written “not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of incompetence of others”: a reference to Libby being asked to deal with the media and vociferously rebut Wilson’s allegations that the Bush administration knowingly “twisted” intelligence to win support for the war in Iraq.
owever, when Cheney wrote the notes, he had originally written “this Pres.” instead of “that was.”

During cross-examination Tuesday morning, David Addington was asked specific questions about Cheney’s notes and the reference to President Bush. Addington, former counsel to the vice president, was named Cheney’s chief of staff - a position Libby had held before resigning.

“Can you make out what’s crossed out, Mr. Addington?” Wells asked, according to a copy of the transcript of Tuesday’s court proceedings.

“It says ‘the guy’ and then it says, ‘this Pres.’ and then that is scratched through,” Addington said.

This is going to be huge if it’s real.

Let me sum up:

AP: “senior Democratic official from Minnesota”
Polinaut: “Two Minnesota state senators”
Star Tribune: “two members of the Minnesota congressional delegation, prominent DFLers, top-ranked aide, ”

100% of anonymous sources I polled from quotes in other people’s stories did not confirm anything to me personally.

Update: The sources for Polinaut’s story are up, Senators Mary Olson, Bemidji, and Sharon Erickson Ropes, Winona.

Dismissing Obama’s brief and empty career as a national politician, Biden gave the famous madrassa student a backhanded

Coleman was not appeased (by the DFL apology). He issued a release saying that the DFL release had “lied about Coleman’s vote.” It continued: “If DFL Chairman Brian Melendez truly wants to ‘put partisanship aside’ as he says, he may want to start checking the Congressional record before creating his own reality.”… Melendez left a voicemail with Coleman’s chief of staff apologizing for the mix-up.

Read the part about his tie too - it’s mildly amusing and somewhat interesting.

Class Class Class!

A helpful source sent me Coleman’s releases, which added to the existing mix, reveal an obvious pattern.

1.24.07
3:32 pm - DFL sends out wrong release
4:23 pm - DFL corrects release:

Senator Coleman voted with the Democrats today on the minimum wage vote referenced in our previous press release. We were relying on a source with incorrect information and apologize to Senator Coleman for the error. We applaud his stand on this important issue.

4:36 pm - Right-Wing Blogs posting as if the correction doesn’t exist:

The Minnesota DFL has launched another false attack on Senator Norm Coleman. Today’s attack was over Senator Coleman’s vote for a minimum wage increase.

4:51 pm - Coleman’s Office issues release as if correction doesn’t exist:

Senator Norm Coleman’s Communication Director, Tom Steward, issued the following statement today in response to a false press release issued by the Minnesota DFL party that lied about Coleman’s vote on the minimum wage bill before the Senate today:

5:04 pm - Coleman’s office correct the release they just sent out for typos…

So it took the DFL 51 minutes to correct a release, based on false information from DC, and issue a public apology for the mix-up. It took 13 additional minutes for the Right-Wing blogosphere to go on the attack, ignoring the correction and public apology from the DFL, and an additional 13 minutes for Coleman’s office to respond as though the DFL release that came out 28 minutes ago didn’t exist. Oh yeah, and it finally took 13 minutes for Coleman’s office to correct their release - the original had typos.

Seem complicated? Yeah, a little…but let’s be honest, it doesn’t take much to figure it out. I thought Defiebre would, but I suppose he never got the Coleman releases. He also writes that an hour passed between the DFL’s two releases, when it was actually 51min. - oh well, only a 15% inaccurate increase

The first came on the 19th of January, when Black took shots at the DFL (on his blog and in the Strib) for daring to suggest that Coleman was hedging on Bush’s escalation plan:

“The DFL says Coleman has flip-flopped on increasing troop levels; Coleman’s words have been consistent.”

The Star Tribune political team realized this had a less than intimate relationship with the crux of the story on Coleman’s backflip, so Kevin Diaz wrote:

“Coleman has come under sharp criticism from Minnesota DFLers for appearing to break from Bush’s war policy, but refusing to back up his words in deeds. He appeared to check those criticisms Monday afternoon by signing on to a proposal that Warner and other had been considering for the past five days.”

Then today, the AP finished linguistically smooshing Black’s simply inaccurate assertion that Coleman has been consistent (emphasis and image are mine):

“The Minnesota Republican sounded like the old longhaired anti-war activist in a speech two weeks ago when talking about President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq: “I refuse to put more American lives on the line in Baghdad without being assured that the Iraqis themselves are willing to do what they need to do to end the violence of Iraqi against Iraqi.”

But Coleman wasn’t going as far as war opponents thought he was, as he soon expressed concerns that a nonbinding Senate resolution disapproving of the buildup went too far. Coleman said that while he opposed a troop buildup in Baghdad, he was not against sending more troops to other parts of Iraq, like the western Anbar province, where al-Qaida members are believed to be operating.

This week, he removed any doubt about his position by voting against the resolution in committee. Coleman has backed an alternative nonbinding resolution by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., which opposes Bush’s plan but leaves open the possibility that a small number of forces could be sent to Anbar province.”

Not surprisingly, Republican law students [one of whom, btw, took everyone to school on Almanac this Friday] kept the talking point alive, that the Star Tribune reported Coleman’s consistent position on escalation in Iraq, and those that think the fog surrounding the headlines and actual reporting of his position is the result of a mid-winter mixture of warm, muddy communication and the crisp cool air of journalism are simply shaking their fist at the moon.

Well I, for one, refuse to go quietly into the night:

“Coleman opposes troop surge” [Marshall Independent, 1/11/07].

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This hour, the president right now is behind closed doors with a group of Republican lawmakers, including Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. He’s one of those lawmakers who has come out against an increase of troops in Iraq. [January 17, 2007 Wednesday

]]> http://mnpublius.com/2007/01/coleman-confronts-iraq-war-politicsap-demolishes-blacks-mn-gop-talking-point/feed/ 1 http://mnpublius.com/2007/01/coleman-hits-head-recovers-wayward-lamp/ http://mnpublius.com/2007/01/coleman-hits-head-recovers-wayward-lamp/#comments Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:01:06 +0000 Jon-David http://s23139.gridserver.com/2007/01/coleman-hits-head-recovers-wayward-lamp/ From WashingtonPostBlog, Sleuth:

The Senator assures me he wasn’t digging for food, or trash that he might treasure, or even a Vulnerable GOP Incumbent’s Guide to Distancing Yourself From The Iraq War While Still Looking Tough On Terror.

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