Tag Archive for 'Michael Brodkorb'

The Death of Minnesota Democrats Exposed

by Aaron Landry | 22 Comments

If this isn’t the final nail in the coffin, I don’t know what is:

While MDE has always been the site of “let’s throw this mostly-inaccurate-spin out there and see if it sticks with the media,” things keep getting worse and worse. It’s now flat-out lies from MDE, most from Luke Hellier, and it’s widely documented. By the way, if you haven’t figured it out yet, the site they’re linking to today goes to a parody site of the Communist Party, not the official site.

MDE was incredibly effective for the GOP with Michael Brodkorb at the helm as he’s incredibly media savvy and disgustingly manipulative. Brodkorb was able to use MDE to get the media and the public to believe things that weren’t true and have that spin reported. Now I don’t know if MDE is more of a joke than a failure.

March 3, 2010, 10:03 am | Category: General | Tags: , .

Michael Brodkorb’s Irrational Personal Vendetta Against Mark Ritchie, pt. 2

by Jeff Rosenberg | 8 Comments

Last November, Matt wrote about Michael Brodkorb’s bizarre obsession with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie:

…there’s something more with Michael’s vile hatred for Secretary of State Ritchie.  Something that I can’t put my finger on.  Is it just the reality of a DFL SoS that stokes Michael’s fire, is it Ritchie’s determination to make sure everyone in Minnesota can vote, did he just really like Mary Kiffemeyer?

Now that he’s Deputy Chairman of the GOP, Brodkorb is bringing his irrational hatred with him, in the form of a senseless attack on Ritchie a full 16 months before the election. This is just another in a series of bizarre attacks. After all, 16 months before the election, who cares? The only reason for the attack is because Brodkorb seems unable to control his rage; it certainly doesn’t make political sense.

Matt suggested a few reasons for Brodkorb’s hatred of Ritchie. I really don’t care what his reasons are; I’m more interested in his inability to get over it. It was one thing wasting his own time and resources on discredited attacks against Ritchie, but it boggles the mind that he’s managed to drag the entire Republican party into his vendetta. Does the GOP, given the huge challenges it faces, really want to spend its money satisfying Michael Brodkorb’s whims?

I suppose I should be thankful they’re throwing away their money. I guess it’s just said to see the last vestiges of a moderate, rational GOP disappearing.

July 17, 2009, 7:00 am | Category: Misc. Local Politics | Tags: , .

Has the Star Tribune Finally Learned to Not Trust Brodkorb?

by Aaron Landry | 2 Comments

Update: Less than 24 hours later, I’m proven wrong.

As Jeff pointed out earlier today, Michael Brodkorb is at it again — trying to make a press story out of nothing. Rachel Stassen-Berger called him out on it yesterday and killed the story:

But even [Brodkorb] admits that any count he gets, if he gets the data, would come accompanied by a “giant asterisks.” That’s because, without the envelopes, he wouldn’t be in a position to know whether the individuals who cast the ballots comported with even the most basic requirements of absentee ballots. He could not check, for instance, whether those who cast the ballots were registered. Without that information, it’s not clear to this reporter what practical value the information would have — except for spin purposes.

Exactly. The only reason Brodkorb is doing this is for spin and media coverage. Over in the comments in MinnPost, Alan Paulson says:

The elections officials will refuse [Brodkorb’s] request. He would be wasting his time to sue. Opening the ballots would require an act of the Legislature.

While Mr. Paulson is sound in his logic, Brodkorb is absolutely not wasting his time. The whole point is to get media coverage, not to actually accomplish anything for the voters of Minnesota. Brodkorb’s the same guy that started the rumor that Mark Ritchie is a communist, harassing female DFL staffers by posting photos of them online and asking his readers what “skinny bitches for Madia” meant, called the exploitation of an 8-year-old girl “hilarious”, stalked a woman in a Perkins Restaurant parking lot outside a campaign office after placing illegal lawn signs, and now, naturally, he’s running for deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP. The whole point here is media coverage for Brodkorb and his allies, not to do anything relevant or helpful for anyone else.

This is what I don’t understand, though: the Star Tribune has traditionally published Brodkorb’s stories and tips. For example, he was going to sue over alleged double-counting of ballots and the Strib gave him an entire article. He never actually sued anyone — it was just for press coverage, as far as we can tell.

Has the Star Tribune finally learned to not fall for his traps?

June 9, 2009, 11:57 am | Category: MN 2008: Senate | Tags: .

I Love The Smell Of Republican Infighting In The Morning #2

by Zack Stephenson | 30 Comments

This morning, I linked to a post written by Joe Repya, a prominent Republican activist and former candidate for MN GOP Chair, slamming Republican operative Michael Brodkorb.  Repya had published the post on his personal blog, The Eagle’s Nest.  Shortly after I published my post, Repya emailed me alleging that his post, which he had cross posted at True North, had been taken down by the site’s administrator without his knowledge or permission:

I have found out that my post was taken down by the site administrator at True North after numerous calls/messages from Michael Brodkorb.

I asked the administrators of True North about Repya’s allegations.  Here is their reply:

Mr. Brodkorb had nothing to do with our decision. No one had contact with Brodkorb on this subject or on this post. We as the editors of TrueNorth felt it was not the type of post we think True North is here for. It is rare that we pull any posts down, but from time to time some posts happen to be put up on TN that are better suited on an individual’s blog, not on a website with such a large and variety of contributors who may or may not agree.

I also asked Michael Brodkorb about Repya’s allegations:

I didn’t have anything to do with the post being removed from True North and the independent statement from the site’s administrators verify that.

January 12, 2009, 5:29 pm | Category: Misc. Local Politics | Tags: , .

I Love The Smell Of Republican Infighting In The Morning

by Zack Stephenson | 13 Comments

What a pleasant way to start your day:

Frankly, I’m no fan of this guy and Michael Brodkorb’s effort to run for MN GOP Deputy is laughable.

Brodkorb is perhaps one of the most angry, abrasive, and divisive individuals in Minnesota’s political process. His thuggish and bullying behavior has caused many GOP grassroots activists in Eagan to be so turned off by his antics that they lost interest in participating in the political process. Eagan is now a solid DFL stronghold. He is one of the reasons that the MN GOP has lost so much ground the last three elections.

The current MN GOP Deputy, Dorothy Fleming is a far better candidate and a uniter not divider.

That’s Joe Repya, prominent Republican activist and past (and perhaps future) candidate for MN GOP Chair, discussing Michael Brodkorb, proprietor of Minnesota Democrats Exposed and Communications Director for the Senate Republican Caucus. It would seem that some among the GOP’s activist base are not too pleased with Michael’s scorched earth tactics.

Of course, Repya’s feud with Brodkorb is nothing new. Brodkorb managed Ron Carey’s re-election campaign for party chair two years ago. Repya was Carey’s opponent. What is new, however, is this blog: (which I hadn’t discovered until I read Repya’s post) Dump Brodkorb. Its apparently an effort to prevent Michael from being elected MN GOP Deputy Chair. One would think that Repya would be sympathetic with this blog, but Joe smells foul play:

As of this morning no one has stepped forward to admit ownership of the web site.

This has led many of us to deduce that the owner of the web site might actually be Michael Brodkorb.

Why? It fits his pattern of despicable political shenanigans. Set up a web site against himself, so he can play the victim card and say that mystical forces or his political enemies are trying to keep him from office because they fear his effectiveness.

Dump Brodkorb has no real content yet, but I’ve added it my to my RSS and I’m looking forward to see what they come up with.

UPDATE: I wrote above that Repya might be a future candidate for MN GOP Chair.  Well, Repya just announced that he will not run and will instead support former Senator Rod Grams for the position.  I don’t think that the GOP will elect Grams Chair.  There is just no way that the DFL could be that lucky.

January 12, 2009, 8:39 am | Category: Misc. Local Politics | Tags: , , .

Media Matters Nails Fox News On Rumor Michael Brodkorb Started

by Aaron Landry | 15 Comments

Even though the “Lizard People” ballot is pretty darn funny, I think Media Matters catching Fox News’ Andrew Napolitano lying takes the cake for me this week in recount news:

During the November 19 edition of Fox News’ Studio B, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court judge, baselessly claimed that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) is a “former member of the Communist Party.” Discussing the members appointed to the Minnesota State Canvassing Board, which oversees the recount in the Minnesota Senate race, Napolitano stated: “The fifth member of the committee by statute, is the secretary of state, who is a Democrat and a former communist — former member of the Communist Party.” Napolitano provided no evidence to support his claim that Ritchie is “a former communist” or a “former member of the Communist Party.”

Hilarious. Communist? Really? Where did you get that information? Oh yeah, a rumor that dedicated MNpublius reader Michael Brodkorb himself started. Note, Michael Brodkorb may not have directly claimed that Mark Ritchie was a communist, but he did start the rumor. From a post that he quickly retracted this evening for some reason:

As the blogger who broke the story about Ritchie’s connection to Communist Party, please see the links to my original posts.

He then links to all four examples of his own “research” that shows these amazing ties between Mark Ritchie and Communism. First, he links to a piece at the Community Party website that actually has nothing to do with Mark Ritchie or his political views except for the fact he got mentioned as someone that is known to protect voter’s rights and being part of the voter protection movement. Brodkorb picks his quote wisely and doesn’t include what’s written after it. Brilliant. Secondly, he links to an piece that Mark Ritchie wrote that appeared on the People’s Weekly World. Brodkorb writes:

Ritchie’s writings have been published by newspaper with “a special relationship with the Communist Party USA.”

Even if that connection is incredibly weak in the first place, Brodkorb doesn’t tell you that the piece was originally at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (.doc) dated a couple weeks earlier and simply reprinted by the People’s Weekly World. Heh.

Brodkorb’s third example is how the Star Tribune mentioned Brodkorb’s spun version of his first example. Congratulations, Mr. Michael B. Brodkorb! I wonder how that happened?!

The fourth and final example is a $250 contribution to Mark Ritchie from a donor that is also part of an organization that “is dedicated to providing information and activities relating to contemporary Cuba and contributing to a normalization of relations between Cuba and the U.S.”

Wow. $250 from someone interested in normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S.? That must mean Ritchie is a secret communist!

By the time the telephone tag is done, we have Fox News lying by saying that Mark Ritchie was part of the Communist Party.

The level of wing-nuttery exceeds my normal threshold and perhaps this occurred to Michael Brodkorb when he decided to pull the post down within minutes after posting it. It’s that or he realized that when he linked to Media Matters showing that the whole Communist connection is a load of bunk, he may no longer have wanted to take credit for spreading the rumor.

November 20, 2008, 8:53 pm | Category: MN 2008: Senate | Tags: , .

Harassment By Erik Paulsen’s Consultant Spawns Viral Email Protest

by Aaron Landry | 13 Comments

MNpublius just forwarded an email (with a very long list of recipients) that has been circulating for awhile today:

We must respond to this misoginistic attack on young women staffers by this blogger who is Erik Paulsen’s paid consultant.  I’m going to ask you to do several things:

1)  Click on this link to understand my outrage. http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/10/26/more-evidence-of-madias-postive-and-uplifting-campaign/

2)  Write xx@paulsenforcongress.com. She is Erik Paulsen’s communications director or call Erik Paulsen at xx@paulsenforcongress.com (952) 934-xxxx

3)  Forward this request to every woman you know who will write in to express her disgust with Paulsen’s campaign and his paid minions.

4)  Keep track of how many people write. Let’s aim for 100 emails before lunch today.

5)  Please email me that you have written to Erik Paulsen.
 
Thank you. 
 
I am approaching every women’s organization I know.  We are powerful. We can make a difference.  We cannot remain silent!

While MNpublius has absolutely nothing to do with this viral email it is not at all surprising that people are outraged and disgusted with the behavior of Paulsen’s highest paid consultant. To be honest though, it would be a lot more effective to tell the media to cover this than it would be to bombard the campaign with emails.

Either way, will Erik Paulsen condemn these actions?

October 28, 2008, 2:08 pm | Category: CD3 | Tags: , .

Erik Paulsen’s Consultant and Friends Humiliating and Harassing Female DFL Staff

by Aaron Landry | 17 Comments

Remember it’s not Norm Coleman’s campaign and the NRSC that’s gone into the gutter of appalling and disgusting attacks: Erik Paulsen’s campaign reached a new low last night when their highest paid consultant, Michael Brodkorb, started defaming female DFL staffers with photos lifted from their personal Flickr accounts and insulting them by juxtaposing their personal photos and real names with cynical and sarcastic notes on how they should “stay classy” and how they’re “embarrassing” the Madia campaign.

Remember, this is the same creep that was stalking and videotaping himself harassing a woman in a Perkins parking lot at night after planting illegally placed signs next to Madia’s office. It’s the same guy who finds exploiting an eight-year-old girl in a negative attack ad “hilarious.”

In his recent set of three posts on Michael Brodkorb’s whisper campaign and MNGOP rumor mill headquarters, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, he “exposes” and links to photos of young women and asks his readers to question what “skinny b*tches for Madia” means to them.

It is unbelievably shameful for the former Communications Director of the MN GOP, the former Research Director for the MN GOP and a consultant to numerous state-wide campaigns to push a story with copied images of young female staffers of his opponent and framing them such a disgusting context.

On Minnesota Democrats Exposed, many times Michael Brodkorb will pose a “simple question” or a very short post while his commenters finish his thought so he doesn’t have to say the words himself. It’s a common way to spread rumors, lies and to frame conversations about a topic. In the recent three separate posts and threads, he fostered the following excerpts of conversation to describe the photographs:

“When did the DFL start pimping their daughters?” “DFL is now DFLP Democrat Farm Labor Pimps” “Do I think their management is pimping them? Yes, Absolutely yes.” “To be clear, the gal at the top of this page is kind of a babe.” “She’s cute. Is she single?” “I wonder. Do you think the Democrat party pays workinggrrlz comp. for it’s staff skanks?” “Madia for Congress: Hiring gorgeous women.” ”The Democrat party, and the Ashtray Madia campaign does not discriminate it’s skankery based upon gender, sexual orientation or fashion sense.” “Word to the wise, fellas: If Democrat skanks, or skinny b*tches for Madia show up at your fraternal orginization, wrap that rascal!”

There’s much worse that I won’t reprint here. Most of it is blatant objectification of DFL staffers and nothing to do with the campaign. Brodkorb even allows linking in the comments where people actively grabbed their own copies of the photos and labelled them such as “madiaskank2.jpg” to share with others. All while the top of the post and the names of some of the images contain the women’s real names.

Michael Brodkorb does not delete these comments and allows them to foster. He even linked his posts to another site that took his lead and took it farther by calling these women “street walkers” and “skanks.”

This disgusting activity by the Paulsen campaign’s consultant should never, ever have a place in Minnesota politics. What happens when these women try to find their next jobs? Will Erik Paulsen condemn this activity from his highest paid consultant or will he let it go like he did with the racist and bigot in the Minnesota House?

The Paulsen campaign should be absolutely ashamed they have allowed themselves to go this low and Erik Paulsen should condemn these actions.

October 27, 2008, 8:51 pm | Category: CD3 | Tags: , .

Huge Surprise: Avista Capital Partners’ Paper Endorses Norm Coleman

by Aaron Landry | 15 Comments

MNpublius joked about this last week: The editorial board of Avista Capital Partners’ local paper, the Star Tribune, has gone so far right that we knew there was virtually zero chance of Al Franken being endorsed by it regardless of how qualified. We covered their editorial positions earlier, but there’s more background to back it up the non-surprise. For example from Norm Coleman’s website:

“We want to commend Senator Norm Coleman for his hard work and leadership on the passage of the Postal Reform Bill,” said Jim Andersen, president and CEO of IWCO Direct, a leading provider of integrated direct mail solutions based in Chanhassen, Minn. “Since being elected in 2002, the Senator has shown great leadership on this issue which is vitally important to the 200,000 Minnesotans whose jobs depend on direct marketing.”

IWCO Direct also happens to be part of Avista Capital Partners, where they sure seem to shell out for Republican candidates.

The CEO of Avista Capital Partners, Thompson Dean, not only owns the Star Tribune, but is also on the board. His contributions indicate he only sends to Republicans, including to Rudy Giuliani’s PAC. Coleman is the only Senate candidate to receive money from Giuliani’s PAC this cycle.

Thompson Dean also fundraises for John McCain.

This, mixed with their right-wing editorial positions this cycle and knowing that their primary investments are in oil companies and health care firms, who could possibly be surprised by a Coleman endorsement? The only one has been Republican Operative Michael Brodkorb, whom placed a bet with MinnPost’s David Brauer, one of the state’s best-regarded writer on the media. Brauer quips: 

I think Michael picked Franken to raise expectations, but I’ll take bragging rights.

That’s not all he’s taking:

No shock at all on the Strib. I like extra dry martinis.

For some reason I can’t see Brodkorb dining at Nye’s Polonaise Room.

October 25, 2008, 9:54 am | Category: MN 2008: Senate | Tags: , , .

How Close Is Barack Obama to a Crazy Delicious Breakfast in Minnesota?

by Sean Broom | 13 Comments


This close.

In other worthwhile ACORN news, here’s a video of John McCain sorrounded by ACORN activists at a immigration rally in Miami in 2006.

(Obama/Keys picture via that paragon of verisimilitude, Michael Brodkorb.)

October 15, 2008, 4:10 pm | Category: White House '08 | Tags: , , .

Hilarity Ensues in Senate District 16 GOP

by Aaron Landry | 6 Comments

Minnesota House floor time waster, typewriter thrower and wife beater Mark Olson lost 1518 to 1771 in the GOP SD16 primary. How could he have possibly lost against the unendorsed blessing of the pinnacle of elitism Alison Krueger? Well duh, it was corruption! (emphasis mine):

Olson says he is planning a write-in campaign in November and indicated he felt some votes were missing, uncounted from Orrock and Zimmerman. 

“I’m filing the paperwork as we speak,” he said Thursday. “People are very upset about how awful, how malicious their campaigning practices were. The only way to get it all out there is a continued campaign.”

Olson blamed legislative leaders in St. Paul for contributing to his defeat, saying they cut him off at the knees with illegal campaign brochures.

“There is something wrong with this picture. Candidates who are brought and sold never represent the people. They represent the people who brought them,” he said. “There is a cause here. There is corruption involved. Money and power are driving this. I have stood up against the influence of money more than anybody down there, Now I am paying the price.”

People are still upset that the likes of the Senate Republican Caucus, Michael Brodkorb and Norm Coleman decided to tell the voters of SD 16 not to vote for their grassroots-endorsed spouse-pusher and perpetual butt of time-wasting jokes at the Capitol. A man who clearly better represents the GOP in Benton, Mille Lacs, Morrison and Sherburne counties better than unknown “principled“ Alison Krueger who signed a pledge not to run against the endorsement but did anyway:

Krueger introduced herself to the Big Lake City Council at their meeting Wednesday. She thanked her supporters and said she was a believer in transportation as well as drill here, drill now.

Because “drill here, drill now” is a great belief system, especially for a candidate for the Minnesota Senate. I have to give her credit though: I am also a firm believer in transportation. In fact, my belief in transportation is stedfast and unwavering.

Anyway, what’s with this corruption? Olson’s wife Heidi Olson explains:

The sleazy mailings against Mark were impossible to counteract without the big money from outside the district like Alison had. The letter to the editor two days before the primary from the Kiffmeyer campaign committee member slandering me was another poor example. I question their integrity when it boils down to discrediting a candidate’s wife.

I miss the good old days when Republicans treated each other with respect and discussed issues. We have reached an all time low. My suggestion is to replace the current candidates in two years with ones who will campaign on issues and leave the slimy stuff to those with no significant thoughts. A goal for future higher office is no excuse for completely trashing people who have worked alongside you for 25 years.

Awe, I miss those good old days too! Welcome to the current Republican party of all recent memory, Heidi Olson! Are you that insulated from the “slimy stuff” and the “no significant thoughts”? How can you possibly be surprised about the way operatives in the Republican party operate? Your “grassroots” organization up there means nothing if it hurts the party elite in the MN GOP.

She adds, “I won’t vote Republican this year for House or Senate. I hope I can in 2010.” Well, Ms. Olson, I have to say, I welcome your choice to support DFL-endorsed candidate Lisa Fobbe. Can we also count on you for a vote for Al Franken? I mean hey, Norm Coleman personally denounced your hubby.

Meanwhile, Mark Olson is working on a write-in ballot to, um, fight corruption. On top of that, MNpublius sources lead that Olson may be considering using a new law that could end up forcing a full recount to see if he can close a 253 vote gap within the total 3,289 votes by simply counting the ballots again and wasting time and taxpayer dollars. Hasn’t Olson’s modus operandi always been wasting time and taxpayer dollars though?

September 14, 2008, 10:28 pm | Category: MN State Senate | Tags: , , , , .

Paulsen Spokesman Brodkorb Dishonest About Push Polling

by Aaron Landry | 24 Comments

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.

August 20, 2008, 2:14 pm | Category: CD3 | Tags: , , .

Brodkorb now a Paulsen “Spokesman”

by Zack Stephenson | 8 Comments

Yesterday, the Madia campaign presented the Paulsen campaign with a letter from Campaign Manager Stu Rosenberg asking  Paulsen to condemn push-polling calls that 3rd District residents have been receiving (more on that later).  MPR wrote a story about the incident that contained a interesting little nugget:

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.

Brodkorb disclosed a while back that he was doing paid work for the Paulsen campaign, but this is the first time I’ve seen him quoted on behalf of the campaign.  My previous understanding of Michael’s role on the Paulsen campaign was that he was working as a research consultant.  Now Michael has been authorized to speak on the record on Erik Paulsen’s behalf.  In my view, there is a big difference between these roles.  Anyone who has ever worked in campaign politics knows that the authorization to speak on the record in not given out to just anyone.  In a typical congressional race only one (and rarely two) staffers are permitted to speak on the record.  Erik Paulsen has entrusted Brodkorb with being the public face of his campaign, and that merits notice.

I called Michael a little while ago and he said that his position as Paulsen spokesman was temporary. He is apparently just filling in while the campaign is in between communications staffers.  And I want to be clear that there is nothing wrong with Michael having this responsibility and I also think that he has properly disclosed his paid work for Paulsen.  I just think that he designation as a Paulsen spokesman, even a temporary spokesman, is worth noting for future consideration.

August 20, 2008, 10:16 am | Category: CD3 | Tags: , .

Jason Lewis: Brodkorb, Coleman, Senate Republican Caucus are “The Pinnacle of Elitism”

by Aaron Landry | 28 Comments

The seemingly coordinated campaign by Republican operative Michael Brodkorb, Norm Coleman, the Senate Republican Caucus and others to fight against endorsed wife beater Mark Olson apparently didn’t include the people actually involved with the “grassroots” endorsement, the people in the Senate District 16 GOP and the leadership in the CD6 GOP.

From SD16’s Chris Kumpula [via]:

I find this statement to be entirely insulting to the Republicans of SD16. The folks who came to the SD16 Endorsing Convention were chosen by their neighbors to represent their neighbors’ desires and concerns at the convention.  They came to decide on who would be the better candidate to run for the vacant seat in SD16-…

Also, as Chris Kumpula comments on Brodkorb’s site:

This is disgraceful on the part of everyone having to do with this letter. Our people made their choice, we don’t need big whigs telling us we’re incompetent. We in SD16 decided Mark Olson, and the State Party and senators from OUTSIDE our district can just deal with it.

Ken Avidor recorded audio of Jason Lewis on KTLK talking with Chris and the MN CD6 GOP Chair Mark Swanson who are quite displeased with the “clear campaign to expel” Olson. Chris says:

I can’t tell you how shocked I was to see the letter from the Senate State Caucus basically insulting all the state delegates that came to our convention and made their decision. Saying “No, you people are too stupid. You’re just country hicks. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Strangely, the the MN GOP “is not moving yet” and cannot get Ron Carey to speak one way or another on the issue. Although on Jason Lewis’ show, MN CD6 GOP Chair Mark Swanson says flat out: “We support the endorsed candidate.”

There is a huge divide between the “grassroots” efforts of the SD16 GOP and the Congressional District 6 GOP and the likes of Brodkorb, Coleman and the Senate Republican Caucus that want to tell the people of SD16 what they should and should not do.

Lewis concludes:

This is the pinnacle of elitism. A bunch of elitist, Republican party hacks have gotten together and decided to override your choice. That’s what rubs me the wrong way.

I recommend listening to the whole thing to hear all the statements as well as the context.

Continued coverage at Blue man in a Red District, Dump Mark Olson, What the Republic Can Do, Lloydletta’s Nooz and Comments.

UPDATE: A couple more posts on this at Liberal in the Land of Conservative and Rook’s Rant. Both are good reads. Also, regarding some of the attempted distractions in the comments, it is clear who Lewis is referring to. I stand behind my words.

August 17, 2008, 5:04 pm | Category: MN State Senate and Misc. Local Politics | Tags: , , , .

Dave Mindeman on the Mark Olson Backstory

by Aaron Landry | 14 Comments

Yesterday, Zack posted “Brodkorb Slams Olson,” illustrating a situation where Republican operative and consultant Michael Brodkorb decided to take the day off from lying about Democrats to shed light on the nasty situation with the MN GOP where they strongly endorsed a known wife beater. Naturally, I was very suspicious of Brodkorb pointing the gun at his own party. I was the first comment on Brodkorb’s post, speaking about Olson and his primary opponent Allison Krueger:

I was a little bit surprised by Olson’s endorsement myself but to be honest, it was only a little bit of a surprise.

Of course, my gut feeling is that you have some ties that I don’t know about regarding Allison Krueger. I’m going to put that aside and try my hardest to trust that you’re posting about this because it is the right thing to do despite the fact you’ve given me zero reason to trust you with anything else.

If the facts are as balanced as how you present them, I also hope that Allison Krueger runs and that Mark Olson never runs for public office again.

A lot of the blogs and even some media assumed Brodkorb’s post was all in good faith. Hell, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Then some strange things happened. Opposing the endorsement the Senate Republican Caucus then decided to support Olson’s rival and said that Olson would “not be welcomed as a member” of the Senate Republican Caucus. It takes Michael Brodkorb to be publicly “outraged” for the Senate Republican Caucus to decide a wife beater wasn’t the best choice and to go against an endorsement?

Then the most bizarro thing happened: Norm Coleman decided to chime in:

I stand firmly with the members of the Senate Republican Caucus who today announced that they will not support Mark Olson for the open Senate seat of Betsy Wergin.  His endorsement by the party is a matter that is of great concern to me. In particular, given the circumstances behind Mr. Olson’s decision to not seek re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives – a decision that I believe was the right decision – I believe the fact that he is our party’s endorsed candidate for Senate District 16 is simply unacceptable and unsupportable.

Norm Coleman felt the need to express his ethical concerns on what happened in Minnesota Senate District 16? Huh?

mnpACT’s Dave Mindeman gives a very compelling explanation:

First, Michael Brodkorb, from MDE posts his “personal” outrage at the endorsement of a candidate with a “record”.

…

So, the Senate GOP leadership concurs. They also “respect” the endorsing process… except when they don’t. Mark Olson will not be welcome…even if elected. Pretty bold statement for a caucus outnumbered about 2 to 1.

…

Senator Coleman must have a strong moral conviction. The “loss of a Senate seat is unfortunate”….. Guess it is a small price to pay for party integrity… or is it?

I find it very hard to believe that in the course of 36 hours, most of the GOP elected leadership all respond in the same manner to the post of a blogger. 

He postulates:

This was a staged event. It was all coordinated using MDE as the focus point.

The reason? Damage control for November. The GOP has been using “moral outrage” at Franken as their only — and I mean only — campaign tactic to wage against the DFLer. Thus, Norm Coleman becomes part of the mix to re-enforce his moralistic rhetoric.

When I said in my comment that “my gut feeling is that [Brodkorb has] some ties that I don’t know about regarding Allison Krueger,” I was wrong. I failed look at the big picture (and it was 1:42 in the morning).

Brodkorb was basically the “outsider” catalyst to correct a problem that couldn’t be fixed easily with the endorsement-respecting internals of the MN GOP.

While there isn’t hard evidence to support Mindeman’s claims, I completely stand behind them. Most people forget that Michael Brodkorb isn’t just a “blogger.” He was the former Communications Director and the former Research Director for the MN GOP. He’s now a paid Republican operative and consultant that works with state-wide campaigns. Point being, Michael Brodkorb blogs “independently” about the messaging from campaigns that he had a hand in helping craft.

(Yet people compare his site with blogs such as this as if we’re two sides to the same coin.)

Mindeman ends by saying:

So, is this moral outrage or a cold political calculation? I guess that is for you to decide.

Like I said before, while there is no hard evidence, I certainly believe the latter.

Read Mindeman’s entire piece here.

August 14, 2008, 4:30 pm | Category: MN State Senate and Misc. Local Politics | Tags: , , .