Tag Archive for 'Norm Coleman'

Coleman Misleading Again About Alaska

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 26, 2008 at 1:50 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 4 Comments

Norm Coleman was flown out to be a “special guest” at indicted Senator Ted Stevens’ Kenai River Classic in Alaska three times. How does Coleman try to play it down at the Minnesota State Fair?

Norm Coleman said:

I went on a charity fishing trip. 501(c)(3), prove me. Yea, run it by the ethics committee. There are 74 boats in that. One of them obviously had somebody in it who had trouble. I wasn’t fishing with him.

ROFL. Wow, watch him try to run away from that. That guy “who had trouble” was convicted VECO executive Bill Allen. Bill Allen helped organize the entire trip! He also happens to be the very same guy who is involved with getting Stevens indicted in the first place. He also happens to be the same guy that gave money that Coleman hasn’t returned yet.

Yeah, that’s not fishy at all. Nice try, Norm.

Coleman Campaign Desperate — Even More Desperate Than Before

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 25, 2008 at 5:11 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 15 Comments

Does anyone think that releasing a television ad with an eight-year-old girl lying came as an easy decision for Team Coleman? How about when Republican Operative / Erik Paulsen’s Spokesperson Michael Brodkorb pens a freak-out post trying to change the subject when I called him out on finding making an eight-year-old lie “hilarious”? What does it say when Brodkorb calls me the “biggest liar in the Minnesota blogosphere”? Coming from the biggest Karl Rove wanna-be in the state, isn’t that codeword for saying I’m the most honest guy in blogging? I don’t need the ego boost, please.

What does all of this say about Coleman? Oh yeah, it’s because of the issues.

Team Coleman, Carey and Brodkorb have never had a way to attack Al on the issues. I mean, can you believe that we’ve had a whole campaign where we don’t hear people calling Franken a liberal? It’s because Al’s on the side of Minnesotans on every single issue that matters, and Minnesotans know it.

In addition, Coleman has been caught taking a year’s worth of free utilities, violating the Senate Gift Ban. Coleman and indicted Senator Ted Stevens and criminal VECO executives spent a lot of time together up in Alaska and he still hasn’t returned all the dirty money. An oil company even bought Coleman’s fishing license. Coleman failed our troops, our tax dollars and our country when he failed to do oversight when his job was in fact, oversight.

So what’s Coleman’s attempted signature policy of this entire cycle? What’s the only issue he could possibly think he has an advantage on? Al pretty much stomps all over it and owns the issue today. (I recommend reading the whole piece.)

Franken has been around the state delivering an entire portfolio of solutions and he’s working with and listening to Minnesotans to make sure he represents them, not big-oil, in Washington. Al’s even spending his time skipping the national spotlight so he can spend more time at the State Fair.

Next week, Norm Coleman and his landlord and operative Jeff Larson bring the Republican National Convention to Minnesota. While it will already be hard to conduct business as usual downtown, if things go bad with the multiple anti-authoritarian and anarchist groups that are now rooted in Minnesota determined to raise havoc, it will not be easy for Coleman to run away from the mess. This doesn’t include the auxiliary effects such as the likely influx of sex workers that are coming to town. Coleman already would like to run away simply for the political ramifications. It’s too bad that Coleman and Larson are the two people responsible for it being here in the first place. I only hope that the local businesses actually gain from the fiasco but right now it sure seems like more of a burden to most people than a benefit.

On top of it all, every single Senate poll shows Franken closing the gap, maintaining a tie, or starting to edge ahead against Coleman.

So the end of summer is not so great for Norm Coleman. No wonder they’re putting up shameless lies delivered by a young girl and attacking bloggers.

 

 

P.S. Again, Coleman’s failure on energy policy today is really a good read.

Coleman Exploits Eight-Year-Old Girl In False Attack Ad

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 33 Comments

Coleman took his Senate race ten notches uglier over the weekend by getting an eight-year-old girl to lie twice and mislead people in a television spot. Prepare your barf bag and check it out yourself:

In case you’re just starting to follow the Senate race now, the cold, hard facts: Al Franken pays and has always paid taxes on every penny he’s earned. Al Franken pays workers compensation insurance. Al Franken is 57. Norm Coleman is 59.

In case you’re still believing the Coleman/MNGOP/MDE framing and lies, even though it has been covered a hundred times before, there was a small tax distribution issue that the IRS didn’t even notice that was swiftly and completely corrected. There was a small workers compensation lapse that had zero impact on any employees and has been completely resolved. This stuff is old news. They’re non-issues. Again, Al Franken pays and has always paid taxes on every penny’s he’s earned. Al Franken pays workers compensation insurance. To say that Franken does not pay tax or workers compensation are two flat-out lies.

Then, to have an eight-year-old girl deliver that garbage is sick. It is disgusting. It’s ten notches worse than equating regular Minnesotans to bowlers with missing teeth.

Meanwhile, the shameless Republican operative Michael Brodkorb said publicly: “The ad is hilarious.”

   (captured Aug 25, 2008 10:50 AM)

I guess Coleman is doing everything he can to distract from his record of corruption in Washington, even if it means having an eight-year-old girl do that dirty work. Everyone involved with this ad should be ashamed.

MPR Poll: Franken, Coleman Tied

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 22, 2008 at 7:44 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 14 Comments

Minnesota Public Radio:

St. Paul, Minn. — The poll found 41 percent support Al Franken and 40 percent support Norm Coleman.

It’s a survey of 763 likely Minnesota voters between Aug. 7 and 17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

In reading the whole article though, I kept thinking that Larry Jacobs and Jennifer Duffy don’t know what the heck they’re talking about (a lot of what Larry Jacobs said was similar to what he said on WCCO last weekend too). It boils down to this: some people have a strange impression that Franken’s campaign isn’t doing as well as it should, it is comparatively getting a ton of bad press and that Franken doesn’t own on the issues. It’s basically what you’d think if you used right-wing talking points to get your news.

It seems like more and more people are actually realizing that Franken is solid on the issues, especially as Franken has been continually touring the state talking about them. The media has been covering that widely as well. Even though Franken has been viciously attacked by the right wing and even from a fringe, political heiress-“DFL” candidate, Franken is both holding his ground and going up in the polls. Meanwhile, Coleman has been basically been given a free ride from his primary opponent Jack Shepard.

As for negative press, Franken is only getting prodded on non-issues. The right wing is trying to mislead and even lie to voters on Franken’s strong ideology and ethics and Minnesotans are, more and more, seeing right through it. Why is the Coleman campaign doing this? I assume they know Franken will win with Minnesotans on what Minnesotans actually care about. Coleman can’t counter Franken on issues, especially as he can’t stand behind his voting record. Meanwhile, Coleman has been getting a ton of bad press: his likely violation of the Senate Gift Ban, letting billions get wasted in Iraq under his nose, the $10K from Ted Stevens’s PAC he still hasn’t returned yet as well as the money from convicted VECO executives. I also think there is a lot more to come. To say Franken is the one getting hounded by bad press is silly.

Sure, the race is tied, but as more and more people learn who Franken is as a person and what he stands for, I can only see Franken’s numbers rising. I don’t understand how anyone who doesn’t support Coleman now would end up supporting him in the next couple months. Franken’s best strategy right now, I think, is to continue to keep himself front and center and let people get to know him. I’m guessing this is why he went as far as to make sure he’s in Minnesota with voters instead of accepting his offered speaking spot at the DNC. It is a good time to put money on Franken.

UPDATE: View the entire poll results here.

Something Smells Fishy

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 21, 2008 at 5:43 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 23 Comments

My father had one of these crazy fish-on-the-wall things.

Oh yeah. Who does Norm Coleman work for anyway?

Coleman to Speak to Business Leaders on Health Care

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 20, 2008 at 9:27 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 6 Comments

Norm Coleman is holding an event tomorrow morning at Saint John’s Hospital in Maplewood to speak to “business leaders” about health care. Registration is free, but space is limited. The registration form also allows for questions for Coleman to be submitted in advance.

I assume things like his votes for making it illegal for Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies in 2003 and in 2005 and his votes against an amendment that would have granted that right might not come up. Coleman gets hundreds of thousands of dollars from Health Care and Big Pharma and taxpayers flip the bill on the $3.7 billion more we pay for drugs. No surprise that this event is for “business leaders” and otherwise unannounced to regular taxpayers. See the full invite here.

Coleman Denounces Angry Rhetoric, Spews Angry Rhetoric

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 19, 2008 at 2:01 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 6 Comments

Norm Coleman sent out a fundraising email to supporters today. He says:

I’m tired of the division and angry rhetoric that gets spewed by so many politicians.

…

Dividing our friends and neighbors with petty partisan attacks won’t solve our energy crisis.

The title of the email:

“Franken’s Attacks = Big Bucks From Legions of Angry Liberals”

How ironic… and then he attacks Franken throughout the entire email. Also, in the email Coleman offers no solutions. Meanwhile, Al Franken has been touring Minnesota for months offering solutions. Including solutions on the energy crisis.

All Norm Coleman cares about is being a Senator. He apparently likens the examination of his corruption in Washington and his voting record as “attacks.” Then he spews vicious and angry rhetoric, such as saying Franken has an “attack machine” that has “poisoned the well of our political process.” Now, that’s vicious. Either way, isn’t the contrary true? The whole email is a load. See for yourself (all three links point to the same Coleman fundraising page):

If RNC Wasn’t In Saint Paul, Coleman Wouldn’t Attend

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 18, 2008 at 9:04 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 2 Comments

Many incumbent Republicans are avoiding the Republican National Convention in fear of being associated with the Republican party:

[Pat] Roberts joins a handful of vulnerable Senate Republicans who have flatly said they will not attend the convention, including Susan Collins of Maine, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Ted Stevens of Alaska, and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina.

Two other vulnerable Republicans — New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker — have yet to announce if they will attend.

Our Norm Coleman? Well, he wouldn’t be attending either if it wasn’t in his own backyard:

“So I think those who come here will have an extraordinary time. But the colleagues who don’t come are staying at home only because they have tough races. If the convention wasn’t in St. Paul, I wouldn’t be at the convention,” Coleman said.

See the full story at MPR: “Attending RNC may be difficult for embattled candidates.”

KSTP/Survey USA Poll: Franken Closing In On Coleman

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 18, 2008 at 7:19 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 9 Comments

While the latest Rasmussen Reports survey has Franken and Coleman in a 45%-45% tie, the KSTP / Survey USA polls have historically given Coleman a significant lead. That lead was almost cut in half. Also, Coleman’s lead among women is also down 9 last month. I guess Minnesotans saw right through the right-wing lies about Franken’s stance on women’s issues and they understand the difference between comedy and what Franken represents as a Senate candidate. 

Jeff Rosenberg says:

The numbers are finally starting to shift in the Senate race, and this could mean serious trouble for Norm Coleman. Franken has finally turned around a campaign that had some trouble in the beginning, with plenty of time remaining for the sprint to the finish.

Dave Mindeman says:

  1. Franken has to shore up his base, but they should be he most persuadable voters. This survey shows support in the mid-70s for Franken among Democrats. That will most likely increase.
  2. Coleman still has a lead among women voters at 42-39, but Coleman’s support is dropping here as well. Franken should end up winning women voters by the election.
  3. The poll shows a Coleman lead among independents of 49-30. That, too, is probably as big a difference as we will see moving forward. Franken will get higher than 30% and with Barkley in the race, I can’t see Coleman getting 49%.

When people continue to learn more about these two candidates, I don’t see how Coleman’s support is going to increase. Franken has spent a lot of time traveling around the state laying the groundwork for an issues-based campaign, fighting for Minnesotans. When more people get to know Franken, his support will grow. Coleman just wants to be re-elected so he can keep being a Senator. More and more people are figuring that out.

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

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 17, 2008 at 5:04 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate and Misc. Local Politics
. 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.

Coleman Still Hasn’t Returned Dirty VECO Money

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 15, 2008 at 1:12 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 8 Comments

From the Associated Press early this morning:

An Alaska contractor appealed to Sen. Ted Stevens to help win federal contracts, obtain grants and settle immigration issues, federal prosecutors say.

The Justice Department stops short of calling that corruption, but prosecutors want to present that evidence at trial next month.

The Alaska Republican is charged with lying on Senate financial disclosure records about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he received from contractor VECO Corp.

Ted Stevens’ friend Norm Coleman also received money from VECO executive felons such as CEO Bill Allen and VP Rick Smith. If Coleman returned $20,000 of the $30,000 he’s received from Ted Stevens’ PAC for “political reasons,” why hasn’t he returned the VECO money?

The whole piece starts to illustrate how embedded VECO was.

Then, this afternoon, another AP piece came out on the scandal:

This week, the Justice Department offered its first public glimpse at what it uncovered: a direct line of communication from a corrupt Alaska oil contractor to one of the nation’s most powerful senators. When VECO Corp. executives needed help securing business, winning grants or navigating the bureaucracy, they called Stevens.

And when Stevens needed a new generator for his house, a car for his daughter or a job for his son, prosecutors say he called VECO, the same company that oversaw an extensive renovation project on his home.

…and it’s not just Stevens:

Two VECO executives, founder Bill Allen and vice president Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribing sympathetic legislators with cash, jobs and gifts to push for a state oil tax deal and construction of a natural gas pipeline. 

So why is Norm Coleman still okay with money from Bill Allen and Rick Smith?

AP: “Feds: Stevens got favors, contractor got key ally and direct line to Washington power”

Saint Cloud Times: Someone Gets Paper To Change Coleman Statement About Tax Break Opposition After MNpublius Posted About It And Then Michael B. Brodkorb Asked Me To Change This Headline

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 15, 2008 at 11:55 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 8 Comments

As the Saint Cloud Times reports, Al Franken has been talking about energy policy:

The DFL-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate began a two-day tour of outstate Minnesota at the association’s Energy Issues Summit, giving a brief speech and taking questions from the crowd on nuclear, renewable and fossil fuel-based energy policy.

“I believe Minnesota should be powered by Minnesota energy and that Minnesota energy should mean Minnesota jobs,” Franken told the crowd at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites.

Franken called for tax credits and other financial support for research into new forms of renewable energy and development of current forms, as well as tax credits for farmers to invest in wind energy production.

Interesting though, Coleman’s response:

Coleman opposes ending tax breaks for oil companies because the cost would only be passed on to consumers… (see update)

O RLY? But Norm Coleman was just saying he was now for taking away tax breaks for oil companies. Why the change again?

UPDATE: Republican Operative Michael B. Brodkorb of all people was happy to report in the comments that the Saint Cloud Times removed that portion of the story. That “Coleman response” portion of the article then was reduced to three paragraphs. Later on, that section grew to five paragraphs. The two paragraphs that were added are mostly Coleman talking points that refute the removed portion of the article but do not refute Franken’s position. Team Coleman was pretty eager to get that changed, I guess!

UPDATE: Republican Operative Michael B. Brodkorb, who continues to lie about me, asked that I change the headline and I agreed.

Franken in Time

by
Sean Broom
Published on August 15, 2008 at 11:31 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 3 Comments

From the website:

But toward the end of the day, Franken finds a way to connect. He’s at the Rum River Family House Residence, a place for recovering-addict moms. And he doesn’t even consider making a joke about the fact that it’s the world’s worst-named rehab center. Sitting around the living room, drinking coffee and eating lemon bars that the recovering meth moms have made, Franken reveals that he was “co-dependent” with someone close to him. As they tell their addiction stories, he’s perfectly empathetic, nodding and using the language of recovery like someone mistakenly doing a serious, dramatic reading of his 12-step Saturday Night Live character, Stuart Smalley. After they finish, Franken looks up and says, “Thanks for inspiring me. If I’m in the Senate, I’ll fight for this stuff. Because …” And then he stops and looks away, trying not to cry. It’s silent for a minute, and then one of the women quietly says, “You’ve got my vote.” To which Franken says, “That’s why I said it.” And at that moment, Franken is an unbeatable politician. Not because he’s funny or smart. But because all the people in the room know he understands them.

(emphasis mine)

When’s the last time you heard someone describe Norm Coleman as genuine, or empathic, or understanding?

The Fix Upgrades Franken

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 15, 2008 at 9:00 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 2 Comments

This morning at Washington Post’s The Fix, Chris Cillizza upgrades the Minnesota Senate race from #10 to #7 in the list of Senate races that are most likely to switch parties in the fall [via Polinaut]:

7. Minnesota (R): Comedian Al Franken’s (D) campaign has settled down nicely over the past few weeks — stopping the bleeding and turning toward substance. And, Sen. Norm Coleman (R) is going to continue to face questions in the coming months about his housing situation while in Washington. (Previous ranking: 10)

It’s true. While people are coming together for Franken he’s traveling across Minnesota talking about the things that matter to Minnesotans. For example, press this morning is about Franken in Saint Cloud talking about energy policy. On the contrary, Coleman is scrambling with looming ethics violations.

Coleman Scrambles as Ethics Issues Heat Up

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 14, 2008 at 3:22 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 6 Comments

Yesterday there was buzz about Coleman’s likely ethics violation and today it is being examined further. From Talking Points Memo:

Today, Coleman concedes to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he wasn’t paying any utility bills and didn’t even have a written lease until July, when reporters started asking about the arrangement.

…

Finding a place for $600 a month just a few blocks from the Capitol is difficult, to say the least. And the deal — and questions about whether Coleman was essentially accepting undisclosed gifts  — are cropping up as an issue in Coleman’s reelection bid

From Sam Stein at the Huffington Post:

The whole situation has raised the eyebrows of those well versed in ethics policies, who see the pseudo-advance Coleman was granted on his utility bill as a violation of the gift limit afforded to members of Congress.

“[The utilities] would constitute a gift because it is something that he, up until recently, was not paying,” explained Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Now that he has paid it, he can’t argue that it was included in the rent… Clearly, it was a gift at the time because he failed to pay. It adds to the issue that the ethics community should be looking at. The whole arrangement was inappropriate and violated ethics rule.”

How does the Coleman campaign respond?

“Take the senator at his word… He’s been remarkably transparent, open and honest about the entire situation,” said Coleman’s campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan. “Clearly, it would have been good to have a written lease, which is why they have one now.”

Because Coleman and his campaign are sooo trustworthy, ya know? And it’s not even true either: they are only providing information when they are repeatedly prodded to provide it. It has never been “remarkably transparent” and I doubt it’s “honest.” They also released a distraction video trying to show the million-dollar home Coleman rents a room from as being at fair value and wrongly trying to turn the tables. Pretty desperate. It’s clear they are scrambling at this ethics violation. 

Read the whole Huffington Post piece here: “Coleman Apartment Deal May Have Violated Ethics Rule, Group Says.”