Polinaut: January 4, 2006 Archive

Follow the Money

Posted at 10:21 AM on January 4, 2006 by Bob Collins

The Institute for Money in State Politics is out with a report looking at the dollar effect on the election of 2004 and the Upper Midwest comes up relatively clean, at least if you believe cleanliness is in inverse proportion to the number of dollars involved. And, of course, the showing is a comparison to other states so I'll leave it to you to decide whether it shows the region has the right idea, or the rest of the country is a cesspool of money-induced corruption that would make even a pig smell fresh.

Among the conclusions of the study is political contributions to state-level candidates is growing, spurred on mostly by party contributions. It also shows that "when combined, money and incumbency are nearly unstoppable." And contributors to legislative candidates favored the party that controlled the legislature after the 2004 elections.

North Dakota and South Dakota were two of only seven states where the House candidates all raises less than $10,000 on average.

Minnesota was also one of the lowest states in the number of dollars raised per voter ($2.83), with Nebraska ($1.70) and North Dakota ($1.13) the only two states under $2 per voter.

The full report (in pdf form) can be found here.

"Minnesota Democrats Exposed" exposed?

Posted at 11:37 AM on January 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

The person who runs the blog, Minnesota Democrats Exposed and Blois Olson, one of the publishers of the newsletter Politics in Minnesota have been going back and forth for the last week or so over MDE's claim that Olson, who runs a communications and public relations business, tried to get a contract with 2nd District congressional candidate Coleen Rowley's campaign. MDE claimed when that didn't work out, Olson began badmouthing the Rowley campaign, mostly in an Associated Press story about the campaign against incumbent John Kline.

Now Olson has filed a defamation lawsuit against MDE's author, who has been anonymous up until now.

Coincidentally -- or perhaps not -- MDE says it will have a "major announcement" at noon today. Polinaut believes he will reveal himself as Michael Broadkorb, the former communications director for the Minnesota Republican Party under Ron Eibensteiner. When the GOP dumped Eibensteiner, Brodkorb went too. (Update: Brodkorb confirms he is MDE.)

The "disclaimer for liberals" on the MDE site says "Minnesota Democrats Exposed is not created, endorsed, sponsored, or authorized by any political party, candidate, or candidate's committee."

But it sure comes close, apparently.

Of course, anyone can sue anyone, but the effect of a lawsuit against a partisan blog might have some far-reaching consequences.

Are blogs journalism? Are they immune from having to reveal the source of their information? Is it a good idea -- legalities aside -- to have an entire "journalistic" enterprise emanate from anonymity.

I guess we're about to find out.

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