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Political Payback In The Land Of Brodkorb

by: TwoPuttTommy

Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 10:05:34 AM CDT

Here's the story of a district
That once was pretty solid red.
Then along came a guy named Brodkorb
So let's see where his politics have led....

In the 2000 election, winners were GOPer State Rep Tim Wilkin in 38-A by 9 points, GOPer State RepTim Pawlenty in 38-B by a whopping 32 points, and DFL State Senator Deanna Weiner by a mere 529 votes - or, .31%. In 2002, with T-Bag taking off for the corner office at the Capital, GOPer State Rep Tim Wilkin increased his margin and won by 16, T-Bag replacement GOPer Lynn Wardlow won by 16 in 38-B, and GOPer Mike McGinn knocked off the incumbent DFLer - giving the GOP all three seats in Senate District 38.

Since then, Brodkorb - a/k/a "MudSlingerMike" - started a ~~smear machine~~ "blog" and "served" in a variety of positions in the State GOP (rising to his current position as State GOP Deputy Chair) - including a ~~stunt~~ "stint" as Chair of the local SD-38 GOP. The results o' MudSlingerMike's hard work, locally in 38?

The incumbents for next Tuesday's elections are:
DFL State Senator Jim Carlson
DFL State Rep Sandra Masin in 38-A
DFL State Rep Mike Obermueller in 38-B

Brodkorb, you're doin' a heckuva job in your own back yard!!!

Well, this year, certain GOPers are hoping money will make a few things different.

Yesterday, I got a tip:

TwoPuttTommy :: Political Payback In The Land Of Brodkorb

It seems that the Racino people are dropping money bombs on Senator Jim Carlson. In the October 15th edition of the local "Eagan This Week" newspaper, there was an ad ripping State Senator Carlson for his opposition to former GOPer State Senator Dick Day's current meal-ticket, the proposed Racino at Canterbury Park. The tip also noted that although the ad was in the October 15th paper, the "new" Racino group (the "Vote Racino Now Committee" dropping the moneybombs (they also ran 2 ads on the 22nd) didn't file their Campaign Finance Board unitl October ~~20th~~18th.

Hmm... buy ads on the 15th; don't file until the ~~20th~~18th? Well, fact-checking this tip turns up that it's probably legal; the Campaign Finance Board tells me that a "Committee" has 14 days to file after incurring a debt or spending money. And the Treasurer of that new Committee, Attorney Chris Johnson, assured me future Campaign Board filings would confirm that. We'll see....

Anyway, who has tossed dough at that Committee that has tossed moneybombs at State Senator Carlson's way? Let's look!!!

Canterbury Park dropping $18,000 into a newly formed Committee that's dropping anti-Senator Carlson ads into the local newspaper days before an election.....

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is political payback in the land of Brodkorb.

And under the Citizens United ruling, it seems that's the way GOPers will play.

Earlier, I pointed out that despite the antics and politics of Michael Brodkorb, the voters that know him best - the voters in Senate District 38 - turned a solid GOP District into a solid DFL District.

Let's hope those voters are still paying attention, and reject the moneybombs tossed at Senator Jim Carlson by returning him - along with Sandy Masin and Mike Obermueller, too - to St. Paul.

Tags: dirty politics, Campaign Finance Board, mike obermueller, Canterbury Park, Racino, DFL, GOP, MN-2010, SD-38, money bombs, Mud Slinger Mike, Michael Brodkorb, Sandy Masin, Jim Carlson, Pawlenty, T-Bag, Local Campaigns, (All Tags)

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Political Payback In The Land Of Brodkorb | 4 comments

DFL in 38! (0.00 / 0)

Eagan is currently represented so well, it would be a shame for these fine legislators to get pushed out by a GOP money bomb.

Jim Carlson is one of the hardest-working, smartest people in the legislature. He brings a welcome technical expertise and a deep and abiding love for his district and the state that cannot be easily replaced. He's principled but not dogmatic, and he's one of my favorite people in the legislature.

Sandy Masin is a quiet rockstar. I've seen first-hand how hard she works, both in her job and in her campaigns to keep it. She's always prepared for every hearing, and when she speaks it always adds value to the discussion. (seriously, do you know how awesome it is to have a politician who doesn't talk just to hear themselves speak?) She's serious, committed and makes wise judgments for her district.

Mike Obermuller is a rising star. He's got higher office written all over him, if he wants it. Mike is great at looking at the big picture without losing track of the important details. He's incredibly dedicated, and refuses to be outworked. Mike's also incredibly smart. He knows his district, knows the districts around him and is already well-respected on both sides of the aisle.

These are all GREAT legislators. In a time when too often we are forced to choose between the lesser of who cares, SD38 is lucky to have three great legislators, all of whom should be returned for another go.

by: JML @ Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 16:43:20 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Please be accurate... (0.00 / 0)

The Vote Racino Now Committee was registered on October 18, not October 20. The registration was, of course, mailed prior to the 18th of October. The Committee followed the letter of the law.

I can understand Tommy's distress about running a couple of ads against Sen. Carlson who is staunchly opposed to Racino even though there is overwhelming public support for the idea. However, I'd be careful about calling a couple of ads "moneybombs." If you want to talk about moneybombs, why don't you take a look at the Campaign Finance Reports of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux PAC, the Mah Mah Wi No Min Fund (belonging to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) and the Prairie Island Indian Community PAC. Here are the numbers:

Shakopee Mdewakanton PAC: total receipts $600,000 with $492,000 going to the DFL state party, the Senate DFL Caucus, the House DFL caucus, and an assortment of DFL Senate Districts.

Mah Mah Wi No Min Fund: total receipts $317,000 with $292,000 going to the DFL state party, the Senate DFL Caucus, the House DFL caucus, and an assortment of House and Senate DFL Districts.

Prairie Island PAC:total receipts $250,000 with $182,000 going to the DFL state party, the DFL House caucus, the DFL Senate caucus and an assortment of other DFL units. The PAC did give $36,000 to Republicans.

For the record, the Vote Racino Now Committee supports pro-racino candidates of both parties. Ads did run in favor of Ted Daley who is running against Jim Carlson, but ads also ran in favor of DFLer Mick McGuire who is running against Republican Glenn Gruenhagen.

by: CTJ @ Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 22:12:14 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Date Corrected; dates were indeed off by two days (0.00 / 0)

Unfortunately, we don't have editors here, so occasionally minor mistakes like that are made. I will and do correct when noted.

Now, you said, and I quote:

I can understand Tommy's distress about running a couple of ads against Sen. Carlson who is staunchly opposed to Racino even though there is overwhelming public support for the idea.

That's not the impression I got at all while researching this post; what Senator Carlson told is that when he voted to table Racino at a Committee Hearing, it was more due to his concerns about how Racino was being promoted.

It seems to me that Racino promoters are being very clear about one thing: "vote with us, or we'll get money to use against you - including corporate cash (i.e., Canterbury Park's $18k)."

Does that about sum up what those that question Racino are up against?

To be clear, it's the corporate cash in the mix that makes me take notice.

"Those that forget the lessons of history, tend to vote GOP"

by: TwoPuttTommy @ Wed Oct 27, 2010 at 14:24:19 PM UTC

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Amazing (0.00 / 0)

If 'corporate cash' makes you take notice, then you should be railing against the millions and millions of dollars the 18 casinos put into political coffers year after year. As I demonstrated by my post, the casinos have already put in over $1 million (mostly in DFL coffers) just this year alone. And that doesn't include the money the casinos pay toward lobbyists (41 lobbyists were hired last year) and the dollars those lobbyists put into the political system. I'm sorry but there is no comparison between a few newspaper ads and the Shakopee Mdewakanton PAC giving $200,000 to the House DFL, $175,000 to the Senate DFL and $112,000 to the State DFL Party. Or the Mah Mah Mi No Win Fund (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) giving $86,000 to the House DFL, $85,000 to the Senate DFL, and $108,250 to the State DFL Party. Or the Prairie Island Indian Community PAC giving $80,000 to the House DFL, $77,000 to the Senate DFL and $25,000 to the State DFL Party. And these numbers don't include contributions to candidates and their respective DFL Senate districts. Where do you think those dollars come from?

Sen. Carlson voted against the racino for one reason: because his caucus depends on donations from the casinos to run their campaigns. Not because of some alleged threat that if he didn't vote for the racino, he'd have a couple of newspaper ads ran for his opponent.

by: CTJ @ Wed Oct 27, 2010 at 15:12:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]