MDE (NON-)SHOCKER: AP PROFILE OF GOP’s BRODKORB OMITS MANY PAID PARTY GIGS
Friday, May 02, 2008 at 12:10 pm
- 6 Comments
Text corrected: see note below
The Associated Press profiles Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb today, praising his two “direct hits” on Al Franken over the Democratic senate candidate’s tax problems. The piece by Patrick Condon says that Brodkorb “shrugs off Democrats’ claims that he’s a Republican operative by saying he’s never been paid to blog.” The Minnesota Democrats Exposed blogger repeatedly makes that claim, and goes to great pains to express his independence, but as Minnesota Monitor’s Robin Marty reported in September 2006, Brodkorb’s ties to the Republican party are deeper than those of a mere enthusiast engaged in pro-GOP blogging as “a labor of love” (as the AP story puts it).
The AP only mentions in passing Brodkorb’s past work as research director for the Republican Party of Minnesota and leaves out specific reference to a part-time gig as “press consultant” to former Republican senatorial candidate Mark Kennedy; according to Federal Elections Commission reports, he earned $4,500 per month at that job. The AP also doesn’t mention the check for $5,500 Brodkorb received on September 3, 2006, for research services provided to the Michele Bachmann campaign.
Brodkorb, reached by phone Friday morning, did not dispute that he has had paying jobs for the GOP, but declined to comment further, saying he felt unfairly treated by Minnesota Monitor in Marty’s September 2006 article.
Editor’s Note: This item contains a correction. It originally stated, wrongly, that the AP article failed to mention Brodkorb’s past work as the state Republican party’s research director.
6 Comments
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
Correction Paul: Contrary to the information in your post, the AP story did in fact mention that I worked for the MN GOP.
“In the late ’90s, Brodkorb worked for state Senate Republicans, where he started to learn how to do ‘opposition research’ – digging up dirt on opponents. He did it well enough to become director of research for the state Republican Party, and served in similar roles for several Republican campaigns.” Source: Associated Press, May 2, 2008
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
Fix the title while you’re at it. Your title is also completely wrong as the AP story clearly mentions multiple “paid party gigs”.
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 10:06 pm
At long last sir, have you no shame? I’m torn.
I’m not sure if this piece is just another MiniMoney status quo bungling, or if you’re really worried that Goerge Soros is going to realize that he’s not getting his money’s worth out of this joint.
Either way, this post took some gall to write. Do yourself a favor and just take the whole thing down.
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 7:56 am
Correction Paul: Contrary to the information in your post, the AP story did in fact mention that I worked for the MN GOP.
“In the late '90s, Brodkorb worked for state Senate Republicans, where he started to learn how to do 'opposition research' – digging up dirt on opponents. He did it well enough to become director of research for the state Republican Party, and served in similar roles for several Republican campaigns.” Source: Associated Press, May 2, 2008
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 11:06 am
Fix the title while you're at it. Your title is also completely wrong as the AP story clearly mentions multiple “paid party gigs”.
Comment posted May 2, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
At long last sir, have you no shame? I'm torn.
I'm not sure if this piece is just another MiniMoney status quo bungling, or if you're really worried that Goerge Soros is going to realize that he's not getting his money's worth out of this joint.
Either way, this post took some gall to write. Do yourself a favor and just take the whole thing down.
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