Lost in spam: McCain invites Pawlenty to ‘Join Our Team’

On Monday, in response to a Minnesota Independent public data request, Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s office turned over to MnIndy more than 100 emails the governor received during a four-day period last month.

It was a triumphant moment for open government, after the recent revelation that Pawlenty—who aides say does not send electronic messages—views his email communications as private.

But the moment of triumph quickly passed when it became apparent that of more than 700 emails Pawlenty’s office says he received July 21–24, the public is free to see only the dregs.

How do experts in public information view the governor’s data dump? That’s an excellent question that we intend to probe in a future post.

For now, here are some highlights from Pawlenty’s spam file.

McCain asks T-Paw to “Join Our Team”

Do you make weak presentations?

Learn about investing … in infrastructure!

How about a Value Added Tax?

Want to relive the 1968 Democratic National Convention?

Insecure about electronic info transfer?