Blanked Out

On August 2^nd, in my first substantive post at Blanked-Out, I laid out the three major goals of my blog. One of the principal goals was to provide context to political news.

Blanked-Out will fully re-launch soon. My broken arm is making great progress after some initial setbacks. Therefore, I think this is an opportune time to lay out some clarifications regarding my blog.

Financial Relationships

I have never and will never be paid to blog at Blanked-Out. I have never been paid to do any work of any kind (research, consulting, etc.) that was later used at Blanked-Out.

If I engage in a personal financial transaction with a political organization whether through employment or consulting work, I will not write posts on my employer or client.

Any such relationship will be immediately disclosed on Blanked-Out.

Partisanship and Bias

My volunteer hours are my own and reflect my passion for political involvement. If I post on any organization I volunteer with, this bias will be immediately disclosed on Blanked-Out.

Content

Blanked-Out is completely independent. It is written by Noah Kunin. Suggestions and press releases are always welcome but do not shop any pre-packaged stories here.

They will be rejected outright.

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On the right, you will see a new page titled “Disclosure”. The above information and any specific disclosures will be posted there.

Thanks again for reading Blanked-Out. You can contact me at: noah AT blanked-out DOT com

3:25pm: GOP officials and Twin Cities Mayors have confirmed the selection:

Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, made the official announcement at 3 p.m., along with Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman

The convention is scheduled for Sept. 1-4, 2008, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, a week after Democrats nominate their candidate. The Twin Cities had also been competing against New York and Denver to host the Democratic convention.

“We want to congratulate the Twin Cities. … We are looking forward to working with Denver and New York as we make our final decision,” said Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

For those of you who were boosters for the DNC coming to Minneapolis (myself included) look at it this way: you still only have to buy one airplane ticket.

AP is reporting that according to anonymous sources, the GOP will announce they have selected St. Paul for their 2008 Presidential Convention.

I would like to begin by apologizing to the Klobuchar campaign for placing the organization under inappropriate scrutiny and diverting the public from the issues that are important in this campaign.

This campaign should be about the issues that are important to Minnesotans. This is not one of those issues.

Several days ago, after Mark Kennedy’s campaign launched the first negative campaign ad against Amy Klobuchar, I decided to research Kennedy’s media consultant, Scott Howell. This research led me to the website of Scott Howell’s consulting company. Several of Scott Howell’s previous political ads for his clients were no longer on this website, nor were they on the websites of his clients.

While searching for political ads, I clicked on a link titled ‘netview,’ which then brought me to another webpage. No other information was requested. I therefore typed in the name ‘Allen.’ Nothing more, nothing less. This redirected me to a webpage containing three pieces of information. Kennedy for Senate, a date, and a hyperlink. Upon clicking the hyperlink, I was directed to the aforementioned political advertisement. At no point in this process did I circumvent or misrepresent myself. The website containing this ad can be accessed by anyone online. It is possible to directly go to this website. It is in no way secured.

CLARIFICATION: The word “Allen” was used because Scott Howell has also been retained by Senator George Allen.  No user was asked for.

I’m currently compiling the precinct breakdowns. I’ll post a combined Excel file as soon as I’m done, with my own analysis later today. I’m still not at 100% physically - I’ll ramp up to my previous posting quantity and quality slowly.

Quick quote from the Strib wrap-up article:

His campaign gambled on volunteers, direct mail and a massive get-out-the vote effort instead of a higher profile media campaign. Ellison preached peace and inclusion, labor and the environment.

That was no gamble - that’s a campaign with its priorities straight.

Here is the source file I’ll be using for my analysis. I used the data from Hennepin, Anoka and Ramsey counties since the Secretary of State doesn’t break down the data by recognizable place names, but instead assigns an ID code to each precint.

After voting today, Britt and I went to the University of Minnesota campus to meet a friend for lunch. While I was unable to participate in any midnight madness lit drops, it looks like campus was plastered with Keith Ellison literature.

There were also some signs and chalkings for Becky Lourey.

The U campus is a tantalizing prize for any campaign. While turnout is usually low, even a small percentage could tip the scales in a close race. Campus served as a tie-breaker in the Minneapolis Ward 2 City Council race in 2005. Considering the neck-and-neck race in the 5th, campus votes could be a deciding factor.

Turnout was 34 votes in MPLS 2-8 around noon today. Not much, but higher than past primaries at this time according to the election judges. Haven’t seen any returns from the on-campus precincts.

Liveblogs:

Minnesota Monitor
MN Publius
MN Campaign Report

UPDATE: This lit was handed out on campus by Stand Up Now MN, a DFL youth-run campaign.

Great issue framing and the earlier that substantive issues for the November election are placed before young voters, the better.

Blanked-out is still out. The splint is off but now my left arm has swollen to epic proportions and so I’m back on the painkillers. Think Popeye.

In the meantime, go vote in the primary. It matters. Don’t know where? See below:

Code provided by Dan Weinand

Hopefully I can get a flexible splint by September 7th. To be honest, the painkillers are thwarting my blogging more than typing with one hand. I appreciate all the fantastic support I’ve received, especially from my amazing girlfriend.

In the mean time, gaze upon my misfortune: