Al Franken comes under fire for grassroots fundraising
First, the MN GOP was harping that Franken did not have enough financial support from Minnesota donors.
Now Republican operative Michael Brodkorb is complaining that Franken is taking small contributions from Minnesotans at the State Fair:
If Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy $2 buttons at the State Fair “campaign donors”, then he may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans.
-from minnesotademocratsexposed.com, August 28th 4:01pm
I’ll update this with additional information on why Brodkorb’s analysis is completely off the deep end in a bit – for now, let’s all take note of our watches. I have blogged in the past on how these types of political stories break and develop. I’m going to track this one in real time and see where it goes.
Brokorb’s time stamp on his post is 4:01 pm. Let’s try and assess how often D.J. Tice’s RSS reader refreshes or how far down Tice is on Brodkorb’s media call list.
Do you think he organizes it alphabetically or by importance?
Update - 6:42pm:
Let’s look at some of the key framing terms used by Brodkorb’s “dedicated readers” in the comments section of MDE:
- “[Franken’s] claims that he has a vast network of Minnesota donors rings hollow at best.”
- “I buy a button from Mr. Franken’s booth for $2.00, he would claim that I am a “contributor” to his Senate campaign? Sounds like a PR scam to me.“
- “Clever PR move… until it blows up”
- “If I recall, that fraud says over 90 percent of his donors gave “less than $100.” Looks like Al could say “over 90 percent gave less than $5″ and still be accurate.”
I’ve left out the more colorful language being used. All of these well meaning commentators are blissfully in ignorance of FEC law. All Senate campaigns are required to limit cash donations to $100 per individual over the entire 15-month cycle.
“But the buttons are $2 and…” Aha - they are. But consider this:
Month 1: Smith already thinks Franken is ok and buys a $2 button.
Month 3: Smith finds out Franken will be supporting Policy X. Now Smith think Franken is even better!
He buys two shirts for $25 a piece.
Month 10: Smith hears Franken speak and is so inspired he slaps a $50 bill down at the contribution table.Smith has now donated $102 to Franken and the campaign would be in violation of FEC law if they did not return the $2. Many campaigns fail to do this and are actually breaching heir fiduciary responsibilities.
To the author of that final screed, I would hope that 100% of Al’s contributors could be under $5.
Those who give $1 to $5 are usually students, blue collar workers or seniors on a fixed income. Should they not be counted?
Just how rich should you be to donate to politics in this country?
August 28th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Noah:
I’m not complaining that Franken is raising money at the Minnesota State Fair. Did you read my post?
Liberal bloggers have raised questions about whether Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy a button for $2 as campaign donors.
My point is that Franken’s campaign has been getting hammered by Republicans and Democrats because less than 20% of his campaign donors are from Minnesota. If Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy $2 buttons at the State Fair as “campaign donors”, then he may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans.
If you have any additional questions or confusion with my post, please let me know.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Thanks will do - I see how you could be confused by the original text:
“…complaining that Franken is taking contributions from Minnesotans at the State Fair”
There’s nothing wrong with the act of political contributions at the Fair. The emphasis should have been whether Franken is taking contributions at the Fair, making those giving said contributions donors, or whether his campaign is simply generating income.
They are, of course, the same thing. There is no question whatsoever that even if they were giving $1 they would still be donors. I’ve added the word “small” to the above sentence for clarity.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
One more time for you:
Liberal bloggers have raised questions about whether Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy a button for $2 as campaign donors.
My point is that Franken’s campaign has been getting hammered by Republicans and Democrats because less than 20% of his campaign donors are from Minnesota. If Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy $2 buttons at the State Fair as “campaign donors”, then he may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Boats, passing in the night apparently. I’ll try to turn on some lights:
You: “he may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans” = untruth
I’ll fix it for you:
“Al Franken cares about people who can’t give $200 or above (the level at which disclosure becomes mandatory) and so he takes contributions of whatever size because he’s committed to building a people powered campaign. Just because they give $2 still makes them campaign donors”.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Noah:
Thanks for the multiple posts on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. I made no claim on my blog that Franken’s campaign was doing anything illegal. Once again, it was liberal bloggers who first raised questions about Franken charging $2 for campaign buttons.
If Franken’s campaign is classifying people who buy $2 buttons at the State Fair as “campaign donors”, then he may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans.
Franken’s campaign may be following the letter of the law, but it doesn’t change the fact they may be artificially padding his donor base with Minnesotans.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Wow, you definitely beat out Mark Drake for doublespeak. And I know you are a professional media man but given that we are the only two commenting you really don’t need to repeat your punchline in every comment.
How can Franken simultaneously follow the letter of the law and yet artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans?
Feel free to fill in the hidden subtext here. Your thesis rests on the assumption that small contribution amounts are somehow “less real” than larger ones. I understand your argument - I simply disagree.
August 29th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Noah, did you fail reading comprehension 101? It sure looks like it. MDE was merely REPORTING what the Daily KOS was complaing about. The last time I looked, the Daily KOS is another liberal idiot think tank. If you want to whine about this issue, take it up with the Daily KOS and quit lying.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Noah,
He can do both at the same time because not all things artificial are illegal. Ciresi and others were giving buttons away which means Franken’s reported numbers next round will be skewed in comparison. The assumption is that Franken is not doing this to raise money because the couple thousand dollars he might raise is not a big deal in the over all landscape. He is doing it only because his current proportion of donations from Minnesota reinforces his image as a carpet bagger that does not represent Minnesotans. If this were not the case he would be charging $2 for buttons when he travels out of state as well.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:07 am
I think what Brodkorb is try is trying to say is that Franken may have found a way to quickly and artificially pad his donor base with Minnesotans. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:09 am
It seems to me the bottom line here is that Michael Brodkorb is miffed because Al Franken is attracting small donors (not to be confused with leprechauns) in Minnesota. I think Republicans do not grasp that there really is such a thing, given that their base is donors with deep pockets, long arms and disdain for lesser beings.
I’m having a hard time understanding how people making small, voluntary donations (why else would they buy a Franken button?) constitute “quickly and artificially pad(ding) his donor base with Minnesotans.” (Yes, she reads and inwardly digests.) It seems this is an artificial teapot tempest.
Noah, referencing your donor outline above, is the full $102 accurate? Does the purchase of a T-shirt qualify fully as a donation, or is there a provision for goods received, i.e., cost/value of the shirt, with the balance constituting the donation? Just askin’.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Oh, and Barbara it was not originally Michael that was miffed. It was the mighty Liberal Daily KOS.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:57 am
OK. I get it. So Franken figured out a way for people to actually pay money for campaign $hit. Now everyone else is jealous.
September 1st, 2007 at 4:19 pm
The “Daily Kos” diary was actually written by local blogger Mark Gisleson.
I’m not surprised Michael would pounce on what Mark says, but I wonder if he’s actually investigating the supposition, or if it serves his purposes better to report the “fact” that someone is speculating.
And we know how careful Michael is with the facts, which is why this statement is puzzling: “Franken’s campaign may be following the letter of the law, but it doesn’t change the FACT they MAY BE artificially padding his donor base with Minnesotans.” [Emphasis mine.]
How can it be a fact that someone may be doing doing something? Oh, yeah, never mind.
September 1st, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Kerosene Hat, you’ll have to send me that link as I’m completely unaware of anyone who’s been talking about this other than me on my blog, and in my Daily Kos diary. I am, not by a longshot, a frontpage contributor to DKos.
And my irritation stemmed from the netroots making an early endorsement in a contested race between equally qualified progressive candidates. My remarks were less about taking sides than they were protesting the process and the wisdom of such a move.
I’m not surprised that some have chosen to make more out my comments than were there, but good luck hanging any of these “facts” around anyone’s neck come next fall.
This is a minor squabble early on in a long primary contest. If Mr. Brodkorb wants to get all worked up every time we have one of these spats, he’ll run out of exclamation marks and ALL CAPS indignation long before the real election.
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Meanwhile, should I be alarmed that Noah seems to have gone missing? Did Bush Republican Michael Brodkorb decare a fatwah on him? If Noah has no electricity, is his place bugged with a tin can and a string? Inquiring mind wants to know.