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BREAKING NEWS: TOP KLOBUCHAR AIDE FIRED FOR VIEWING LEAKED KENNEDY AD
By Michael B. Brodkorb | September 20, 2006
ST. PAUL (AP) _ The manager of Democrat Amy Klobuchar's campaign has fired its chief spokeswoman, saying she accessed over the Internet an unreleased campaign advertisement of Klobuchar's Republican opponent, Mark Kennedy.
In a prepared statement, Klobuchar campaign manager Ben Goldfarb said that communications director Tara McGuinness last Saturday was contacted by a local blogger who sent her a link to the Kennedy ad.
"The blogger indicated to Ms. McGuinness that he had gained access to the advertisement by use of passwords,'' Goldfarb said in the statement. "Exercising poor judgment, Ms. McGuinness opened the link, watched the advertisement and asked others on our campaign to watch it."
Goldfarb went on to say that Klobuchar, the Hennepin County attorney, directed him to report the incident to federal law enforcement for review. He didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking more information.
"What happened here was wrong,'' Klobuchar said in her own statement. "By reporting the blogger's activities and this incident to law enforcement, we are doing the right thing."
Klobuchar also apologized to Kennedy and his campaign.
A spokeswoman for the Kennedy campaign had no immediate response.
McGuinness did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
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This is a reminder that I am a part-time consultant to Mark Kennedy’s U.S. Senate campaign. Minnesota Democrats Exposed is not created, endorsed, sponsored, or authorized by any political party, candidate, or candidate’s committee. It’s all me and always will be and I am very proud of Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
Topics: Uncategorized | 20 Comments »
September 20th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Well..I wonder who the liberal blogger is. Someone is going to jail.
September 20th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Accountability, thanks for featuring an article about someone who holds people accountable. Congratulations Michael.
September 20th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
“DFL: The party of lawbreakers.”
That’s a federal offense, isn’t it? A hacker to ProtestWarrior’s site was indicted by the US Disctrict Court in Illinois this year.
http://www.protestwarrior.com/newsletters/05_26_06.php
September 20th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
I have to say Amy….I mean Ms. Klobuchar did the right thing. As much as I like to pick on Dems, I have to commend her here.
Hey Ellison, this is how you handle bad things. You admit to them and do what you can to resolve the issue.
September 20th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Well, I’m not the phantom blogger, and I agree with others above that Klobuchar was 100% right to do this.
Mike, you’re not the blogger, are you?
September 20th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
A very ethical and wise decision on Klobuchar’s part. It’s Klobuchar’s own Sister Soulijah moment.
September 20th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Fecke: I don’t find this funny, nor was I the blogger. You’re a real jerk.
September 20th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
I hope Tara McGuinness goes to jail.
September 20th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Hate the blog, not the blogger. And no, I don’t find this particularly funny either.
September 20th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
[...] FWIW, also issuing a denial is Michael Brodkorb (while simultaneously insulting yours truly); no, I didn’t really think it was him, but you’ve got to admit that would have made a great story. [...]
September 20th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
has anyone seen the cry baby pussy Paul Bartlett today? I saw his name in the paper today..seems he is offended by someone using the word “Jap”…but his mouth is vile and totally disgusting…what a friggin hypocrit he is…. who doesnt call rice burners “jap crap”?
September 20th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Wow, John, that’s some great tolerance there.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
“What happened here was wrong,” Klobuchar said in her own statement. “By reporting the blogger’s activities and this incident to law enforcement, we are doing the right thing.”
Is this the first evidence of Klobuchar actually fighting crime?
September 20th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Did Amy report it immediately?
Did she wait until others found out and she couldn’t civer it up and HAD to report it?
I must say here;
I have stated all along that Amy is NOT a people person. She will have tons of staff problems if elected. She has had serious staff issues in the County Attorney ofice all along.
If she did not have policy for her staff or if some other disgruntled staff member set this fal up…none of it is good.
She is not Senatorial material.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Comment number eight was not posted by me (even though it has my signature). I have never posted any comments on this blog nor have I ever even read this blog.
September 20th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
So, five posts on the fact that Kennedy’s campaign leaked an ad to Klobuchar’s campaign, Klobuchar learned about it, and fired the person who watched the ad, despite the fact that she didn’t do anything illegal?
Wow. You really are breaking some news here.
September 20th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
I think the timing of Klob’s apology greatly depreciated it’s value. It’s like when you play those trivia games at the bar. If you answer immediately you get maximum value but if you wait too long, even if you have the right answer, you get no points.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Comment number 15 was not posted by me even though it has my signature.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:31 am
John: // who doesnt call rice burners “jap crap”? //
The US Government.
// For minivan shoppers, the Toyota Sienna is as All-American as it gets, despite its Japanese roots: the Sienna is assembled in the US, and 83 percent of its parts come from US or Canada. //
http://www.car.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_page_order_int/3/article_id_int/1969
September 27th, 2006 at 11:12 am
[...] Why would Baxter choose to ignore the MN US Senate race? Could it be that the week his assignment was due, the campaign of the Democratic candidate for US Senate (Amy Klobuchar) had to fire its communications director for viewing an unreleased Mark Kennedy ad which was unethically, and possibly illegally, obtained by a blogger and sent to the Klobuchar campaign? And, as it turns out, information from that ad was used by Democrats to survey voters before the ad was released by the Kennedy campaign. [...]