First, I saw the tweet, to the right. And I thought: "Yeah, 'right.'" Like, all the dough career politician Erik Paulsen (remember, Paulsen was selected to a Party Leadership Position in 2009) has been pullin' out of W.D.C.; and his Spokestool is gonna claim that's proof that folk "stand behind" him, here on the semi-frozen tundra??!?
Then I saw the story, at Minnesota Public Radio News:
Campaign 2012
Minnesota candidates collect money from outside the state
by Catharine Richert, Minnesota Public Radio
July 16, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Just because you live in California, doesn't mean you can't help out one of Minnesota's candidates for Congress.
According to the most recent round of campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, contributors living as far away as Alaska are pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Minnesota's congressional races. (rest of story, here)
But the rest of the story didn't talk about the guy who hauled home a whole bunch o' dough; dough that his Spokestool infers shows a whole bunch o' local support for his boss, career politician Erik Paulsen.
So, knowing how to look around a Federal Election Report, or two, or more, I figured I'd take a quick look. Let's look!
Paulsen's election campaign committee is called "Friends Of Erik Paulsen". And what a bunch o' swell pals does he got!!! Link said "friends", and you'll see "July Quarterly" under Year 2012. That's the latest filing Paulsen's Spokester was tweeting about.
Now, I didn't take a whole lot of time, but I did go through the individual donors alphabetically, A thru D. And the very first "friend" (a/k/a, "donor") Paulsen has listed?
Debbie Ackerman, Wilmette, IL $250 -- Employer: Twin Bridge Capital Occupation: Private Equity
First Maximum Cash Allowed "friend"?
Barb Anderson, St. Could, MN $5,000 -- Employer: Homemaker Occupation: Homemaker
All in all, of all the donors, er, 'scuse me, "Friends of Erik Paulsen" with last names starting with A through D, there were 43 that I figure are in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District. I counted 51 that weren't inside the District.
And I noted that many of those outside the District, were REALLY outside of the District: Illinios, Maryland, Wisconsin, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, California, New Mexico, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Maine, and New York were states I noted -- just in A through D.
Those 43 "friends" IN the District? I tallied a total of $32,801, or about $763 per pal. Outside the District? $38,700, or about $759 per pal.
But, you know who Paulsen's pals really, Really, REALLY are? PACs.
In just the A section of named PACs, Paulsen hauled in $41,500. Again, just from the A list.... and all of those pals PACs are from out of District AND out of state.
Again, what did career politician Erik Paulsen's Spokestool say about Paulsen's haul?
"#MN03 stands behind Erik Paulsen - raises a staggering $454K this quarter."
In a way, that's true - because us local yokels ARE behind Paulsen, because he's lookin' at his pals that give him most of his money - and they ain't from 'round here.
More analysis, later - stay tuned!