The dust-up over the state Senate Republicans’ distribution of pamphlets at caucuses, while not Watergate, has allowed the DFL to draw the first blood of the legislative session and shows the plusses and minuses of the Senate’s new communications style.  

Both Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem and Communications Director Steve Sviggum acknowledged that Republicans had made a mistake when they included on the fliers a link to a campaign website. Sviggum apologized. In so doing, they opened the door for attack. Minority Leader Tom Bakk and the DFL Party followed immediately with a formal complaint with the state Office of Administrative Hearings.

“The whole direction that they have taken opens themselves up” said Republican consultant David Strom.  “Any lawyer would say – you don’t immediately say you’re sorry – you eliminate all protection and you may in fact have a defensible position. It’s your job to protect yourselves. It’s other people’s job to take you apart.” 

Their reaction differs widely from the style of former communications director Michael Brodkorb. “I’ve been concerned on the one hand that Michael was too aggressive, too partisan; now they’ve gone to the other extreme,” Strom said.

Furthermore, say Strom and other Republicans, the flier without the offending link was a proper piece of communication. Minnesota Senate policy allows communicating with voters and does not forbid specifically partisan language.  It does forbid the use of Senate resources for campaign purposes, the error that Senjem admitted.

Laudable approach

John Wodele, the communications director for Gov. Jesse Ventura who worked with both Senjem and Sviggum, finds the new approach laudable.

“Their communication style has taken on the character of their leader – Senjem is a thoughtful, deliberate man,” he said. “The style is encouraging and appropriate. I think the public will appreciate it.” 

That is, if the public is really concerned. Both Wodele and Strom view “pamphlet-gate” as a distraction, an arcane issue that’s been elevated to public status. “It’s part of a larger problem all over the Legislature,” Strom said. “ People begin to think that the public cares way more than it does about what happens there. The Legislature is not the center of gravity.”

But will the Legislature be the battleground for a potential shift of power in the November elections when even small mistakes will be used as political weapons? The 15 Republican senators who distributed the fliers at their caucuses were named in the DFL complaint, creating the opportunity for damaging campaign charges from the opposition.

It’s already clear that the DFL intends to use the Senate’s tumultuous change of leadership as an election argument. It’s “one scandal after another,” said DFL Party Chair Ken Martin in a statement about the flier distribution.

GOP leaders “are making themselves look like they’re completely ham-handed,” said Strom who, like Wodele, generally admires the leadership and skills that Senjem and Sviggum bring to the caucus.

They should put those skills to greater use, he said. “Start focusing on things that Minnesota cares about,” he said. “They need to get in to the business of moving forward.”