Michael Brodkorb

GOP activist Michael Brodkorb, who blogs at Minnesota Democrats Exposed, broke a whopper of a story yesterday:

DFL Senate candidate Al Franken owes a $25,000 penalty to the New York State Workers' Compensation Board for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance for employees of his namesake corporation from 2002 to 2005.

I called Franken campaign aide Andy Barr, yesterday, who told me that Franken's accountant was looking into the matter and that's all he could say at this time. The Star Tribune's Kevin Duchschere got more from Barr: "Campaign spokesman Andy Barr said that neither Franken nor his wife, Franni, were aware of the matter before Tuesday. They have lived in Minneapolis for the past few years and did not know about the state's attempts to reach them in New York City, he said."

Also, Barr said, ""I can categorically deny that there was any attempt to evade responsibility, and I doubt that there was some kind of error that was made, although until we know all the facts I can't say for sure what happened."

The key facts as we know them from Brodkorb and Duchschere: Al Franken Inc. once carried workers compensation insurance (meaning: Franken knew he had to have the insurance); the policy lapsed and Franken didn't renew it; the state of New York found out about it; Franken didn't respond to what presumably had to be multiple notices from the state of New York; and, the state adjudicated a $25,000 penalty to Franken for failure to carry workers compensation insurance.

In 2006, Franken reported a salary of more than $1 million from Al Franken Inc. Meaning: Someone was processing mail at the address listed for Al Franken Inc. If someone was accepting and writing checks for Al Franken Inc., someone was opening the mail and seeing the notices from the state of New York.

Recently I dubbed Al Franken "Ad Hominem Al."

Maybe that should be "Implausible Al."

As I told Barr, yesterday, it is inconceivable to me that someone smart like Franken with U.S. Senate political ambition would blow off years of notices, never mind the final judgment, relating to failure to pay workers compensation.

What a conundrum for all those unions that endorsed Franken. Workers compensation is a bread-and-butter, if not signature, union issue.

Now what do AFSCME Council 5, Education Minnesota and the Service Employees International Union do?

Our Tale of Two AFSCMEs continues. AFSCME Council 65's executive director, Steve Preble, back at AFSCME Council 5:

“While one can appreciate the sharp wit of a candidate [Al Franken], we feel a solid platform on middle class issues, honest answers to tough questions and a career track record of victories for middle class Americans and all Minnesotans is more important when choosing a United States Senator...We are proud to endorse Mike Ciresi, he is the best candidate to defeat Norm Coleman and represent us in the U.S. Senate.”

And Leslie Sandberg, communications director for the Mike Ciresi campaign:

"Mr. [Eliot] Seide's comments should be put in context of his endorsement of one of Mike's challengers. Momentum is with the Ciresi campaign as the polls and delegate count clearly show. We are consistently the leading Democrat in the polls and are not burdened with the extremely high negatives Mike's challenger has. Mike is a demonstrated leader in Minnesota, where he has lived, been educated, and worked his entire life. He has made life better for all Minnesotans through his professional and philanthropic work. Powerful special interests don't laugh when they hear he's coming -- they know they will be held accountable and will have to change their ways."

The big lesson that PIM draws from the Tale is that AFSCME endorsements matter hugely for DFL candidates. Our informal survey, gleaned from questioning key Democrats the last week, distills down to this: If the DFL endorsing contest was held today, Franken would probably win, however, Ciresi has the momentum. Now, much more than in the past, Democrats are wondering whether Franken can withstand the scrutiny in places like Michael Brodkorb's Minnesota Democrats Exposed of every off-color joke or comment Franken has ever made.

The Wall Street Journal has a front page article, today, about the influence of "amateur bloggers" in the major Democratic primary states. In "Self-Appointed Bloggers Get Candidate Face Time," New Hampshire high school Latin teacher Dean Barker, who blogs at "Blue Hampshire," says:

"'It's weird,' he says. 'One minute I'm in the teachers' lounge making copies and the next I'm spending 30 minutes on the phone with Bill Richardson,' he says, referring to New Mexico's governor, one of eight Democrats running for president."

Further in the story: