Category: The Real Erik Paulsen

Paulsen Begs Voters to Believe That He’s Still the Nice Guy

Paulsen’s unprecedented negative attacks have been condemned by sexual harassment survivors, local business leaders and area voters alike

GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen listens to DFL candidate Dean Phillips at their debate at the UBS Forum at MPR in St. Paul on Oct. 5, 2018. Credit: Tony Saunders, MPR via AP

EXCELSIOR, MN – Yesterday, Erik Paulsen released two more ads funded largely by special interest contributions to his campaign. The first was released online by his campaign and touted as Paulsen’s closing argument, representing just the second positive ad from Paulsen this cycle. True to form, however, Paulsen also released yet another dishonest and negative attack ad at the same time, which is the one currently airing widely on broadcast TV.

Paulsen has taken the fourth most special interest money of anyone in Congress, and used the money to run a dishonest and shockingly negative campaign that has been called inappropriate, reckless, false, distorted, not even in the same time zone as truth, extremely misleading, just plain false, and wildly out of context by independent journalists, community leaders, sexual harassment survivors, and Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. Continue reading “Paulsen Begs Voters to Believe That He’s Still the Nice Guy”

Former Republican Senator David Durenberger Endorses Dean Phillips

Durenberger laments the loss of trust and pragmatic problem solving, is optimistic about its return with Dean Phillips in Congress

By Jonathunder – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

EXCELSIOR, MN – Today, former Republican Senator David Durenberger endorsed Dean Phillips for Congress, saying:

“We are desperate for representatives we can trust. A leader who inspires rather than degrades. A Congress which pulls the nation together to solve our toughest problems. Dean Phillips’s success in life has been about inspiring trust. Send him to Washington with his inclusive ‘everyone’s invited’ message for America.”

Senator Durenberger served in the U.S. Senate between 1978 and 1995, making him the only Republican senator from Minnesota to be elected to three terms. Senator Durenberger was a leader in bipartisan health care reform during his time in the Senate, and chaired the National Institute of Health Policy after he left public office.

Senator Durenberger joins Republican MN Governor Arne Carlson and thousands of former Paulsen supporters who are now supporting Dean Phillips. The Star Tribune also endorsed Phillips after five consecutive endorsements for Paulsen. A recent KSTP SurveyUSA Poll showed that 17% of people who voted for Erik Paulsen in 2016 plan to vote for Dean Phillips in 2018.

Washington Post Asks Media to Shine a Light on One of Paulsen’s Favorite Lies

Erik Paulsen again caught lying, this time on pre-existing conditions; refuses to redact false statement

EXCELSIOR, MN – Today, The Washington Post took issue with how Erik Paulsen and six other Republican politicians that are mis-portraying their fact checks, and asked local media to shine a light on Paulsen’s refusal to withdraw his misleading statement.

Erik Paulsen has repeatedly – and falsely – claimed that the Washington Post had given “four Pinocchios” to anyone saying that he and other Republicans voted to gut protections for pre-existing conditions, including in a recent debate on KSTP. As the article makes clear, that was not the focus of the fact check in question, and Paulsen’s claim is not accurate.

“Facing the most competitive race of his career, Congressman Paulsen has shown his true colors,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “His blatant disregard for the truth is beneath what we expect from a sitting member of Congress. In lying to try and save his job, he is showing Minnesotans exactly why he should be voted out. It may be the preferred approach for DC consultants and the special interest groups bankrolling his campaign, but voters have had enough.”

The Washington Post calls Paulsen’s behavior “dismaying,” asking local media to shine a light on this “brazen misappropriation” of facts while awarding Congressman Paulsen himself with “four Pinocchios” for his claim.

They Write:

Continue reading “Washington Post Asks Media to Shine a Light on One of Paulsen’s Favorite Lies”

These Republicans are misleading voters about our Obamacare fact checks

SPOILER ALERT:  Guess who else is on the list?  Our own Erik Paulsen.

Somewhere, somehow, a memo must have gone out to Republican lawmakers who voted for the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare: If you are attacked for undermining protections for people with existing health problems, jab back by saying the claim got Four Pinocchios from The Washington Post.

That’s not true. Republicans are twisting an unrelated fact check and are misleading voters. We have found at least seven politicians who have done this.

Rep. Peter J. Roskam (Illinois’s 6th District): In a debate on Oct. 22, he said: “Sean [Casten] has falsely accused me of being against protecting people with preexisting conditions and that was fact-checked by The Washington Post, who gave that four Pinocchios.”

View the complete October 29 article by Glenn Kessler on the Washington Post website here.

Rep. Erik Paulsen needs love from women, gets Trump’s instead

Try as he might to distance himself from Trump, the two are brothers from other mothers. Credit: CityPages files

Rep. Erik Paulsen and Donald Trump may seem like opposites. One is bellicose, needy for the roar of his partisans, willing to say whatever rumbles from his ample buttocks. The other owns a Scandoid reserve, preferring quiet audiences with likeminded men of leisure, where there’ll be no uncomfortable questions.

But dig past the surface to their pursuits in Washington, and they are brothers from other mothers.

Both take a morals-optional approach to personal advancement. Both profess Christianity while giving their hearts to Citibank Jesus. And both have a chameleon quality as Valiant Fighters for the Middle Class, though you’d need a squadron of backhoes to find evidence that either ever threw a punch on your behalf.

View the complete October 29 article by Pete Kotz on the CityPages website here.

Erik Paulsen, Dean Phillips campaigns dispute ads, campaign finance

As Election Day nears, the competitive race for the Third Congressional District seat is becoming increasingly contentious.

Rep. Erik Paulsen and challenger Dean Phillips debated late week on “Almanac.” Credit: Mark Vancleave, Star Tribune, file

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen faced fresh criticism Friday for a TV ad critical of Democratic opponent Dean Phillips, while Phillips threw in $1.3 million of his own money as he tries unseat Paulsen.

As the Nov. 6 election nears, the competitive race for the Third Congressional District seat is becoming increasingly contentious as Paulsen, a five-term congressman from Eden Prairie, fights for re-election. Phillips, a distillery heir and businessman from Deephaven, is trying to become the first Democrat to hold the seat since 1961.

On Friday, Paulsen was criticized again for making a sexual harassment case part of his campaign. Lori Peterson, a lawyer who represented seven women who sued Allina Health in 2007 over sexual harassment, sent a note Friday to Paulsen’s campaign manager demanding the team stop using the women’s story in the TV ads, which call Phillips “shady” and charge that he “did nothing” to combat the harassment when he was on Allina’s board of directors from 2005 to 2011.

View the complete October 26 article by Kelly Smith on the Star Tribune website here.

Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too

A dark secret: Paulsen and his special interest patrons are waging a disinformation campaign in MN03 mailboxes

EXCELSIOR, MN – Congressman Erik Paulsen’s coordinated negative television campaign has earned him unprecedented scrutiny from local fact checkers, but another tactic has earned him less scrutiny, with dozens of special interest-funded mailers containing the same objectively false claims landing in mailboxes across the Third District.

“Voters in Minnesota’s Third District have been subjected to a barrage of objectively false claims on TV and in their mailboxes thanks to Erik Paulsen and his special interest funders,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “The pieces are too numerous to track, and have no regard for fact or truth — oftentimes coming from dark money groups who operate with no transparency. Congressman Paulsen and his special interest patrons have shown an unrelenting commitment to buying this election, and embracing Donald Trump’s propensity for lies and personal slander on the campaign trail as much as they have his policies in Washington.”

Congressman Paulsen has raised over $2.7 million from PACs – the fourth most of anyone in Congress – and used the money to run an unprecedentedly negative campaign that has been called inappropriate, reckless, false, distorted, not even in the same time zone as truth, extremely misleading, just plain false, and wildly out of context by independent journalists, community leaders, sexual harassment survivors, and Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. While the TV ads have been the subject of scrutiny by independent fact checkers, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of deceptive direct mail has gone unnoticed.

Here are just some of the outrageous claims being delivered to mailboxes across the district:

Continue reading “Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too”

Phillips stands out in congressional race

In the race to Election Day, one congressional candidate has chosen to flood the airwaves with negative, divisive, and knowingly inaccurate ads. In contrast, Dean Phillips has offered a fresh, positive, and inclusive vision for our district.

In the upcoming election we have the choice to reject the culture of division and fear that the current administration has presented, and that Congressman Erik Paulsen has adopted, and come together to find positive solutions to the significant problems that we face.

Dean Phillips is already serving our community by providing positive and principled leadership. “Everyone’s Invited” is not only the slogan but the guiding principle of a campaign that has been built around listening to all the voices within our community. He’s present and available to the constituents that he seeks to represent. He has clear plans to move us forward and through the challenges ahead of us, leading to a brighter version of who we can be.

Dean has stepped forward into a vacuum of leadership and is showing us a better way, even before being elected. He deserves our vote and our support.

Rob Wilcox, Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie News, October 26, 2018

Paulsen’s commercials are deceptive

Congressman Erik Paulsen has a problem, and it’s not just ads rated false by fact checkers or condemned by prominent community members. Paulsen needs to appear accessible despite years of avoiding voters. Consider his methods.

Paulsen slips clever deceptions into statements. Example: “open office hours.” That’s something Paulsen says. But, if you wish a meeting with Paulsen in Eden Prairie, you’ll need to provide the names of attendees then await approval. This procedure negates his claim that he meets with “anyone” or that his office hours are “open.”

When pressed on town halls, Paulsen and staff repeatedly said he’d held “hundreds of town hall events.” They never defined what counted. When asked about future events, Mr. Paulsen’s public schedule was said to be private. How about time frame? Hundreds sounds like a busy public schedule. But spread over eight or nine years, it’s anemic. Continue reading “Paulsen’s commercials are deceptive”

Health scare 2018: How Minnesota campaigns are exploiting voters’ anxiety over health care

Credit: Getty/Sebastian Rose

The battle over health care — something that has become a defining feature of the 2018 midterm elections — has, in the final stretch of the campaign, come down to Republicans and Democrats making two different but equally emphatic assurances to voters.

Democrats are running on the argument that Republicans, if they retain majorities in Congress, would take another stab at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and would aim to kill some of the law’s most popular planks — including its protections for individuals with pre-existing health conditions.

Republicans, meanwhile, insist that they have never, and would not ever, attempt to undermine the Obamacare provision that helped people with pre-existing conditions access more affordable health coverage. They’re issuing a warning of their own: if Democrats take control on Capitol Hill, they will push plans that would dramatically expand government health care programs — paving the way to ruin them at the expense of the seniors and families who need them most.

View the complete October 19 article by Sam Brody on the MinnPost website here.