A Minnesota Mole?

Beltway Blogroll:

The campaign of Republican Rep. John Kline has accused Democratic challenger Coleen Rowley in Minnesota of using a blogger as a "double-agent," the Star Tribune reports.

Kline's campaign alleged that the blogger, David Bailey, attempted to make an illegal campaign contribution and hurt Kline's re-election effort. "Our campaign has never sent anyone in there to do anything like that," Rowley campaign manager Terry Rogers said in denying the charge.

Bailey, currently Rowley's director of "earned" news media, said he did attempt to make the contribution in order to get on the mailing list because he wanted to learn more about Kline's beliefs. But he was only a volunteer for the campaign at the time and said he acted independently of it.

Kline spokesman Marcus Esmay said Bailey gave his real e-mail address and home address.

The Star Tribune noted that Bailey "was a Rowley volunteer and blogger who posted an Internet blog critical of Kline" at the time of the incident. Since May, Bailey has been a staffer on the Rowley campaign and writes much of the content for its blog, The Blotter. He posted a disclosure to that affect at John Kline's Record when he quit writing entries there.

Rowley's campaign finance report for the quarter that ended June 30, available electronically through the Federal Election Commission, does not indicate any payments to Bailey. Walter Winger, the policy research director for the campaign, said that's because Bailey is filling a "nontraditional position" that evolved out of his work as a blogger/volunteer for the campaign.

Bailey is not paid for his work as earned media director. Winger said the campaign "wanted to give him a title when he was talking to radio producers." He added that Bailey also interacts with blogs, "trying to get Coleen's name out there."

At The Blotter, Bailey called the latest story about his attempt to get on Kline's mailing list "an attack against me, in yet another effort to distract the media and the public from the issues that matter."

"I live in the second district; I'm one of John Kline's constituents, and as a constituent, I was trying to get answers about his position on the issues," Bailey wrote. "I didn't get answers that day, and John Kline is still stonewalling about his positions today."

Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters, a conservative blogger based in Minnesota, is not buying Bailey's explanation of what transpired. He also questioned Bailey's decision not to blog about his "attempt to donate money to Kline's campaign on [his blog about Kline]. It would seem to be a bloggable event, having met with Kline staffers in both his district office and his campaign headquarters."