Minn Post: How The ‘Tracker’ Became Strangest, Most Important Job In Campaign Politics

In 2012, Republican donors created America Rising, which does similar work as American Bridge but against Democratic candidates. In addition to work on Minnesota’s four contested House races, American Rising has a page on its website devoted to U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who is running for attorney general.

“Minnesota is ground zero for targeted congressional campaigns in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 8th districts and we’re focused on giving voters as much information on the Democratic candidate’s policies as possible,” said consultant Kirsten Kukowski, who is directing America Rising in Minnesota. “Tracking is really important to hold candidates accountable to past statements. Our efforts are to work with reporters to get information to the public. Once it is public, it can be used in ads.”

Both groups use similar language to describe the mission. American Bridge claims to be “committed to holding Republicans accountable for their words and actions and helping you ascertain when Republican candidates are pretending to be something they’re not.” While America Rising PAC’s “sole purpose is to hold Democrats accountable and expose any hidden hypocrisy.”

This is an excerpt from the Minn Post. For the full article click here.