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http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:3IXarF5UEIEJ:www.grassrootspa.com/archives/2004_10_01_archive.html+%22Tim+Mahoney%22+gunzburger&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10&client=firefox-aVoters|W|P|chrislilik@gmail.com">http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:3IXarF5UEIEJ:www.grassrootspa.com/archives/2004_10_01_archive.html+%22Tim+Mahoney%22+gunzburger&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10&client=firefox-aVoters|W|P|chrislilik@gmail.com10/20/2004

05:21:26 PM|W|P|Chris|W|P| GrassrootsPA was honored to interview one of the US's premier political web gurus, Politics1.com publisher Ron Gunzburger:

1) Politics1.com is an amazing website, and you do an excellent job compiling breaking political news from all over the country. Tell us how Politics1.com got started, and why. I actually created the Politics1 site out of frustration. In 1996, there were various media joint-venture political sites (CNN/Time had one, Washington Post/National Journal's Hotline and other did another one, CBS and some newspapers did yet another, etc.) that listed all of the major Presidential nominees, plus all of the major party nominees for Governor, US Senate and Congress in all 50 states. The partnerships behind many of these joint venture sites fell apart soon after 1996 and they all went off-line. I waited until late 1997 for something similar to come back online for the 1998 elections but -- when none appeared -- I bought some books at Borders on HTML coding and taught myself how to create a site and do the graphics. My site looked a lot more primitive in the early days -- but the same can be said of any original product (car, computer, calculator) against how much better the new models look. I figured that if I was looking for this info -- stuff like who is running for Congress in Michigan CD-3 (or wherever) and who are the potential candidates for an open seat, others must be looking for it, too. It proved correct because we're still online, we've got a big audience (around 1 million UNIQUE user sessions and over 35.6 million hits per month), and the site is operating in the black.

2) In your opinion, what's the biggest story Politics1.com unearthed? I'm very proud of the work I did with John Gorenfeld (www.IApproveThisMessiah.com) -- who deserves the bulk of the credit for finding the initial story and writing about it -- in exposing the Moonie religious cult coronation ceremony on Capitol Hill. John did a lot of the investigative work and I helped generate a big audience for the story. You've got to remember, John and I were banging away at this stories for about two weeks before any of the mainstream media picked it up. I was rather proud that -- at their National Press Club press conference -- the Moonies singled out both John's site and Politics1 as the two sites they blamed for all the bad press they got on this story. Congressmen Danny Davis, Roscoe Bartlett, Curt Weldon and the others who took part in a ceremony in a Congressional building that placed a crown a Reverend Moon's head so that Moon could then proclaim himself the "returned Messiah" and "the True Parent" was pretty pathetic. I'm also rather proud of a story I didn't write. This year, it seems every closeted gay politician is getting outed. In fact, people who were out for years are amusingly now claiming indignation for getting re-outed (Mary Cheney). I got a tip a few years ago that a middle-aged, bachelor GOP Congressman who was unexpectedly retiring -- just a few weeks after he announced for re-election -- was doing so because a potential social conservative candidate for his seat had threatened to out him as gay. My story wasn't going to be "that Congressman X is gay" but was more focused on the blackmail angle. The state GOP chair even confirmed to me that he was "aware" of allegations similar to the blackmail story I was investigating. In the end, I had an awkward and bizarre phone call with the Congressman and his Chief of Staff (the COS did just about all the talking). Without ever answering any of the story directly -- not the gay stuff or the blackmail stuff -- they pleaded with me not to write the story because the Congressman's parents were still alive and infirm and it would be too embarrassing if they heard about this. I thought the whole thing was pretty sad but, in the end, I didn't write it. I'll admit it was in part because I couldn't pin down which of the potential candidates made the threat -- although I have no doubt that one of them did blackmail this Congressman into quitting.

3) Which story created the biggest positive or negative reaction from your readers? The most positive reaction from readers has definitely been in support of my decision to "adopt" the 1/23 Marines infantry battalion as they were getting ready to be deployed to Iraq a few months ago. The weekly postings from Lt. James Crabtree -- who was a regular Politics1 reader and Marine reservist before being activated -- are very popular. The point of going with this regular series was to show that -- regardless of whether or not each of us supports the Iraq war -- we are very proud of the individual Americans who serving in uniform. I'm certainly split on the issue: I supported (and still support) the Afghan operation, but oppose the Iraq one. The soldiers are not the ones who planned the operation or made the decision to go into Iraq. If people are upset with the war, they should hold our civilian leaders accountable on Election Day. Negative? Well, it seems that every time I write about political cult leader and perennial Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche -- which in unfavorable and infrequent -- the LaRouchies get all worked up and flame me with hate emails. Back in January, LaRouche and I were amusingly staying in the same hotel in Concord, NH, but I had no desire to go over and introduce myself to that lunatic when I saw in the lobby and restaurant.

4) Tell us a little about yourself. You are an attorney and a web journalist at the same time. Is it tough juggling both at once? How much time do you put into each everyday? Short answer: Yes, it's tough to juggle both. My job as General Counsel of a government agency is a full-time job. I write and update the site when I get home in the evening and early in the morning. I'm often up writing until quite late at night. And, on top of these two jobs, I also still do some work as a political communications consultant on local races, serve on two local government boards, and try to find time to work in some roller hockey skating time each week. Maybe this schedule is why I enjoy my vacations away so much! Right now, in these final days leading up to November 2004, I do 40+ hours each week at my day job plus 30-40 hours per week working on the site.

5) What are your favorite websites, both political and non-political? PoliticalWire.com (informative), Electoral-Vote.com (addictive), HockeyLockout.com (I'm still pissed at both sides: NHL and NHLPA), eBay.com (addictive), snopes.com (fun), dictionary.com (I'm always looking words up), NOAA.com (addictive to us Floridians during hurricane season) … plus there are tons of others I check out a few times each week.

6) You have a pretty active comment section below each of your stories. How's it feel to know that you have literally hundred of people discussing every little word you write? I enjoy the fact that my site draws an audience that is a good mix of liberals, conservatives and centrists (plus a few rather hardcore left and right and libertarian folks from the political extremes). It makes for lively debates. When the Blogads.com company did a survey of the top political blogs, my site's bloggers were on average several years younger (mid-to-upper 20s) and substantially better educated than the typical bloggers on the other sites. Makes for very spirited debates! My political views certainly seep into lots of the blog articles I post, but I still work hard to present all the key stories and polls (including ones unfavorable to my candidates) -- and I keep the other 100+ pages of non-blog sections of Politics1 completely neutral and balanced.

7) Tell us a little about where you are politically. Will there ever be a Congressman Ron Gunzburger? You're going to get me into trouble here with your audience. I'm currently a registered Democrat, although I've switched parties between D, R and Independent five times to date (although I've been a Dem for the vast majority of the time). I can find much to dislike about both major parties -- although I would like to believe that both sides really do want what is best for this country (even when they disagree about what that is). I worked as a paid campaign consultant in over 120 campaigns during 1982-2002 -- but became so jaded and skeptical towards the political process (and many candidates) that I decided it was best for me to step back for a while. My clients were probably 75% Dems, 20% Republicans, and 5% Independents. As a 12 year old, I first leafleted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 (Rosalyn Carter even came to our house for a coffee in 1975 before anyone knew who her husband was). By 1984, I voted for Ronald Reagan. I initially liked Perot in 1992 -- I even cast a write-in vote for Perot in the GOP primary -- but became disenchanted with him before November (he was just too flaky). I've voted for third party candidates for President more than once over the years. I admire Presidents like Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson -- to pick an R and a D as examples -- because they were both true leaders. To wit: Reagan's aggressive anti-communist agenda and LBJ's civil rights agenda. Agree or disagree with them, they held fundamental beliefs about what was best for America and they won the public over to their side (even when their views were initially unpopular or controversial). By contrast, Presidents who poll nightly and adjust their positions to match frequent shifts in the poll numbers are not leaders -- as anyone can run to the front of a parade and pretend to be leading it. In 2000, I contributed to John McCain's Presidential campaign -- and I still like the guy. I supported the post-9/11 military campaign in Afghanistan (and still want to see Bin Laden captured or killed). I supported the Iraq War -- and think the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power -- but would not have done so had I known then what I know today (no WMDs ... plus I read the Paul O'Neill and Richard Clark books). I love ice hockey, the Simpsons, Sopranos, The Daily Show and South Park... despise Fear Factor and hip hop music ... never listen to talk radio (left or right) ... and almost exclusively read non-fiction books ... but that's not really politics. I believe the amount of money-corrupt politicians in elective office is very, very few in number. I believe that the amount of ego and power corrupt politicians is rather high. I'm a fiscally responsible, socially liberal, pro-gun rights, environmentalist, civil libertarian ... and, FYI for any of you who liked those Club for Growth anti-Dean TV spots back in Iowa: I hate sushi, drive an SUV, don't drink lattes (but do admit to sipping mochas), pay my taxes (grudgingly), believe in God, love this country, and don't have any body piercings. In 2004, I contributed to Howard Dean and was even one of those who traveled to NH as a Dean volunteer. I was the GOTV captain for Dean in a Concord ward on primary day. I supported Dean for much of the same reason I supported McCain last time: both are populist advocates of real systemic political reform, both are insurgents seeking to break the traditional power wielded by special interest deep pockets, and both offered the hope of bringing millions of disaffected Americans back into the political process. Well, that's more than enough about me to confuse anyone!! I'd certainly like to serve in Congress, but don't envision that happening (nor my running for it). Besides, considering my politics, you and your readers would probably work very hard to see that this never happens.

8) Bush vs. Kerry: How's it going to play out? Are we going to see a repeat of 2000 in your backyard of Broward County again? Yup, this one is going to go down to the wire again. You never know, but we could be seeing Florida-style recounts in several key states in the weeks after November 2 (including, again, in Florida). |W|P|109816378583033349|W|P|GrassrootsPA Interview With Politics1's Ron Gunzburger|W|P|chrislilik@gmail.com10/20/2004 02:31:50 PM|W|P|Chris|W|P|